A Lenten Journey Guide for the Use of Communities and Apostolates

A Lenten Journey Guide for the Use of Communities and Apostolates

Prepared by the JPCCS Team of the Philippine-Thailand Province

A LENTEN JOURNEY

FROM COSMIC DUST TO EASTER GARDEN

Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth,

who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

St. Francis of Assisi

Diarmuid O’Murchu says: ‘Lent is a time not for giving up but for taking on, a time to be re-connected with a heart that has been made tender by truth. Contrary to an asceticism that diminishes, Quantum Grace (by Judy Cannato) invites us to an aestheticism that enlarges the horizons of our journey into God’.

Lent is an ideal season to care for God’s earth and take action that will honour Christ’s teachings to work on behalf of the most vulnerable. Let us engage into the spiritual discipline of putting compassion into action, allowing ourselves to reconnect with the Cosmic Christ, journey from cosmic dust to easter garden.

Lenten Journey Guide:

40 Simple Ways to Fast and Feast for God’s Creation
ASH WEDNESDAY (SOIL)

“We are not only from Earth’s dust, we are from stardust!”

LENT, WEEK ONE (WATER)

Desert Journey: Present Day Challenges and Temptations (Evangelii Gaudium)

LENT, WEEK TWO (AIR)

Climbing: Breath within our breath

LENT, WEEK THREE (EARTH COMMUNITY)

At Jacob’s Well: An experience of a “field of compassion”

LENT, WEEK FOUR (LIGHT)

Cosmological meaning of sacrifice

LENT, WEEK FIVE (EUCHARISTIC ECOLOGY)

The new story and a vision of the wholeness of the planet

Go; accompany Jesus in His Paschal Journey to Easter!

40 Simple Ways to Fast and Feast for God’s Creation

We are called both to attend to the sacredness of Creation and to respond to it by active participation in the protection of Creation. This list uses the metaphors of feasting and fasting to invite both these elements of caring for Creation into our Lenten observance.

Feast on the beauty of this day by glancing up every time you go outdoors.
Fast from spending money on consumer purchases.
Feast on the goodness of God by giving thanks for your life and your sustenance before each meal.
Fast from heavily processed “junk” foods.
Feast on God’s creativity by watching with interest the uniqueness of insects or critters that cross you path today.
Fast from unnecessary water waste by placing a bucket in your shower to catch extra water (and then use it in the place of a toilet flush!)
Feast on the blessing of water by offering a prayer of thanks to God each time you wash your hands or drink from the tap.
Fast from extra packaging by purchasing in bulk and/or bringing your own bags to the store.
Feast on the blessing of community by practicing random acts of kindness to the people around you.
Fast from disposable coffee cups or water bottles by carrying your own.
Feast on accessible services by thanking the appropriate party for recycling programs.
Fast from individual automobile use for any destination in easy walking, bicycling, or public transit distance.
Feast on the outdoors by taking a walk.
Fast from energy use by eating meals that don’t require cooking.
Feast on the richness of God’s word by reading Scripture with a lens of eco-justice.
Fast from eating meat which consumes much of the world’s resources.
Feast on foods lower on the food chain such as whole grains and vegetables.
Fast from purchases at national chains by shopping at local stores.
Feast on the light of God by having one meal by candlelight.
Fast from television.
Feast on the beauty of community by calling or visiting with a loved one.
Fast from extra energy use by adjusting your thermostat when you will be away for more than a few hours.
Feast on local agriculture by finding out the location of the closest farm stand, farmers’ market, or grocery stocking local produce (and then supporting it!)
Fast from giving consumer products as gifts and instead give donations or subscriptions on someone’s behalf to worthwhile organizations.
Feast on fair trade by purchasing fairly traded chocolates, coffees, and teas when planning for Easter baskets or brunches.
Fast from household chemicals by using vinegar, baking soda, soap, and hot water to clean and disinfect.
Feast on simple public policy advocacy opportunities.
Fast from turning on—and leaving on—unnecessary lighting fixtures.
Feast on the blessing of plants by watering, weeding, or attending to household or outdoor plants.
Fast from running the dishwasher or washing machine when not full.
Feast on the companionship of animals by giving extra attention to your, or others’, pets.
Fast from driving by combining the week’s various errands and trips.
Feast on news, resources, ideas, and models for Restoring Creation.
Fast from energy and water use by taking a lukewarm shower and turning off the water while soaping up.
Feast on the support given to the church.
Fast from unnecessary future purchases by saving and re-using envelops, jars, paper bags, and scrap paper.
Feast on sun and air by line-drying clothing.
Fast from excess drag on your car which decreases fuel efficiency, by unloading extra weight, keeping air pressure correct in tires, and keeping the car clean.
Feast on the solidness and feeling of earth by walking barefoot.
Fast from apocalyptic environmental thinking and despair—focus instead on the Good News that God creates, redeems, and sustains the Creation and we are called to be responsible, awe-filled caretakers alongside God.

