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Lenten project promotes peace

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
(Email Renee)

Each winter the peace and justice committee at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Sioux City organizes a special event for families. Usually the activity is held in January, but this year the organizers opted to tie it in with the Lenten season.

Bernadette Rixner, chair of the parish committee, explained that they offered a two-track program after each of the Sunday Masses: one featured activities for families and another was geared for adults. Titled Peace is in Our Hands, it was held on Feb. 21 in the parish center.

“We had an activity for families and we invited any adults who were unaccompanied by children to join a family if they wanted to,” she said. “Most of them chose an alternate activity for adults that included Scripture sharing, time for prayer and suggestions for commitments to prayer and activities during Lent.”

Each adult was given Scripture references and a piece of paper with prayer hands where they could write down prayer intentions for Lent. They were also given action hands where they could reflect and write down actions that they would try to do during Lent.

Rixner pointed out that the adults also had the chance to write letters of support to inmates in the local jail and others committed praying to them. The adults also received names of some parishioners who are in nursing homes, so letters could be sent to them as well.

After seeking input from families and the parish’s director of religious education, who also serves on the peace and justice committee, they decided to focus their family craft activity on decorating symbols of peace. These could be put in a box or placed on a wreath or mobile.

“It was nice because the children worked with their parents. They did a good job in talking to their children,” she said. “Some families mentioned that they had not sat down as a family to talk about what they were going to do for Lent. This afforded them the opportunity.”

Some of the symbols that were available were hands, mouth, heart and cross as well as symbols for peace with creation such as a flower and butterfly. The symbols appeared on each piece of paper, which also listed various peace actions that the family could do during the week.

For example, by the symbol of the hand, peace action suggestions included: don’t hit or hurt, help someone with a chore, and one day each week give up playing violent video games. An option for adults was to write letters to government officials about torture or peace. By the symbol of the cross, peace action suggestions included: give up something special for peace, make peace with someone against whom you hold a grudge and ask someone whom you have hurt to forgive you.

The concept was for the symbols that appeared on the wreath or mobile to serve as a reminder for families to do the peace actions that are affiliated with a particular symbol – possibly focusing on a different one each week.

Rixner pointed out that they started the activity with this prayer by St. Teresa of Avila: “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

They used this Lenten activity, she said, as a way to look at peace “within ourselves, within our families, community and world.” Ultimately, Rixner hoped that at least one of the actions would become part of their daily lives beyond the Lenten season.