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Third Week of Lent, March 23-29, 2014
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This PSA e-bulletin (Pray-Study-Act) is for next week, the third week of the 2014 Lenten season. Past PSAs, which include still relevant prayers and action items, can be found on our Lent 2014 webpage where we are archiving all of our Lenten resources. I want to especially call your attention to the action item in this week's PSA. Each year, Pax Christi USA local groups plan and carry out Way of the Cross witnesses on Good Friday. We hope you'll consider doing one in your area; we'd be glad to list your event on the Lent page where you can also find resources for how to do one of these extraordinary actions.
In peace,
Johnny Zokovitch
Director of Communications, Pax Christi USA
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| PRAY: Lord, Open Our Eyes | | |
by Kathryn Spink
Lord, open our eyes,
that we may see you in our brothers and sisters.
Lord, open our ears,
that we may hear the cries of the hungry, the cold, the frightened, the oppressed.
Lord, open our hearts,
that we may love each other as you love us.
Renew in us your spirit
Lord, free us and make us one. Amen.
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STUDY:
Reflection for the Third Sunday of Lent
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By Alain Richard, ofm and Julia Occhiogrosso
Ex 17:3-7 | Rom 5:1-8 | Jn 4:5-42
The thirst to be free from lies and barriers that separate us Water. Sister Water, as St. Francis called her, is such a precious gift! We who live in Nevada have to remind our visitors to carry plenty of water when they go into the desert. Thirst comes quickly, and forgetting one's canteen could be fatal. In our Old Testament reading, Moses was about to be stoned by his own thirsty people. He was saved when God directed him to an abundant spring.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well far from her home. She had to walk carrying her heavy load, probably more than once a day.
Starting from her daily experience, Jesus awakens her thirst for a life really free. At first he shows his own freedom in the face of a very common separation. "You are a Jew. How can you ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?" Jews were at odds with Samaritans - and she was a woman! Jesus violates these barriers. He risks breaking the rules of his society because she needs to be freed at a deeper level. He shows her the reality of the situation in which she lives. He touches the spot which needs healing. He frees her from the ambiguity of her life...
To read the rest of this reflection, click here.
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ACT: Plan a Good Friday Way of the Cross
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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, racism and war. Last year, over 30 Pax Christi groups hosted these events in their communities. On the website, we have posted numerous resources for groups interested in undertaking a Way of the Cross in their community on Good Friday. The guides featured on the site can be used as-is or function as a template for you to plan your own action and witness.
Click here (then scroll to the bottom of the page) to see resources for designing a Way of the Cross action.
Also please let us know if you have a Way of the Cross planned in your community. We will list on the website the names of groups, with contact information, which will be staging a Way of the Cross this year. Please send your information to me at jzokovitch@paxchristiusa.org.
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