Living in Lent, Caring for Creation. Created by Presbyterians for Restoring Creation (PRC), a nationwide network that cares for God’s Creation by Connecting, Equipping, and Inspiring. Join us at or call 415-451-2826.

Ash Wednesday

(Source: SPIRITUALITY OF SOIL: A Lenten Journey from Cosmic Dust to Easter Garden Produced by Terri MacKenzie, SHCJ, who thanks Nancy Frommelt, OSF, Thomas J. Murphy, Ph.D., and all who contributed to Spirituality of Soil.)

I. Introduction

Reflect on the idea that you are made of dust and to dust you shall return. What feelings and thoughts arise for you? How might this shape your relationship to God’s creation?

Scripture excerpts:

O Lord, bless these ashes by which we show that we are dust. (Ash Wednesday Liturgy)

I have now brought you the first fruits of the products of the soil which you, O Lord, have given me. (Deut. 26: 9)

II. Input

We are not only from Earth’s dust, we are from stardust! Dust and gases from the explosion of a dying star about five billion years ago came together and attracted more particles. Required elements for life, like carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, came from that star. About 3 - 3.7 billion years ago it became the only planet we know that has a living skin: soil/dirt/earth. All present components of life were birthed from ones already existing. God’s creation continued — and continues — to evolve and diversify. The divine Life Source has been living and acting in our planet from its beginning! As for returning to dust, we are already doing that! Dust is composed partly of the dead skin every person sheds daily. Can you think of anything on Earth that does not trace back to stardust?

The second Genesis creation story (Genesis 2:7) reminds us that we come from E/earth, the actual soil. The Latin word for soil is "humus," from which comes "humility." The Hebrew meaning of "Adam" is "earth." Many of us grew up with dualistic thought patterns. This made it easy to think of humans as totally separate from (and better than) the rest of God’s creation. We are now becoming more aware that we, with our distinct abilities and responsibilities, are kin with the rest of creation. We are dependent on the web of life, as was Jesus. Can you think of any life form not dependent on soil/dirt?

God clothes Mother Earth with soil/dirt for food, flowers, seeds, herbs, and trees; for filtering water and controlling water runoff; for habitat and migration routes for various species; for recycling all organics; and for the incredibly complex life that exists within the soil. (A 3 handful of forest soil can contain up to 10 billion bacteria, about a million plump yeasts and fungi, and tens of thousands of other creatures!) How awesome is dirt! Mighty trees are eventually reduced to soil. How vital for us and future generations of all life!

Only 12% of Earth’s land area is suitable for human habitation because of climate extremes and water availability. The whole world loses acres of soil every minute from cropland because of improper management, deforestation, overgrazing, and industrial activity. Much land is covered with asphalt and cement. It takes more than a century for less than an inch of soil to be formed, assuming the required conditions are present. We cannot make it!

Without healthy soil (and water and sun), we could not have bread or wine for Eucharist.

Soil deserves our reverence and care because of God's presence within it, its life-giving properties, and its sacramental role.

III. What is God saying to us?

God has also given us the soil and its fruits in order to enrich our understanding of God's living and acting in us and in our world. What soil/growth stories in Scripture, especially from Jesus, give us similes and metaphors that we use for God? for messages about the spiritual life? How

could you describe yourself as soil?

IV. For Lent this week

If possible, place a container of soil as your centerpiece at home/room during Lent. Become more aware of your interconnectedness with the whole communion of being that dates to stardust and exists in God's love.

Reflect: How can I help God keep my "soil" healthy this Lent?

V. Closing

Take turns blessing one another’s palms for this year's Lent, with the following verses:

TOUCH THE EARTH WITH GENTLENESS
TOUCH THE EARTH WITH LOVE
TOUCH HER WITH A FUTURE
BY THE WAY YOU LIVE TODAY
GOD HAS GIVEN US THE POWER
TO CREATE THE WORLD ANEW
IF WE TOUCH THE EARTH TOGETHER ... Me & You.

