Essay: Lenten Journey of Kinship and Hope
As we enter into our Lenten Journey this week, let us take the time to pause and reflect on this parable Jesus told to his disciples in Luke’s Gospel 6:42:
“A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.” Jesus clearly taught his disciples, that they can become qualified to teach like him, yet they will not be above him. The disciples had their place and their purpose as they were called to carry on Jesus’ teachings. As Catholics, today, we are called to be faith-filled envoys of the same teachings of Jesus.
In the spirit of kinship and hope within the community of creation, the Lenten Examen this year highlights excerpts from the book, Come Have Breakfast: Meditations on God and the Earth, by Sr. Elizabeth A Johnson. Allow this season to be an awakening of your senses to God’s Creation. Let us join hands with Pope Francis who has invited us to be co-laborers with God to care for our common home in his encyclical, “Laudato Sì.” God also invites us to be good stewards of the earth. We are kindred spirits with all of God’s creatures in one community of creation.
Sr. Elizabeth Johnson uses these three words, Come Have Breakfast from the Gospel of John (21:12), when the risen Jesus feeds his disciples who were fishing all night. Jesus has a fire on the beach, with bread and fish cooking, and calls out to the fishermen, “Come have breakfast.” Sr. Elizabeth says this, “is a bugle call of divine hospitality toward all people and all living creatures, revealing a passionate divine desire that all should be fed.”
Humankind around the globe is interconnected and interwoven in the cycle of life. Therefore, every human action affects the earth, and we are on the brink of a radical change in climate and sustainability of the earth that will affect human, animal, and plant life. What actions can you commit to during Lent that will bring kinship and hope to God’s creation?
During the next six weeks, strive to be intentional and look for God in all things. Simply look at the sky, the clouds, the trees, the mountains, the sea—it all holds the divinity of God and sustenance for all God’s creatures, which includes humankind. How can you help to sustain Eco spirituality into your neighborhood surroundings and globally? Spend time in nature contemplating God’s goodness with all the glorious pieces interwoven in this glorious tapestry. Because we are all interconnected, we will either flourish or wither together.
Most people want to flourish, and God gives humankind abundant love to allow good things to happen. Looking at others in love and seeing what is on the inside matters—a good and kind heart is what matters. It is important to be merciful to humankind, animals, and our lush earth that has been scorched with fires and ravaged by floods, just as God is merciful to us. As we co-labor with God and with our neighbors, we become the hands and feet of Jesus to help bring about a just and loving world.
Together, let us embark on this Lenten journey of reflection in our daily lives. Trust God’s goodness even during challenges when you may have given into despair, worry and lack of faith. Pray for the light of God’s grace, live in gratitude and awareness, review your day, pay attention to areas of growth, and look toward tomorrow for resolution in your reflection.
“The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).
Every Blessing
— Jean Santopatre, Pastoral Associate