Holy Week reflections are from this year’s Lenten reflection booklet, The Beauty We Must Hold Fast To: Reflections for Lent 2022. Click here to see all reflections from throughout the Lenten season. Today’s reflection is written by Anne McCarthy, OSB, Pax Christi USA’s national coordinator from 1991-94.
reflection for Holy SaturDAY, APRIL 16, 2022
by Anne McCarthy, OSB
~ READINGS FOR THE EASTER VIGIL MASS ~
Genesis 1:1-2:2 | Genesis 22:1-18 | Exodus 14:15-15:1 | Isaiah 54:5-14 | Isaiah 55:1-11
Baruch 3:9-15, 32-4:4 | Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28 | Romans 6:3-11 | Luke 24:1-12
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. (Lk 24:2-3)
Jesus was buried in a stone tomb in a garden. The compelling urgency of the dead Human One to come to even fuller life, to love even more universally, was made in that dark place of silence and mystery.
Soil teems with life, sustains life and composts what is dead and dying in a process of regeneration. The stark reality today is that the soil of our planet is endangered, in many places, lifeless and dead. Killed by persistent pesticide use, by drought & fires followed by eroding floods.
Soil that is dead can regenerate in a long, natural process. Indigenous communities can teach us to collaborate with natural processes, to stop destructive abuse of the land, to honor natural rhythms, to restore native plant species and animal habitats, to use regenerative ways of growing food for all. Dead soil, tended and cared for and treated with respect and dignity as a treasured gift from our sacred mother earth, can resurrect. It begins in relationship, in an awareness that we are not separate from the soil.
FOR REFLECTION:
- How might you cooperate in regeneration of what has died?
- How do you participate in resurrection?
>> Click here to see more resources for prayer, study and action from this Lenten season.
Anne McCarthy, OSB was the national coordinator of Pax Christi USA from 1991-94. She coordinates the online Monasteries of the Heart communities, co-facilitates the Listening Hearts program & is the resource person for Monasteries of the Heart in prisons. She coordinates Benedictines for Peace, leads retreats on nonviolence & monastic spirituality and has been an active member of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative.
Hello Anne,
After too many years of no contact, it is a great joy to see your photo and greet you. How wonderful, your many years of faithful, loving, creative work with the Pax Christi community and your own Benedict’s sisters, of course. You are gift to so many. On my part, I’m 95, in good health, living in a retirement community in the City of Philadelphia and “hanging in” as best I can. Gratitude for LIFE fills my being and rich memories of so many wonderful people whom I have met along the road. Pax Christi friends will always warm my heart and memory. Blessings on your work and journey, Anne.
Jane Blewett (JaneVblewett@gmail.com)