Lent reflection for 22 March

How great is the love that we can see demonstrated here! Whatever his son has done, the father welcomes him home with a joyful celebration. His heart is full of compassion.

This parable teaches us about the nature of God, who is love and mercy. Mercy is the “beating heart of the Gospel,” Pope Francis reminds us. (Misericordiae Vultus, #12)

Showing mercy means more than just experiencing feelings. It requires us to act, as Pope Francis explains:

“The heart of Christ, as the symbol of the deepest and most personal source of his love for us, is the very core of the initial preaching of the Gospel... Christ showed the depth of his love for us not by lengthy explanations but by concrete actions.” (Dilexit Nos, #32-33)

Lokho, who lives in Kenya, is extremely worried about the drought that she has been experiencing in her region. “You know,” she says, “our greatest fear ­is, we know this water is seasonal. After some months, the water pan will dry up and that is when we are going to lose everything in our gardens.”

Today is World Water Day, a time to reflect on the importance of water, and the extreme challenges of drought. It’s time to show our compassion for those facing such hardship and take concrete actions to work alongside them.

Prayer

In the presence of the heart of Christ,
I once more ask the Lord to have mercy
on this suffering world,
in which he chose to dwell as one of us.
May he pour out the treasures of his light and love,
so that our world
may regain the most important
and necessary thing of all: its heart.

Amen.

(Taken from Dilexit Nos, #31)

Act

Find out more about the new debt crisis, and the debts that poorer countries are paying at the expense of building sewage systems, preparing for floods or coping with droughts. Discover how you can take positive action.