Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent
March 14th, 2023
Call to Action: 65
65. We call upon the federal government, through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, post-secondary institutions and educators, and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and its partner institutions, to establish a national research program with multi-year funding to advance understanding of reconciliation.
Suggestions for Almsgiving
The 2023 Lenten Calendar is a project of CTA's Indigenous Solidarity Collective, a working group that addresses the Catholic Church's historical and current role in colonialization. To support more projects from working groups like this one, please consider making a contribution!
Tuesday, Mar. 14, 2023
Education for Reconciliation
Call To Action's 2023 Lenten Calendar is a collaboration between the Indigenous Solidarity Collective and Anti-Racism Team (ART). This calendar provides more than 40 days of prayer and study to lead members into action and solidarity with Indigenous communities. For holy days and Sundays during Lent, we'll publish a reflection from an ART or Indigenous Solidarity Collective member on why we're committed to undoing racism and Indigenous oppression in our own communities and biases and what it means to do this work as Catholics. Following each meditation or reflection, we will feature a call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Today's Gospel is all about forgiveness and reconciliation. Now, halfway through the Lenten season, it's worth taking a moment to pause and meditate on these words.
Forgiveness. Reconciliation.
Jesus urges his followers to forgive those who oppressed, abused, and hurt them—only then will they enter the Kingdom. However, we know that this theology has been used countless times in the past to further oppress others, including the Indigenous tribes who originally inhabited North America. It's not uncommon to still hear refrains of forgive, forgive, forgive on all sides.
Let us not think about forgiveness and reconciliation as obligations. Instead, let us consider what forgiveness and reconciliation mean in practice—and perhaps even as ritual practices.
—Meditation by Indigenous Solidarity Collective member Lauren Barbato
As part of your Lenten practice, please consider donating to one or more of the
following organizations: