2019 JPIC Lenten Letter – USA

I pray this finds you well and filled with the peace of the Lord!

Well, it is that glorious time of year again! Our Seraphic Father Francis said that for us, Lent is all year round. Aren’t we blessed that for these six weeks, Holy Mother Church will share it with us!

During Lent, we are asked to devote ourselves to doing three things: to seek the Lord in prayer and Scripture reading, to serve by giving alms, and to sacrifice self-control through fasting. (USCCB) Again, I humbly invite us to faithfully and mindfully observe all three.

Pope Francis writes in his 2019 Lenten Message: “Fasting is learning to change our attitude towards others and all of creation, turning away from the temptation to ‘devour’ everything to satisfy our voracity and being ready to suffer for love, which can fill the emptiness of our hearts. Prayer, which teaches us to abandon idolatry and the self-sufficiency of our ego, and to acknowledge our need of the Lord and his mercy.”

Read the Holy Father’s 2019 Lenten Message:

https://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/lent/documents/papa-francesco_20181004_messaggio-quaresima2019.html.

Please find attached some goodies for your Lenten pleasure. Again, I include my Lenten Season of Peace for you and your fraternity members to mindfully fast and feast. I also include Lenten calendars from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and the Michigan Interfaith Power and Light, who, this year, is replacing the usual Carbon Fast with a Water Fast. No, you are not giving up water for 40 days; but to be more mindful about your use of God’s precious gift of water. I also invite you to check out more Lenten resources from the USCCB https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/lent/index.cfm and Catholic Relief Services, https://www.crsricebowl.org/. Following the lead of Pope Francis, CRS Rice Bowl invites Catholics across the country to take part in Share the Journey (https://www.sharejourney.org), a global campaign launched by the pope to raise awareness and inspire action on behalf of migrants and refugees worldwide. All wonderful resources to animate and guide you to a deeper and more mindful experience with our Lord and all of creation in this blessed season of joy.

“… I was thirsty and you gave me drink…” (Matthew 25:35)

Article 15 of our Holy Rule states: “Let them individually and collectively be in the forefront in promoting justice by the testimony of their human lives and their courageous initiatives. Especially in the field of public life, they should make definite choices in harmony with their faith.”

Our Holy Father continues: “Almsgiving, whereby we escape from the insanity of hoarding everything for ourselves in the illusory belief that we can secure a future that does not belong to us. And thus to rediscover the joy of God’s plan for creation and for each of us, which is to love him, our brothers and sisters, and the entire world, and to find in this love our true happiness.”

One such courageous initiative where we can give alms is our annual Lenten H2O Project, an international project to promote Christian solidarity, advocacy and financial support for poor communities in developing nations who have no access to clean drinking water.

For two weeks in Lent, abstain from drinking any beverage except water – preferably tap water, and set aside any money normally spent on sodas and Starbucks.  In solidarity with our brothers and sisters who do not even have clean water to drink, we increase our connections and responsibility to poor communities and God’s Creation. You can choose to give individually or collectively with your families, fraternities or faith communities.

Please send all contributions to the H2O Lenten Project 2019, c/o Claudia Kauzlarich, 2007 Maverick Trail Harrisonville, MO 64701-1545. Make the check payable to NAFRA– with H20 Project in the memo line.

The recipient of H2O Lenten Project 2018 donations went to TOTHENATIONS, a missionary project by our brother Stephen Smith, OFS, who leads mission trips to Africa and Latin America to perform spiritual works of mercy. Stephen’s mission serves a three-fold purpose: a twinning project with the need for clean water by a Secular Franciscan. How great is our God! I thank you in advance for your generous contributions and prayers for all people in need of clean water.

SAVE THE DATE: Our National Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Gathering will be at the Marianist Retreat and Conference Center in St. Louis, MO beginning with dinner on Thursday, August 29^th and concluding on Sunday, September 1^st. Registration will open in April. Watch your inbox for more details.

Also, be sure to check out our official National Secular Franciscan Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pg/SecFranUSA) where we will be posting Lenten thoughts and practices, Scripture passages, and other ways to make your Lenten journey more intentional and mindful.

I wish you all a very blessed and peace-filled Lenten season!