|
Greetings!,
Below, you'll find a reflection for today, the Second Sunday of Lent, by author Rev. Joseph Healey, MM.
We have also set up a page for Lent 2013 on the site where we will archive reflections throughout the season and organize additional resources for individuals and groups, including prayers, prayer services, action opportunities--including Pax Christi International's Bread is Life campaign, and information on undertaking a Way of the Cross event for Good Friday. You can find the page by clicking here.
____________
REFLECTION FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT
By Rev. Joseph Healey, MM
Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 | Philippians 3:17-4:1 | Luke 9:28-36
"Abram put his faith in God." ~Genesis 15:6
 Thomas met me in the parking lot of the office of the Bishops' Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. He had just fled from Torit in Southern Sudan. He told me his sad, sad story as a political refugee. He was thirty-four years-old. Since Thomas was a one year-old, his whole life had been spent surrounded by the turmoil of a civil war.
His story went like this. Sudan gained independence in 1956. Thomas was born in Southern Sudan in 1957. In 1958 there was an Army coup. Over the next 15 years, there were a series of military coups, popular uprisings and economic crises. In 1983 there was a redivision in the South, the outbreak of civil war, the formation of the SPLA (Sudan People's Liberation Army) and the introduction of Islamic law.
Thomas was caught in the tragic civil war in the South. He was separated from his wife and three children. Even today he doesn't know if they are alive or dead. Thomas moved around to different places until he finally fled to Nairobi....
|
