As the youth and labor movement that toppled the Mubarak regime sweeps the Arab world, I can't help but notice that they use religious gatherings, such as daily prayers, to help organize their mass demonstrations and ask myself the following question. Why aren't the Christians in our own youth and labor movement here in America doing the same thing? I'd like to propose something for Lent.
Most Christians in America seem to view Lent very narrowly, as merely a season of sacrifice or "giving something up." This misses the point of the sacrifices of Lent. Lent is a season of preparation, the prayers, penitence, charity, and self-denial of the Lenten season are all meant to evoke the passion of Christ and prepare us mentally, spiritually, and physically for the observance of the Crucifixion and Resurrection and the promise of the coming Kingdom of Heaven they carry.
But too many of us miss the point that the Kingdom of Heaven is not a destination and its coming is not a future event. As Christ teaches, the Kingdom of God is his answer to the great question of the Jewish tradition: "What does the ideal community consist in?"
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
Christianity's great promise is the promise of a world better than the one we find ourselves in, but the great challenge and reward of that promise is that it is up to the community of believers to make that world manifest through our actions. Let us take up that challenge this Lenten season by standing with the workers in our community.
During this season, our communities congregate twice every week, on Wednesdays and Sundays, which commemorate the Passion and the Resurrection, respectively. Prior to the services on Wednesdays, why don't we wear red in solidarity with the suffering not only of our Lord but with the suffering and plight of our working brothers and sisters in the community and come together and demonstrate publicly. On Sundays, our "mini-Easters" in Lent, we can come together and share our dreams and prayers for a better world by doing something of use for the "least of these brothers" and sisters of ours.
These could be steps towards a faithful showing of solidarity on Worker's Memorial Day, which falls on the same week as Easter, April 28. The latter can ignite our hope for a better world, our activities during the former can actually do something to bring it about.
Let us discuss this.