Song by Kathy Sherman, CSJ

VI. Suggestion for deepening – Watch Dirt! The Movie

LENT, WEEK ONE

I. Introduction

Scripture excerpt:

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. (Lk. 4. 1)

JOURNEY INTO THE DESERT

(Source: Marianne Dorman)

“That wonderful poet/priest of the seventeenth century, George Herbert, spoke of Lent as a Feast. “Welcome dear feast of Lent: who loves not thee,” he begins his poem. Most of us have been brought up to treat Lent as a time of penance and fasting. When Herbert wrote his poem Lent was indeed kept properly as a fasting and penitential time. So why would he refer to it as a feast?

We always associate a feast with joy and even anticipation; accordingly we anticipate Lent with joy because we know it is that gifted time to leave bad habits behind, whatever these may be and try to inculcate better ones.

One theme for Lent is journeys. What does a journey suggest? One of the things it does is to conjure in our minds of wanting to make it and achieve something from it.

Our first journey is going to take us to the desert. Why? One reason is as we shall discover in listening to the Gospel is that our Lord did it Himself.”

II. Input

You must cross the desert and dwell in it to receive the grace of God. It is here that one drives out everything that is not God. The soul needs to enter into this silent, this recollection, this forgetfulness of all created things by which God establishes his rule in it and forms within it the life of the spirit, the life of intimacy with God, the conversation of the soul with God in faith, hope and charity. - Charles de Foucald

The Holy Father, Pope Francis, in his APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION EVANGELII GAUDIUM, shares about present day challenges and temptations:

I. Some challenges of today’s world

52. In our time humanity is experiencing a turning-point in its history, as we can see from the advances being made in so many fields… At the same time we have to remember that the majority of our contemporaries are barely living from day to day, with dire consequences. A number of diseases are spreading. The hearts of many people are gripped by fear and desperation, even in the so-called rich countries. The joy of living frequently fades, lack of respect for others and violence are on the rise, and inequality is increasingly evident. It is a struggle to live and, often, to live with precious little dignity… We are in an age of knowledge and information, which has led to new and often anonymous kinds of power.

No to an economy of exclusion

53. …Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape.

Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded…

54. … To sustain a lifestyle which excludes others, or to sustain enthusiasm for that selfish ideal, a globalization of indifference has developed. Almost without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though all this were someone else’s responsibility and not our own. The culture of prosperity deadens us; we are thrilled if the market offers us something new to purchase. In the meantime all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us.

No to the new idolatry of money

55. One cause of this situation is found in our relationship with money, since we calmly accept its dominion over ourselves and our societies. The current financial crisis can make us overlook the fact that it originated in a profound human crisis: the denial of the primacy of the human person!... The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption.

56. …The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a deified market, which become the only rule.

II. Temptations faced by pastoral workers

Yes to the challenge of a missionary spirituality

78. Today we are seeing in many pastoral workers, including consecrated men and women, an inordinate concern for their personal freedom and relaxation, which leads them to see their work as a mere appendage to their life, as if it were not part of their very identity. At the same time, the spiritual life comes to be identified with a few religious exercises which can offer a certain comfort but which do not encourage encounter with others, engagement with the world or a passion for evangelization. As a result, one can observe in many agents of evangelization, even though they pray, a heightened individualism, a crisis of identity and a cooling of fervour. These are three evils which fuel one another.

79. At times our media culture and some intellectual circles convey a marked scepticism with regard to the Church’s message, along with a certain cynicism. As a consequence, many pastoral workers, although they pray, develop a sort of inferiority complex which leads them to relativize or conceal their Christian identity and convictions. This produces a vicious circle. They end up being unhappy with who they are and what they do; they do not identify with their mission of evangelization and this weakens their commitment. They end up stifling the joy of mission with a kind of obsession about being like everyone else and possessing what everyone else possesses. Their work of evangelization thus becomes forced, and they devote little energy and very limited time to it.

80. Pastoral workers can thus fall into a relativism which, whatever their particular style of spirituality or way of thinking, proves even more dangerous than doctrinal relativism. It has to do with the deepest and inmost decisions that shape their way of life. This practical relativism consists in acting as if God did not exist, making decisions as if the poor did not exist, setting goals as if others did not exist, working as if people who have not received the Gospel did not exist. It is striking that even some who clearly have solid doctrinal and spiritual convictions frequently fall into a lifestyle which leads to an attachment to financial security, or to a desire for power or human glory at all cost, rather than giving their lives to others in mission. Let us not allow ourselves to be robbed of missionary enthusiasm!