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Honor the 'mothers' of early Christianity during Women's History Month
… in Cappadocia. Egeria meticulously chronicled the liturgical practices in Jerusalem during Lent, Holy Week, Eastertide and Pentecost. Her diary is valuable to scholars since it provides …
Live: Soul Seeing for Lent with Sr. Joan Chittister
… about Lenten spirituality. Background reading: In her column on NCR, Chittister writes : "Lent is not about giving up our adult candy or immersing ourselves in pain. Lent is about being honest with ourselves, changing what needs to change in our lives, making our … season by clicking here . Mark your calendar for the last conversation in our Soul Seeing for Lent series: March 31 with Franciscan Fr. Richard Rohr The conversation will be held at 2:30 …
Space, time, change, reflection: Lent as it should be
… Joan Chittister … This is going to be a COVID-19 kind of Lent, and that may be one of the best things that ever happens to our spiritual lives. COVID-19 … core of us, have shown us our own limitations, our own needs, as no "what-shall-I-give-up-for-Lent" game can ever do. COVID-19 has also taught us a form of patience. When there is no end … the future? And if so, what will that demand of me then? No doubt about it: This is COVID-19 Lent, 2021. But the real truth is that we get a touch of this kind of time every year — and we …
A Climate-Conscious Lent: India chokes on its air
See:, Air quality in South Asian countries — especially northern India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh — is among the worst in the world, as Berkeley Earth's real-time global air pollution map shows. Hundreds of millions of people in India alone are exposed to particulate concentrations far exceeding World Health Organization threshold recommendations. Air pollution in the country resulted in 1.67…, Judge:, Patriarch Bartholomew … has [said]: 'For human beings … to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life — these are sins.' For 'to commit a…, Act:, Imagine living in a place where your eyes sting or your throat is irritated constantly and makes you cough, and you cannot escape from it. Invite an expert from a local environmental health group or other knowledgeable entity to explain about your local air control and quality. Inform your friends, parishioners or school about your air quality.
Full service disciples
… baptism we are incorporated into Jesus as members of his body. We are Christ in the world. Lent is more than a penitential season to focus our faith; it is to prepare us to participate …
A Climate-Conscious Lent: Healthy food for people and the planet
See:, A complex food system — which includes production, transportation, processing, packaging, storage, wholesale and retail sale, as well as consumption, loss and waste — feeds most of the people in the world and provides an income for more than 1 billion people, according to a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . But although food production per capita has increased over the…, Judge:, Obsession with a consumerist lifestyle, above all when few people are capable of maintaining it, can only lead to violence and mutual destruction. (Laudato Si', 204) [There] is a minority [that] believes it has the right to consume in a way which can never be universalized, since the planet could not even contain the waste products of such consumption. Besides, we know that approximately a third…, Act:, Think what would happen to plants if a greenhouse became overheated. Tell the companies from which you buy food that you want "greener" — local and organic —products. Plan and implement ways to save water in your home or at your church. Eat less red meat and fewer dairy products. Check out the carbon footprint of foods and encourage low-carbon snacks, emphasizing vegetable and fruits over more…
What we've lost in a pandemic year
… affiliation. As I write this column, we are about halfway through one of the strangest Lents ever, one in which many of us were encouraged not to give anything up, since so much had …
It's Laetare Sunday: Here is the 2021 Laetare Medal recipient
… the Apollo Theater. The Laetare Medal is announced on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent. The medal bears the Latin inscription, "Magna est veritas et praevalebit" ("Truth is …
Don't forget me
… … “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:15). … Fourth Sunday of Lent … 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23 ; Ps 137; Eph 2:4-10; John 3:14-21 Don McClean’s evocative song, “By … fidelity will restore them once again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTnspbSjKVc Midway in Lent, we pause like the Hebrews in the desert to rejoice (Laetare) because of our rescue from the …
Fourth Sunday of Lent: Relax and rejoice
… show the vulnerable defenseless. It also reflects the theme of Laetare Sunday when the mood of Lent is interrupted with invitations to rejoice, be joyful, exult, and be content. The invitations to rejoice in the middle of Lent sing in a different key from the jubilant songs of Christmas or Easter. Our first reading, … It is the gift of God. This is our reason for rejoicing on Laetare Sunday. We may have started Lent with hopes, as St. Teresa of Kolkata might say, to "do something beautiful for God." But …
How 'WandaVision' can teach us this Lent
… Wanda to the events of "WandaVision" — haunts so many of us all around the world. What does Lent have to do with any of this? Lenten spirituality — built upon prayer, fasting and almsgiving …