An Easter message from Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., Bishop-President of Pax Christi USA.

Pax Christi USA has been inviting its members and partners to observe the intersection between faith and justice, spirituality and peace during the Lenten season from early on in our history. The first formal Lenten program I can find in our archives was articulated as a small, unassuming brochure on green paper, entitled “A Call to Conversion: 1981 Lenten Program” and it encouraged Pax Christi USA members to “undertake a program of spiritual reflection and prayer and to examine their attitudes on the arms race in the light of the Scriptures” of the Lenten season. The brochure included resources for the methodology of prayer, study and action which we still embrace and practice today as we approach our 50th anniversary in 2022.

Last year the pandemic struck the U.S. shortly after Lent began. This year, as we continue to navigate the pandemic, as we face an ongoing reckoning with our nation’s legacy of racial injustice, and with the events of the recent election and its aftermath still fresh in our minds, the season of Lent presents the opportunity to root ourselves ever more deeply in discipleship to the nonviolent Jesus, to demonstrate the unbreakable bond that exists between an authentic spirituality and our commitment to social justice, between the proclamation of the gospel and the call to practice peacemaking.

Beginning this Lent and as we go through this year leading up to our 50th anniversary in 2022, we’ll be delving deeply into our history and honoring the people who gave us life, nurtured our growth, and made us into the community we are today, as well as shining a light on how the prayer, study and action we undertake today makes our movement as vital as ever.

2021 LENTEN REFLECTION BOOKLET

Purchase and download this year’s Lenten reflection booklet, The Arc Bends Towards Justice: Reflections for Lent 2021, with reflections based on the daily Scripture readings for every day throughout the season, curated from our 40+ years of Lenten reflection booklets. Only a few paper copies are still available but the e-version can be purchased and downloaded immediately.

REFLECTIONS FOR SUNDAYS AND HOLY DAYS

On this page throughout the season, we’ll be featuring reflections from a variety of authors from our 40+ year history of publishing the Pax Christi USA Lenten reflection booklet. We’ll also be sending our weekly Lenten emails directly to your inbox if you’re subscribed to our free email service. (Click here to sign up if you are not already subscribed to our free email service.) 

PRAY-STUDY-ACT EACH WEEK OF LENT

Each week, we’ll be crafting a special Pray-Study-Act e-bulletin (PSA) with resources for us all to use and to act on in common. Each PSA will be sent out a few days prior to the week to which it refers.

OTHER LENTEN RESOURCES

PC-Metro NY Way of the Cross

SPECIAL EVENTS AND DAYS OF OBSERVANCE

Good Friday Observances

Virtual Way of the Cross for Economic and Ecological Justice, Good Friday, April 2 at 12pm ET – Based on the Economic Way of the Cross, written by the Religious Working Group on the World Bank/IMF, the Way of the Cross for Economic and Ecological Justice provides a prayerful way to walk the steps of Jesus in this time of financial and ecological crisis. This year, it will be a virtual event. Pax Christi USA is a co-sponsor of this event. Each station symbolizes institutional roots of this suffering in government, in transnational corporations, in international financial institutions, in trade agreements, macroeconomic policies, and financial transactions that give shape to economic activity around the world.

Click here to watch video of the prayer service on YouTube.

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Traditionally, many Pax Christi USA local groups plan and stage a “Way of the Cross” event on Good Friday, connecting the sufferings of Christ during his passion with the suffering of our brothers and sisters at the hands of violence, greed, poverty, sickness and war. Because of the pandemic, we are encouraging groups to conduct these events either 1) virtually or 2) in observance of local restrictions in place for the safety and well-being of all, especially the most vulnerable.

Below are resources for groups interested in undertaking a Way of the Cross in their community on Good Friday. Also please let us know if you have a Way of the Cross planned in your community. We will list the names of groups, with contact information, which will be staging a Way of the Cross this year.