To carryout this mandate we need to understand the deeper meaning of work in this context. In this context 'work' means the activity involving mental or physical effort (labor, toil or exertion) done in order to achieve a purpose or result. It could be work we receive money for (paid work) or it could be voluntary (unpaid work). So, our first task is to list the jobs we do to bring food to our tables, provide shelter and clothing (these are our basic needs). Then our second task is to consider all other work we do through belonging to societies in the church and/or in our cultural and geographical locations. How do we act? Do we speak up for a just society?

What is a just society, anyway?

Who determines and measures whether a society is just or not? How do I know when I am not working for a just society? Because as some would say the term just society is relative and contentious. It depends a lot on who is using it and the context of its use. Sorry brothers and sisters, this way of thinking in relative terms, about what God has taught us in many ways through the 10 commandments, the parables of Jesus in the gospels and the stories of the saints that lived before us, is completely wrong. What did Jesus need to do and teach us that He hasn’t done? What has the Holy Spirit not given us as gifts to embolden us? What has Our Lady not revealed to us during Her apparitions? Questioning our understanding of a just society and making it an academic exercise makes us more like the Scribes and Pharisees at the time of Jesus who always asked questions not to learn the answers but to catch Jesus out. This is because we know what a just society is but we consciously prefer to pretend that we don’t. To work for a just society means that our daily actions (conversations, behavior and activities), must align with our expressed belief in the Good News and gospels. We cannot just be Sunday-Sunday churchgoers, morning mass attenders and belong to or lead several societies but act completely contrary lives outside the church premises. We need to speak up and act against the ills in our homes, cultural settings and workplaces. We need to protect and safeguard all the vulnerable people around us. We need to champion the cause of the righteous and never speak ill of the innocent. If all Our Lady’s friends choose to work for a just society, change will happen. Look what happened when Our Lord chose 12 men to carryout the task of working for a just society. FOLA can do it too. Why not? So, brothers and sisters let’s complete this 7-day refection with a resounding answer to Our Lady of Aokpe.

YES WE CAN. Thanks for joining me for this one week as we explored the 7 point call to action. May Our Lady of Aokpe, the Mediatrix of All Graces remind us through Her choirs of angels about our pledge to follow the Call to Action in our daily lives. Amen