This year during Lent, we are continuing our Revolution of Contemplation by focusing on a particular area of prayer each week. We will take some time after communion to pray together and see what actions might be inspired.
The theme for this Third Sunday of Lent is Prophetic Witness.
Olga Marina Segura, in her reflection for this Sunday in Catholic Women Preach: Raising Voices Renewing the Church Cycle B, quotes Dr. M. Shawn Copeland’s Knowing Christ Crucified: The Witness of African American Religious Experience:
“The cross of Jesus calls us to conversion, to radical transformation of life for life. For his cross teaches us that conversion of life is not merely something about which we speak; rather, despite whatever consequences, the living out and living out of that transformation is the subject of our daily struggle” [1].
Segura goes on to say:
“We believe in the power of the Crucifixion, and this belief must help us to understand more deeply the systemic violence enacted upon Black, Indigenous, people of color, [the LGBTQ community] and all marginalized groups. As Catholics, this means we are called to fight for a better, more liberated world. We are called to go to the margins and center the experiences of society’s most vulnerable communities.
Lent is a season for us to reflect on and learn from Christ’s sacrifice for us. And this year, we must remember and pray for every single person we have lost to violence – from the global pandemic to police brutality – at the hands of the state. We must mourn and grieve for their families, communities, and we must never forget their names.
Most important, we must support organizers on the ground who, despite the tragedies all around us, continue to fight for a freer world” [2].
Questions for reflection:
How can we be prophetic witnesses this Lent?
What issues in our city, our country, and our world, are most in need of our prayer and action.
What small part can we play – is there a specific prophetic action you can take this week to counter injustice?
Citations
[1] As quoted in Segura, Olga Marina. “Third Sunday of Lent: The Power of the Cross.” Catholic Women Preach: Raising Voices, Renewing the Church Cycle B, edited by Elizabeth Donnelly and Russ Petrus, Orbis, 2023, pgs 55-56.
[2] Ibid. p 56. Brackets mine.
