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The interlinking strands of Mercy, Justice and Hope - Reflection for Week Four of Lent
The Lenten Season is a time in which we are invited to review our lives in God, to see whether we have given priority to God, have opened our hearts to God’s grace or we are still too busy with other businesses in our lives? Besides the above usual call to live Lent to journey with Jesus during his paschal journey and to prepare ourselves to celebrate the Easter joy that Jesus’ death overcame through resurrection at Easter. This Lent, we, the Mercy Emerging Leaders Fellows, are also invited to reflect on the theme “Mercy, Justice and Hope.” We offer this invitation to each one in the Mercy and global world during this Lenten Season and the Jubilee Year of Hope.
What does the theme “Mercy, Justice and Hope” invite us to? If we look around us, around our local community and around our world today, it seems that more than ever, our world is suffering deeply from brokenness and despair. We might feel like withdrawing from our surroundings, to hide in self-centredness to protect ourselves.
However, in his message for Lent 2025, Pope Francis invites us to be mindful of our brothers and sisters, especially those who have had to flee from their home and have experienced tremendous challenges and difficulties in their life journey. “Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another” (Zachariah 7:9).
Despite the differences of our life journeys, we are called to walk together in solidarity, to be compassionate with love and care for our brothers and sisters, to turn the brokenness of our local surroundings into a place with faith and hope. “Let us all walk in the same direction, tending towards the same goal, attentive to one another in love and patience.” Pope Francis
At times, we might feel as if everything is beyond us. Let us not be discouraged, but be reminded to turn to God who is our strength and who loves us. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (John 3:16). This reassures us that each one of us is rooted in God’s love. Therefore, our hope can draw from God’s goodness and justice. “Confidence in God causes us to hope, for everything comes from His paternal goodness.” (Catherine McAuley)
We walk together in mercy to bring justice and hope to our communities. As a global Mercy community, let us reach out to each other through prayer and with hope to support our many works of mercy. Let us find ways to acknowledge this support of each other.
O Lord, we pray that your presence is recognised by your people at all times so that their hope may be sustained in times of tribulation, their despair may turn into strength, their trust is rooted in your mercy and justice and eternal redemption be assured. Through Christ our Lord. Amen
ENDS
Sr. Mai Nguyen-Doan rsm is from the fourth cohort of 2024-2025 of the Mercy Global Action Emerging Leaders Fellowship. Mai is from Australia. She is currently working as a Social Worker at Mercy Health, a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy in Australia.