In this journey through Lent,
We know what it’s like to wait, to long, and to feel heavy.
We know what it’s like to feel anxiety over the situations happening in our world.
Over looming tariffs and counter-tariffs in the U.S., Canada, and China,
Over the bad batch of Fentanyl that is claiming the lives of many and causing high numbers of overdoses in Canada,
And over senseless violence and war in places like:
Syria, where over 1300 citizens were killed in 72 hours amidst clashes and acts of revenge,
And Lagos, Nigeria, where a century’s old riverside community of more than 9,000 people was demolished on Friday, March 7th, as residents were forcibly evicted by State officials, police, and “area boys” armed with machetes and clubs, who then bulldozed over homes, businesses, and places of worship.
In times like this, we feel the groanings of our world as we cry out “how much longer, o Lord? When will you step in?”
For many Christians, Lent is a time of contrition – of repentance, and of solemn reflection.
And so we consider the ways our world has turned away from God, and gone their own way.
Choosing hatred over empathy,
And choosing isolation over community.
Today we lift up those in Washington, D.C. (U.S.) who are removing a Black Lives Matter Mural that was first installed in 2020 as a symbol against the killing of George Floyd. The mural is being removed because of a Republican federal bill threatening that if the mural remains, the city will lose funding.
We continue to work towards racial justice and equality, as we remember Harriet Tubman (whose day was March 10th) – a strong advocate against slavery, in the U.S., who, after escaping slavery herself, rescued 70 more enslaved people including her family and friends. There is now a push to have her image on the U.S. $20 bill.
We also pause to acknowledge the 60-year anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Alabama, U.S. (March 7, 1965) – when law officials attacked civilians motivated by the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson – a black man shot by a trooper after a civil rights demonstration in nearby Marion, Alabama, U.S.
Sadly, we know that many in our world are still mistreated and not given the same opportunities because of their race, gender, gender identity, sexuality, culture or religion.
We pray for a better world in which all will be who God has truly made them to be and where the gifts of diversity, equity, and inclusion will be fully realized and celebrated.
We continue to pray for the political crises of our world:
For South Korea, where the impeachment proceedings against Yoon Suk Yeol means a pause on the South Korean’s president’s effective foreign policy and further opportunity for North Korea’s leader to increase his regime’s nuclear capabilities. We pray for the country as they continue to face uncertainty and fear following the South Korean President’s declaration of Martial Law on December 3, 2024.
We also lift up the ongoing conflicts, uncertainty and strife in Israel and Palestine, and the ways that it has affected those living in the U.S., such as Mahmoud Khalil – a recent graduate of Columbia University and a green card holder who was arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers over the weekend for participating in a protest against the Israel-Hamas War.
God of Peace, intervene, and give us strength to also be peace-makers in these troubling times.
As we come to the 5th anniversary of the WHO declaring COVID-19 to be a global pandemic (March 11, 2020), we remember those who continue to live with the ongoing impacts of the deadly virus. We lift up those who have lost loved ones, those who live with long-Covid, and those who continue to be immune-comprised.
We consider how COVID has changed our world and our landscape. We pray for areas which were hit the hardest economically – for small businesses and local companies that are still trying to find the resources they need to crawl back up from a deficit.
Lent is a time of reflecting on our own mortality, and COVID definitely gave us this pause – to remember we are finite and only have a limited time on this earth.
And so we pray for all who are facing health challenges and difficulties. For the family of Prince Frederik of Luxembourg, who died of a rare genetic disease at age 22, and for all others who also suffer from rare, unknown or complicated diseases.
We give thanks for Pope Francis’s recovery, and pray that he continues to gain strength.
And we give thanks for the medical advances that have recently allowed children born with leber congenital amaurosis (a rare condition that causes blindness) to see again following pioneering medical research in London, U.K.
In all the heaviness that our world, and Lent can bring, we look forward to the joy of Easter.
And the signs of resurrection we already see around us.
Environmental resurrection of scientists in Australia who are making the world’s first surfboards out of decommissioned wind turbine blades.
And Denmark, where single-used coffee cups are being deposited into a machine that gives change, causing over 735,000 cups to be returned in the past year rather than to end up in landfills.
And the resurrection of empathy in London, U.K., where a butcher helped reunite a three-year-old boy with his stuffed elephant when it went missing.
In this season of Lent when the world feels like it’s in upheaval, let us remember the goodness that still abounds around us.
And let us take heart as the winter turns to spring in the Northern Hemisphere,
And as we feel the nearness of our Creator.
Amen.
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