I had never heard of World Day of Social Justice. Of course, there’s probably a day for everything from pizza and ice cream to wildlife and employee appreciation. In our world where discrimination, war, poverty, hunger, homelessness, and other ills caused by injustice crowd out human decency and good will, there certainly should be attention to Social Justice Day. How will you observe the day? Gerard Manley Hopkins writes that the “just man justices.” The Jesuit poet turned the noun “justice” into a verb. Justice acts, contacts lawmakers, digs community gardens, stocks food pantry shelves, votes, keeps up with current events, supports non-profit organizations. The list is long and the needs are longer. Could you “justice” something on the list?
The message is clear on this first Sunday in Lent: Repent! It’s a message that echoes that of Ash Wednesday and gets to the heart of the matter. Mark’s gospel adds “This is the time of fulfillment.” How do you need to be “fulfilled” as a human being, a spouse or family member, a coworker, a retired person? As needed, repent your past and look to the rest of Lent with hope that God will fill your heart with His own love.
I have started reading Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It has been chosen for a book study for the Sisters of Notre Dame and their associates. Its genre eludes me. Are its chapters stories or essays? Is it a book of poetry, the typeset only looking like prose? Though I am only on page 33, I have found nuggets of wisdom, delightful metaphors, embarrassing historical events, knowledge of botany, and appreciation for Native Americans. Today I considered the fact that people are “the younger brothers of creation.” How true! The last creatures to appear were humans. We are the baby brothers and sisters of moon, stars, mountains, oceans, birds, fish, insects, and all other living and non-living creatures. We generally think we’re at the top, most important, most conscious, the ones in charge. How much better our planet would be if we remembered we’re the latecomers, the youngest siblings.
As you made your Lenten resolutions, remember that Lent is not a self-improvement challenge. Our almsgiving and penance should reach out to the world. Giving up dessert is good, but do we pay a bit extra to buy food produced ecologically? Forgoing media is a great penance, but do we give the time we save to service? We read in the prophet Joel “Return to me with your whole heart.” Will you give your whole heart in best practices for the whole human family this Lent?
This is not your year to give up candy and sweets for Lent, because Lent began on Valentine’s Day. I hope your box of candy had already arrived. But a Valentine heart provides a good theme for Lent. Every week we will look at one type of heart, such as repentant heart, clean heart, humble heart. The first blog in the week will focus on such a heart and what it might mean for Lenten practices. In between there will be other blogs but check out your heart early in the week. From the bottom of my heart, I pray that you will set your heart on a close following of Jesus Christ.
During Lent we abstain from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays. Whether you find this a penance or a pleasure, the practice of abstinence from meat has an impact beyond yourself. Literature on the environment advocates refraining from meat consumption once or twice a week. Sticking with fruits, vegetables, cheese, and nuts minimizes water usage, fuel dependence, and greenhouse gases. This is a great way to help the environment and something to consider as a practice throughout the whole year.
Once I dreamt that everyone in the world was climbing a big grassy hill. Smiling and chuckling and waving to one another, Earth’s citizens reached their goal. Although the goal looked like a big sun with a smiling face (like a cartoon), it was alive and welcoming. I knew it represented God welcoming us at the end of time. Everyone, happy and excited, was streaming toward Christ. With one last glance up the hill, I saw the Sun wink at me. As my dream ended I felt all creatures had become one with the “Sun” named Christ. I believe one day all creation will become the Christ. I imagine the sounds of laughter, the delight in reunion, the feeling of completion. I pray that theologians, scientists, scholars, and people’s dreams further our understanding of Christ as the union of all created reality.
The mystery of Christ as written by Saint Paul is “Christ in you.” The mystery “hidden throughout the ages” is now being revealed in a new way in our century, although we are only scratching the surface. Saint Bonaventure (13th century) was an early discoverer. More recently Teilhard de Chardin broke up the mystery for our century. And many like Ilia Delio, Judy Cannato, Louis Savory, and others have added an abundance of research and personal intuition. The magazines and books I read have content stemming from these writers. Working together, scientists and theologians are conveying the wisdom needed to make all creation complete in Christ. We are now seeing that Creation and Incarnation are one.
Not making a claim that I understand the mystery of Christ, I firmly believe that I am a mystery-bearer. I cannot shed a bright light on the God Ahead who draws us evolving and complexifying and uniting in love-energy. But I know it’s true, and it’s my responsibility to share this truth. I wonder if our stammering vocabulary will be better able to explain the mystery in another fifty years.
Carl Sandburg wrote that fog “comes on little cat feet.” The incessant fog of the past week was menacing, not mewing; chilling, not cuddly. It didn’t “move on.” It stayed, stuck in its mysterious depths, its dangerous limitations, dulling yet engaging the imagination. Its hesitant, unobtrusive entrance portended danger and whitening and weakening reality. Vulnerable before sunlight’s power, it fought to assert its confused self-protective ignorance waiting for an answer to the question “Is anybody out there?”
In my experience, it seems that Christian Unity Week, generally scheduled between the Feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, has lessened in importance. In past years in other parishes there were many events, such as weekly pulpit exchanges, prayers, dinners with other churches. Yet the need for unity remains great in our churches, even within our own Roman Catholic Church. The news conveys nonstop reports of national and international disunity from politics to wars. Jesus prayed at the Last Supper that all may be one. Let that be our prayer in 2024.