Lenten Reflections to support your spiritual journey over these forty days - brought to you
by Catholic Volunteer Network and the Catholic Apostolate Center.
by Katrina Buchanan, Currently serving with Lutheran Volunteer Corps, Chicago
"Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father."
(Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18)
Thinking about recompense and repayment for doing righteous
deeds and for praying in secret is an odd experience when you’re doing a year
of service through a faith-based organization. Am I supposed to keep secret the
work that I’m doing during this year? Should I quietly go about it and not
share my experience with others? Is it wrong for me to want to tell my stories
from my placement? Do I expect recompense from God for this year of service?
To answer those questions, a colleague suggested turning to
Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible: Matthew by Stanley Hauerwas.
Hauerwas cites Bonhoeffer when questioning how to be the light of the world
(Matt. 5:16) while also doing righteous deeds in secret. He writes, “According
to Bonhoeffer, the hiddenness that should characterize the disciples’ action
applies to the disciple” (p. 74). Hauerwas expands on this idea by saying that
we must be apprentices of Jesus and learn to forget ourselves in our actions
and act selflessly as Jesus did instead of doing such things for praise and
recognition.
There’s a subtle beauty of the Lenten season of fasting and
praying beginning with Ash Wednesday falling on St. Valentine’s Day. Instead of
worrying about all of those questions, perhaps my prayers and meditations
should be on how I can follow in Christ’s way by selflessly loving others just
for the sake of loving them and expecting nothing in return from them or from
God.
Focus on Spirituality: As I’ve journeyed in my spirituality this year, I’ve
questioned why I believe what I do. In conversations with those who have
different beliefs, I’ve learned that there’s truth in everyone’s spirituality
and that none is inherently better than others. As I’ve struggled with this
reading and with how I express my spirituality, I’ve learned that it’s okay to
question what I believe and that growth and strength of conviction come from
those conversations and that struggling. This passage confirms that for me as I
continue to live out and journey in my spirituality during this faith-based
year of service.
Service Suggestion: During this Lenten season, I challenge myself and others to
engage even more deeply with your communities. There is so much to learn about
our communities and the work that is being done there. Throughout Lent, I
challenge myself to listen more intently to the needs of my organization and my
city and to ask of others what I can contribute instead of giving alms without
research.
Prayer: Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt,
faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be
consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to
love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are
pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.
About the Author: Hailing from Erie, PA, Katrina Buchanan is serving as
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Justice for Women program
assistant in Chicago through the Lutheran Volunteer Corps. She is a graduate of
Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA with a degree in English, a minor in
public relations, and a secret minor in theater. A former hockey player and a
lifelong hockey fan, she can be heard coaching the Erie Otters from the stands
when visiting home or through enthusiastic tweets while she serves in the Windy
City.
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