Pray, study, act: The fourth week of Lent, March 19-25

PRAYER - STUDY - ACTION

Fourth week of Lent, March 19-25

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Dear Greetings!

This month, due in large part to International Women's Day and to it being Women's History Month and our Lenten focus on witness, I've been thinking a lot about the witness of women in Pax Christi USA and the Catholic peace and justice movement. My mentors in this work have largely been women -- from Becky Stringer who first introduced me to Pax Christi as a young man doing a year of service after college in Florida, to the women in whose steps I follow in my role as Executive Director -- Sr. Mary Evelyn Jegen, SNDdeN; Sr. Patty Chappell, SNDdeN; Nancy Small; Sr. Anne McCarthy, osb; and especially, these past few months, Sr. Mary Lou Kownacki, osb. From the women religious who have been the "backbone" of the Catholic peace and justice movement to the lay women who have led us as part of the National Council, served as National Staff members, trained us in anti-racism through the Pax Christi Anti-Racism Team, and who carry the future of this work as participants in the Pax Christi Young Adult Caucus, it has been the witness of women both challenging and nurturing this movement.

This PSA for next week, the fourth week of Lent, is representative of the many ways the witness of women in our movement calls us to prayer, study and action for a world that is more peaceful, more just, more sustainable. For all those women who have challenged us, and for all those who continue to challenge us today, let us give thanks. And let us agitate to bring about that day when our Church mirrors the full leadership of women as we have known it within our own movement.

In peace,

Johnny Zokovitch (he/him)

Executive Director

Pax Christi USA

PRAYER

A Franciscan Prayer for Women (on International Women's Day)

by Deborah Hirt, Franciscans International

Lord, make me an instrument of peace:

Bless all women who daily strive to bring peace to their communities, their homes and their hearts. Give them strength to continue to turn swords into plowshares.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love:

We pray for all women who face prejudice, inequality and gender disparities. Help us to see and to face the discrimination against women in all the many forms it may take.

Where there is injury, pardon:

Comfort all women who suffer from the pain of war, violence, and abuse. Help them to become instruments of their own reconciliation and peace.

Where there is division, unity:

Forgive all women and men who let differences breed hate and discrimination. Let your example of valuing all of creation help us to see that we are equal partners in the stewardship of your world.

Where there is darkness, light; where there is untruth, truth:

Comfort all women who struggle in the darkness of abuse, poverty, and loneliness. May we stand with them in light to acknowledge their suffering and strive to remove the burdens of shame or embarrassment.

Where there is doubt, true faith:

We pray for all women who live in fear of their husbands, fathers, and forces that control their lives. Help them to be empowered to be their true selves through your everlasting love and faith.

Where there is despair, hope:

We pray for all women who live in the despair of poverty, violence, trafficking, slavery, and abuse. May the light of your love bring them hope.

Where there is sadness, new joy:

Help us to see the strength and goodness in all women and men. Transform our hearts to celebrate the love and grace of all people.

And may we be blessed with the courage of St. Clare of Assisi to follow our own path of love for you and all sisters and brothers.

* From the Sisters of St. Francis of the Holy Cross webpage

>> Join Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace Fr. John Dear on Saturday, April 1 for a walk through the various episodes of Jesus’ Holy Week journey of nonviolence to the cross and resurrection. Find out more info and register at this link.

>> Join us Monday, March 20 for a short Lenten prayer service with the Pax Christi USA national community over Zoom. We'll be observing the Solemnity of St. Joseph with a reflection by Michael Howard, co-author of this year's Lent booklet. Service is at 8:30 pm Eastern/5:30 pm Pacific. Click here to register.

STUDY

Women’s role in peacekeeping, peace building, and peace mediation,

A Pax Christi International webinar from March 9th

For the past 10 days, the UN community gathered in New York for the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). As part of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, Pax Christi International hosted a special side event on the role of women in peacekeeping, peace building, and peace mediation, featuring members of the UN Team and Pax Christi member organization leaders from Kenya and Afghanistan. The webinar was held Thursday, March 9. The recording is below (webinar starts at the 4:41 mark).

>> Tune in to the bi-weekly podcast series, The Center, created and produced by the Franciscan Peace Center of the Clinton Franciscans as they explore how active nonviolence and peacemaking are necessary and transformative practices within everyday life. Click here for more info.

ACTION

Organize a public witness lifting up the "Way of the Cross" on Good Friday

Many Pax Christi USA local groups, members, partners and supporters often plan and stage a “Way of the Cross” public witness on Good Friday, connecting the sufferings of Christ during his passion with the suffering caused by violence, greed, poverty, sickness and war. WILL YOU ORGANIZE A WITNESS IN YOUR AREA? There are so many possibilities for witness:

Conduct a "Way of the Cross" in your city or town, praying at key areas as "stations of the cross". See resources on our Lenten webpage at this link (scroll to the bottom once you're on the page).
Spend an hour leafletting or in prayer for peace and justice with signs outside the local office of your Member of Congress.
Organize a "Stations of the Cross" in your parish, incorporating themes of peace and justice into each station. (Hold it earlier during Holy Week if it interferes with your parish's regular stations on Good Friday.)
Gather at a key area dedicated to peace in your community (a peace pole?) and hold a short prayer service for peace.
"Reclaim" a spot in your community that has suffered violence (like somewhere where an act of gun violence took place) and visibly pray for healing, sanctifying the area with holy water and a blessing.
Hold a short, silent march with crosses (think the procession at the School of the Americas demo) or stand in silent witness at a key, busy street corner and have leaflets explaining your silent witness, calling for an end to war, violence, racism, injustice...

>> Let us know of any public witness you have planned for Good Friday by filling out this form. We will post the events here on our Lent 2023 page on our website.

>> This week marks the two year anniversary of the restart of the Central American Minors (CAM) program that allows certain children and family members from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to reunite with their parents or legal guardians in the United States. The Trump administration terminated the program in 2017, leaving thousands of families who applied before then in limbo, most of whom are STILL waiting to be reunited. The U.S. government can and MUST do more to offer safety to Central American children and youth & reunite them with their families. Click here to contact the Biden administration and urge them to invest in rebuilding CAM to be efficient, accessible, and transparent.

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