Lenten Reflections

Easter Sunday

We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
we too might live in newness of life. Ro 6

 

Holy Saturday

Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Matthew 27

 

Good Friday

Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden,
and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried.
Jn 18

 

Holy Thursday

That same night they shall eat its roasted flesh
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Ex 32

 

 

Palm Sunday

Then he took the bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them, saying,
“This is my body, which will be given for you;
do this in memory of me.” Lk 22

“… wheat [is] … the center of Christian sacramental life if you’re Catholic or any other variety of Christian. Eucharist is the center of what we do so why wouldn’t we understand wheat from its cosmic origins all the way to our sacred banquet, and then … see where we find hope. Where do we find wisdom? …” Linda Gibler, OP

Fifth Sunday of Lent

 

5th See, I am doing something new!
Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?       Is 43

We are in “a pregnant space;” this is the moment of bringing new birth in the Society, another foundational period. We need to take time to be in the pregnant space and let the vision of a new order emerge to accompany the action we want to take in the Society for the next few years. – SHCJ pre-chapter conversation group

Please pray for the Society’s preparation for its general chapter, starting Easter Sunday.

Fourth Sunday of Lent

 

…for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. Eph 5

“Everything in the universe will teach us a story about God when we ask …. Read that book [of nature] if you want to know God! Read that book always, often! A supernova explosion that tears a star apart, but that is required for trees, birds, bushes … to happen! …. The universe itself is embedded in the paschal mystery — life, death, new life over and over again in unimaginable ways permeates the entire story of the universe.” Linda Gibler, OP

Please pray for the Society’s preparation for its general chapter, starting Easter Sunday.

 

Third Sunday of Lent

“I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.
The reaper is already receiving payment
and gathering crops for eternal life,
so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.” Jn 4

“The sower needs hope in order to sow. In other words what leads him to sow is the hope that the seed will bear fruit in the future. I do not hold on to the seeds. I sow them every day. I do not hold on to my skills and my knowledge. I share them and I keep working, giving …” Pope Francis

Please pray for the Society’s preparation for its general chapter, starting Easter Sunday.

 

Second Sunday of Lent

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.                                                        Ps 27

But the bounty of the Lord cannot grow on land — that is parched or flooded; degraded by toxic fertilizers and pesticides; eroded by industrial agriculture; polluted by oceanic salt water; and destroyed by war. At least 33% of the world’s food-producing land has been lost since the 1970’s, primarily caused by global warming and deforestation. – Terri MacKenzie, SHCJ

Can we dare to believe that a creative revisioning of our world is possible, or is everything just too complex, too beyond our reach? – Constance Fitz Gerald, OCD

Please pray for the Society’s preparation for its general chapter, starting Easter Sunday

 

First Sunday of Lent

Therefore, I have now brought you the first fruits
of the products of the soil
which you, O LORD, have given me.’  Dt 26

 

 

Is beauty, flaming red or gold, for me?
Can transformation happen, invade me?
Can one small seed become a torch of fire?
Can night give way to brightness, dancing life? I hope!

From “Child of Night, Child of Light” by Kate Holmstrom, SHCJ
Please pray for the Society’s preparation for its general chapter, starting Easter Sunday

 

Ash Wednesday

Today let us pray and fast in solidarity with Ukraine
No moment is unscarred, there is no pause,
In every instant bloodied innocence
Falls to the weary earth, and whilst we stand
Quiescence ends again in acquiescence,
And Abel’s blood still cries in every land
One silence only might redeem that blood
Only the silence of a dying God.
Malcolm Guite



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