Lent: a time to pray, fast and give alms

As Canadian Franciscans we can support three worthwhile initiatives during Lent:

    1. Prayer
        The Way, or Stations, of the Cross

One way to link Franciscan JPIC concerns and values with a traditional form of prayer embedded in Franciscan tradition is the Way or Stations of the Cross. Blessed John Paul II introduced a new form of this prayer, called the Scriptural Way of the Cross on Good Friday 1991.This form is actually more in keeping with the OFS Rule which “adapts the Secular Franciscan Order to the needs and expectations of the Holy Church in the conditions of changing times.” (n. 3) and which also tells us to go “from gospel to life and life to gospel” (n. 4)

As the Commissariat of the Holy Land in Canada says: “The journey undertaken by Jesus during his Passion can inspire communities to discern connections between world events and what Jesus suffered with so much patience and dignity.” Scriptural Reflective Ways of the Cross, in solidarity with the minores, is a good way to do this.

By going from gospel to life, by reflecting on actual situations of injustice, by listening to the cry of the poor & cry of the earth, by prayer and engaging in concrete actions in solidarity with the poor and creation we can try to live our OFS Rule.

Recommended are the forms presented by Franciscans International (FI)I; Commissariat of the Holy Land in Canada and CCODP:

1. FI’s can be found here (below another good JPIC prayer: 7 Last Words of Jesus)
2. The Commissariat of the Holy Land in Canada’s can be found here
3. The CCODP’s is here. Click on Solidarity Booklet and you will find it.

 
2. Fasting

The Development & Peace/ Caritas Fast (and maybe also a fundraiser)

3. Almsgiving

• The Canadian member of Caritas Internationalis, Development and Peace is participating in its global anti-hunger campaign, One Human Family, Food for All, which seeks to bring an end to world hunger. It is the central theme of  the 2014 Share Lent campaign.

• The Good Friday Pontifical Collection for the Holy Land sponsored by the Commissariat of the Holy Land in Canada (which was founded in Trois-Rivières in 1888 by Blessed Frédéric Janssoone, O.F.M. and established permanently in Ottawa in 1919).

Wishing you all a fruitful Lent.
Pax et Bonum,
Andrew Conradi, ofs
National JPIC Animator, Canada.