March 12. Let them be covered with sackcloth and let them cry mightily to God.   Paula remarked “I’ve never seen anyone putting on sackcloth. It must feel horrible. But that is not the point is it? It is about repentance.  I like the word metanoia.  It is turning back from times when we have abused our own rights and ignored rights of others, person and all of creation too.  I think it is also about responsibility, the opposite of rights. Our family did an exercise on family rights; the right to life, to a house, and lots of stuff that doesn’t all apply to me yet now, but I do have to be responsible for how to use my time and my money.“    

Reflect, share and act. Scripture: The king made a proclamation: “let neither man nor beast taste anything, let them not feed or drink but let them be covered with sackcloth and let them cry mightily to God: let him turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows God may yet repent and turn from his fierce anger.” God saw what they did and did not do what he said he would do to them. Jonah 3:1-10   Pope Francis:  Together with our obligation to use the earth’s goods responsibly we are called to recognize that other living beings have a value of their own in God’s eyes as they bless him and give him glory.’  By virtue of our unique dignity and our gift of intelligence, we are called to respect creation and its inherent laws, for the Lord by wisdom founded the earth. LS 69.  JUBILEE.  In our Journey as Pilgrims of Hope let us return to Scripture that speaks to us in these words: “May we who have taken refuge in him be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered” (Heb 6:18- 20). The image of the anchor is eloquent; it helps us to recognize the stability and security that is ours amid the troubled waters of this life, provided we entrust ourselves to the Lord Jesus.  SNC 25. Choose an act of love and sacrifice from the list, also published at www.marfam.org.za/lent   

Pray for the family of creation. Father, you made us, your creatures custodians of our earth. We not only inherit it from our ancestors but we borrow it from our children. Guide lord, to act responsibly, to guard your each for them, with the integrity and care it deserves. Amen