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wisdom wed questionsAs we continue on our Lenten journey with Jesus, we would do well to pay attention to the words of social justice pioneer Catherine Doherty:

 “There are ways of being crucified that do not involve rough wood or heavy nails, but a love beyond our capacity to love, which means a love that has been given to us by God…”

As I read these words, I imagined parents living in poverty unable to give their children enough to eat, or living in countries at war unable to protect their children amid the destruction around them, or parents on the move carrying their little ones on their shoulders seeking a better, safer life.

This is a capacity for love that it is hard for us to imagine without being in the dire circumstances of these parents, and yet, we are all called beyond ourselves to care for those on the margins.

St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises invites us to gaze on Jesus crucified and ask ourselves:

  1. What have I done for Christ?
  2. What am I doing for Christ?
  3. What will I do for Christ?"

Jon Sobrino, a Jesuit liberation theologian, sees Jesus’ passion and death, not as a one-time event in history but as an ongoing cycle in the lives of the poor, oppressed and marginalized. He recommends that we gaze on those suffering in our world and ask ourselves those same three questions.

Can we risk asking for this same God-given capacity to love as Jesus showed on his journey and that we witness in so many courageous people in our world today?

Sister Rosemary Fry


Previous Wisdom Wednesdays

Out of deep respect for those who have cared for these lands since time immemorial, we are committed to tread lightly on the land, protect water as sacred, and affirm our desire for right relations with all Indigenous Peoples. - From our CSJ Land Acknowledgement

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