From Living as Resurrected Beings in the Midst of the World's Crosses: Reflections for Lent 2010 by Scott Wright and Jean Stokan
During Lent 2010, Pax Christi USA commemorates two important anniversaries: the conclusion of the UN International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World and the thirtieth anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador.
Peace and nonviolence are at the heart of the witness that Pax Christi has embodied since its founding during the Second World War and in the case of Pax Christi USA, during the war in Vietnam. Significantly, the desire for peace and the commitment to working for peace through nonviolent means were born in the midst of the terrible destruction and horrors of war. The United Nations, too, was born of this desire and commitment to peace for future generations. The resolution for the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence begins:
Aware that the task of the United Nations to save future generations from the scourge of war requires transformation towards a culture of peace...and recognizing that enormous harm and suffering are caused to children through different forms of violence at every level of society throughout the world...the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaims the period 2001-2010 as the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World.
While Lent calls to mind our deep desires for peace and reconciliation, it also awakens a deep awareness of our human failings, of our failure to bring peace to a world divided by poverty, racism, and violence. In short, we have failed because of our sinfulness, both at a personal as well as a communal level. At times, it appears that there is more darkness in our lives and in the world than light; more sadness than joy; more despair than hope; more doubt than faith; more injury than pardon; and more hatred than love. We begin this Lenten journey, therefore, profoundly aware of our own failings and brokenness in our personal and communal lives.
We are reminded that Jesus directed the parable of the Last Judgment not simply at individuals, but also nations. “Teacher, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” (Matthew 25:44) While we may strive in our individual lives to be faithful to the Gospel, we are called as well to be responsible for each other. How have we as a nation lived up to the vision of the Last Judgment? We must not only seek to live just lives, we must also work for the common good so that we as a people and as a nation bear witness to justice, solidarity, peace, and nonviolence.
We know we cannot do this alone. We know that we are broken and that our world is full of sinful social, economic, and political structures. But we know even more that we are “loved sinners,” that we are created in the image and likeness of God. We are human beings called to celebrate our human dignity, our human diversity, our gifts of love and service, offered to God and to each other so that life may truly flourish. Precisely because we know to Whom we belong, we rely on Jesus Christ who saved and empowered us to follow his way of peace and nonviolence.
We look to those who have embodied in their lives God’s grace through their nonviolent witness to Christ’s peace—Pax Christi. We look to the prophets, the saints, and the martyrs who most resemble Jesus Christ to offer us a vision of the way we are called to follow; we pray to them with prayers of intercession, asking them to give us the strength and courage to be faithful to the Gospel; and we celebrate their faithful witness as we commemorate their lives, and the life of Jesus Christ, in their anniversaries.
One of those faithful witnesses and martyrs whom we commemorate this Lent is Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who was gunned down as he celebrated the Eucharist thirty years ago. One day before, in an impassioned plea, he called on soldiers and members of the security forces to obey their consciences and the law of God that says: “Do not kill!” and to end the repression.
This year, the anniversary of his martyrdom, March 24, falls during the fifth week of Lent. During this Lent, we recall his clear option for and defense of the poor, his commitment to justice and the transformation of sinful social structures, his faithful witness of peace and nonviolence, his call for reconciliation and forgiveness in the midst of the violence of war and the profound divisions of poverty and wealth. We recall, too, “the cloud of witnesses” that surrounds us and gives us courage to be faithful witnesses to the Gospel of peace and nonviolence.
Lent awakens in us the grace of God, the Holy Spirit who sets our lives on fire and empowers us to be faithful witnesses, like Archbishop Romero, to the love of God. We discover anew the passion and love revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, calling us to be witnesses to God’s justice and love and to Christ’s reconciliation and peace—Pax Christi—in the world today. Where brokenness abounded, grace abounded more. Life, not death, has the last word. In that spirit, we have entitled this year’s Lenten reflection: “Living as Resurrected Beings in the Midst of the World’s Crosses.”
We hope that our Pax Christi Lenten journey may bear fruit and that we may continue to proclaim and embody that alternative narrative of peace and nonviolence that has been the heart of Pax Christi—and the Gospel—since its inception. In the end, to proclaim and embody the peace of Christ is to bear witness to it, as the prophets, saints, and martyrs have done, pointing in each moment to the witness of Jesus Christ whom we accompany in a special way during this Lenten journey, and who in turn accompanies us on the way of the cross that leads to resurrection.
The Way of the Cross is not the end of the journey, but rather the way that leads to a world of justice and reconciliation, to peace and nonviolence, to that Pax Christi whose name we bear as a community of disciples, companions on the road, and fellow witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Click here for weekly reflections for Lent 2010.
Click here for resources on Lenten fasting.
Click here for resources from the Pax Christi USA Store.
Click here for additional resources from partner groups, Ambassadors of Peace, the media, etc.
Click here for archived resources from past Lenten programs.
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