Lent 2013: Pray - Study - Act
In This Issue
PRAY: Prayer for the World
STUDY: Reflection for Palm/Passion Sunday
ACT: Lenten actions from previous PSA e-bulletins
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Holy Week, March 24-30, 2013
Greetings of peace!  
 
cross 2012

This will be the final Prayer-Study-Action e-bulletin for Lent 2013. During Holy Week, we'll send reflections to you early each morning for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. We hope that these resources have helped you in your Lenten journey, deepening the experience of the season for yourself, your family, your local group and community. If you missed any resource and want to find it, you can visit our Lenten page by clicking here where all of them are posted. 

 

May the peace of Christ be with you during your observance of Holy Week. 

 

In peace,

Johnny Zokovitch
Director of Communications, Pax Christi USA
PRAY: Prayer for the World 
by Rabbi Harold Kushner

 

Let the rain come and wash away

the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds

held and nurtured over generations.

Let the rain wash away the memory

of the hurt, the neglect.

Then let the sun come out and

fill the sky with rainbows.

Let the warmth of the sun heal us

wherever we are broken.

Let it burn away the fog so that

we can see each other clearly.

So that we can see beyond labels,

beyond accents, gender or skin color.

Let the warmth and brightness

of the sun melt our selfishness.

So that we can share the joys and

feel the sorrows of our neighbors.

And let the light of the sun

be so strong that we will see all

people as our neighbors.

Let the earth, nourished by rain,

bring forth flowers

to surround us with beauty.

And let the mountains teach our hearts

to reach upward to heaven. Amen.

STUDY: Reflection for Palm/Passion Sunday

By Wes Howard-Brook and Sue Ferguson Johnson

  

Lk 19:28-40 | Is 50:4-7 | Phil 2:6-11 | Lk 22:14-23:56

 

The stage is set. As Jesus enters Jerusalem for his final confrontation with the Powers, the city sizzles with expectation. The oppressed masses think they have found the Davidic messiah for whom they've long hoped. The authorities await the right moment to have Jesus destroyed once and for all. Jesus' disciples, hopeful but probably also confused, aren't sure what will happen.

    Jesus, amidst it all, knows who he is. Unlike the first humans, he will not grasp for divinity. Unlike Caesar, he will not proclaim himself a holy king. Instead, Jesus shucks all previous understandings of power and status: "Taking the form of a slave ... he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross" (Phil 2:7-8). Today's excerpt from Philippians is one of the earliest hymns to Jesus known to the church. It celebrates Jesus' self-emptying obedience which leads directly to his divine exaltation as Lord of all.

    Holy Week invites us to linger with the mystery of Jesus' life, death and resurrection laid out before us. As we begin the final leg of our Lenten journey, we are called to slow down, even to stop if we can, and to meditate with awe and trembling at the sacred overturning of everything the world deems true, important, successful. We are called to witness the stunning power that flows from completely letting go of everything that is "ours" in order to receive everything that is God's...

  

ACT: For Holy Week, participate in one of Pax Christi USA's recommended Lenten actions

Throughout Lent, we have been recommending possible actions in each of our weekly Pray-Study-Act e-bulletins. If you have not been able to undertake these actions up to now, consider this week as an opportunity to revisit and participate in one of these actions: