Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday, another week into the Season of Lent. During this time to reflect and ponder, we offer a challenge to forgive enemies, a daughter’s struggle with her mother and the priest she called Dad, a reflection for Purim and a call to end violence against Palestinians, glitter ashes for queer Catholics, an examination of pronatalism and whether having babies is good for the state, and an examination of the Christian Reconstructionists’ understanding of “Trump the Savior-King.” Views expressed are of the authors.
Lent
Guest Contributor Barbara Molinari Quinby offers a weekly item, Justice Bulletin Board; This week, her reflection is on the Scripture readings for the Second Sunday of Lent.
At Today’s American Catholic, Michael Centore offers a reflection for Lent that you may find extremely difficult. Citing the Gospel account of the temptation of Jesus in the desert, he says the challenge is to pray for your enemies. Centore cites a Byzantine hymn, in part, forgive all who hate and maltreat us and let not one of them perish because of us. Here is the challenge that may need more than all the days of Lent.
AUSCP friend Bob Stewart points out that all daily and Sunday readings are available from the U.S. bishops’ website.
Catholic women go on Lenten strike to highlight their work in the church. Religion News Service reports that the Synod on Synodality disappointed many women’s hopes that it would recognize women’s essential role in the church. A women’s strike, they hope, will make their point. Organized by the Women’s Ordination Conference, a 50-year-old group based in Rome that advocates for women to be made priests, bishops and deacons, the Catholic Women Strike is planned to go through Easter, April 20.
A student group at a public university in Kansas on Ash Wednesday sponsored a distribution of ashes mixed with glitter as “an inherently queer sign of Christian belief,” an annual event that some Catholic students see as a mockery of their faith. The report from National Catholic Register.
Queer Christian groups oppose Trump orders in Ash Wednesday statement. The statement is signed by 11 Christian LGBTQ groups representing tens of thousands of constituents and roughly 5,000 congregations. The coalition, called the Collective of Queer Christian Leaders, hopes to contrast the new administration’s policies with the self-giving love of Christ recognized during the Lenten and Easter season, according to the statement. From Religion News Service.
The National Catholic Register reported, “White House Holds Ash Wednesday Mass for Staff,” but did not name the presider.
Searching for a mother’s love
In The Guardian, JoAnn Stevelos writes about her relationship with her mother, and with the priest who abused her. “At home we were to call him dad.” Her mother “was a master archivist of lies, enabling my stepfather’s crimes against me and my siblings. Despite everything, I needed to believe she loved me.”
‘Family values’ or pronatalism?
Republicans have long heralded the importance of “family values.” But in these developments, many see mounting signs of a controversial ideology at work: pronatalism, which could be defined as the belief that having children is important to the greater good and that people should have babies on behalf of the state . . . .” Carter Sherman explores the topic in The Guardian.
Christian Reconstructionists: ‘Trump the savior-king’
The president, just as the Christian Reconstructionists intended, sits at the top of a violent system as the mouthpiece of a silent, abusive God. The tenets of the fringe movement known as Christian Reconstructionism are simple: Every inch of the galaxy belongs to the Christian God, and the followers of God are responsible for bringing about God’s rule of the galaxy by any means possible. Liz Charlotte Grant analyses the movement in the Christian Century.
What hath synodality to do with Black Catholics?
“As an African-American Catholic, I have grappled with whether the synod and final document have any relevance to racial justice, inclusion, and Black spirituality,” said Daryl Grigsby in Black Catholic Messenger. He connects the global Catholic movement of authentic listening to the enduring witness of African-American spirituality.
Churches with robust growth
Just prior to the 2008 presidential election, 52% of American adults attended worship. As the 2024 election approached, only 31% of the white American population was regularly in church, a decline of 21 percentage points. However, some segments of American Christianity are experiencing robust growth. In his analysis, Alan Bean in Baptist News Global, says, “Like all good authoritarians, the religious, plutocratic, ideological and political segments of the MAGA revolution are determined to crush dissent. . . . They aren’t looking for a seat at the table; they want to be the table.”
60 years after ‘Bloody Sunday’
OPINION reported by Religion News Service. Faith leaders are still key to the fight against racism. Today’s clergy need to answer the Rev. Martin Luther King’s call six decades ago to step up, organize and take action.
Celebrating Purim: Read the ending of the story
Plea: Let us not ignore the violence that concludes the Esther scroll. As Jews celebrate Purim, Peter Beinart writes in The Guardian, “let us end the slaughter in Gaza committed in our name.” Beinart says, “most of us ignore the violence that concludes the Esther scroll. Some contemporary Jews justify it as self-defense. On the far right, some revel in it. But they’re the exception.
Faith groups and foreign aid
As White House considers abandoning foreign aid, faith groups say they can’t do it alone. Religion News Service reports on a discussion centered on whether the federal government should be dispensing foreign aid, which government officials referred to as “philanthropy.”
CUA students advise archdiocese on sustainability upgrades
OPINION: The real Gen Z religion story: It is about women. From Religion News Service, “On most indicators, Gen Z men’s religious behavior has largely stayed the same in the past decade. Instead, it is Gen Z women who have moved religiously.”
Why are Southern Baptists still arguing about women preachers?
For the past 25 years, Southern Baptists have officially banned women pastors, reports Religion News Service. That hasn’t stopped churches from having women serve in that role.
Refugees from Myanmar
Zomi Christians are the face of a refugee crisis we can’t ignore, concludes a writer for Religion News Service. “Simultaneous cuts in humanitarian aid and refugee programs promise a disaster that will betray America’s values and our promises to persecuted people around the world.”
Battle over bibles in classrooms
The Oklahoma schools chief is raising funds for bibles in classrooms. Turned down by the state, Oklahoma state superintendent acknowledges there has been resistance to his goal of getting Bibles into classrooms. The report, from Religion News Service.
The Nicene Creed and pre-colonial times
African theologians look to Nicene Creed’s anniversary year to reshape spiritual future. One theologian said Africa’s celebrations of the Christian framework would exhibit the continent’s rich theological heritage and highlight new ways of thinking about faith unbound by colonial legacies. From Religion News Service.
Bashing Cardinal McElroy
NEWS ANALYSIS, from National Catholic Reporter. Inside an episode some conservatives use to bash Cardinal McElroy, and why they’re wrong.
Homily helps for Bishop Barron
EDITORIAL from National Catholic Reporter, written prior to the president’s joint address to Congress. “Bishop Robert Barron, founder of the juggernaut Catholic media organization Word on Fire, will be stepping into the flames of our national politics today both as a special guest at President Trump’s first joint address to Congress since being reelected, and as celebrant of a Mass for federal legislators prior to the speech.”
Why are Greenlanders Lutheran?
Most Greenlanders are Lutheran, 300 years after a missionary brought the faith to the remote island. About 90% of the 57,000 Greenlanders identify as Inuit and the vast majority of them belong to the Lutheran Church today. From Religion News Service.
Have you registered for the Assembly?
Check the schedule in San Antonio, and read all about the Monday movie and the Tuesday documentary on Black History in St. Louis.
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