NETWORK LOBBY FOR
CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE
  • About Us
    • What is Catholic Social Justice
    • History
      • Nuns on the Bus
    • 2023 Voting Record
    • Board Members
    • Staff
    • Jobs and Volunteer
    • Contact Us
    • Invite Us
  • Newsroom
    • Press Releases
    • Media
    • Podcast
    • Connection
    • Social Media
  • Events
  • Donate

Donate
Skip to content
  • Become a Member
    • Recurring Giving
    • Planned Giving
    • Ways to Give
    • FAQs
  • Economy for All Agenda
    • Trump Administration Executive Order and Action Tracker
  • Advocacy Toolbox
    • Educate
    • Organize
    • Lobby
  • Advocacy Actions
    • Trump Administration Executive Order and Action Tracker
    • Call-in Actions
    • Watch the White Supremacy in American Christianity Series
    • Completed Actions
      • 2024 Election Training Workshops
      • Lent 2024
        • Ash Wednesday
        • Lent Week 2
        • Lent Week 3
        • Lent Week 4
        • Lent Week 5
        • Lent Week 6
      • Catholic Sign-on Letter: Immigration Funding
      • Thriving Communities Campaign
      • Take Action After Watching Faith in Reparations
      • National Voter Registration Day 2023
      • Lent 2023
        • Ash Wednesday: Lent Calls Us to Repent and Make Reparation
        • Lent Week 2: We Must Repent From Christian Nationalism
        • Lent Week 3: Lent Calls for Inclusion and Solidarity
        • Lent Week 4: This Lent, Families Deserve Justice
        • Lent Week 5: The Mercy of Participation in Democracy
      • Send a Letter to President Biden for Reparations
      • Deliver the 2022 Voting Record
      • Email the 2022 Voting Record
      • Write a Public Comment to Oppose the Proposed Biden Asylum Ban
      • Join Us and Take Action for Reparations!
      • Take Action for Reparations This Summer in Your Community
      • White Supremacy and American Christianity
      • Team Democracy
  • Blog
  • Donate
  • Become A Member
  • Act Now
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Newsroom
  • Build Anew Agenda
  • What is Catholic Social Justice
  • Advocacy Toolbox
  • Check Voter Registration
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Staff
Mary Novak, NETWORK Executive Director, speaks at a sunrise vigil of interfaith leaders marking the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Photo by Colleen Ross

Lent Week 6: The Path to Transformation

The Path to Transformation

Mary J. Novak
March 29, 2023
Readings for Palm Sunday:

Is 50:4-7
Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Phil 2:6-11
Mt 26:14-27:66

 

Through the Lenten Scriptures, we are reminded over and over again that everything Jesus touches is radically and forever transformed. That is the gift of the Incarnation. As we contemplate the depths of the Paschal Mystery this week, the suffering and death of Jesus at the hands of the state, we must open ourselves to the possibility that transformation can still break into the systems and structures of our politics. But this will not happen automatically; it will require deep, persistent, and sometimes difficult work.

The prophet Isaiah says, “The Lord has given me a well-trained tongue, that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.” This resonates with the work of our Spirit-filled network, seeking to encourage our fellow justice-seekers even as we face exhausting realities, including emboldened and public displays of racism, open hostility to the democracy and the rule of law, and unprecedented socioeconomic inequality that undermines our whole society.

“My God, why have you abandoned me?” Jesus prayed from the cross. The political system of his day was unjustly used to kill the Son of God. And as we confront those who profit from exploiting and oppressing others, including us, we must remember that God has not forsaken any of us. Brokenness infects our politics, yes, but it does not have the last word.

Pope Francis calls for a better kind of politics, and answering that call means learning ways of finding God in the mess. Jesus showed us, in the words of Henri Nouwen, that “The divine way is indeed the downward way.” This means being present to those of us most held down by our systems and structures, intentionally engaging in processes of truth-telling, reflection, and ultimately reparation. We do not get to reparatory justice, true repair of society, without changing structures and breaking the inequities that have spiraled for far too long—and that starts with truth-telling. Once we embark on this work, true transformation begins.

Additional Resources

Be part of the transformation of our politics and protect Medicaid, housing, and nutrition programs from disastrous cuts by joining NETWORK’s Thriving Communities campaign — coming soon!

Read All NETWORK Lenten Reflections

This entry was posted in Food Security, Front Page, Healthcare, Housing, Lent 2023, Racism and tagged Catholic Social Justice, democracy, economic justice, Lent2023, transformation on March 29, 2023 by Mary J. Novak.

Post navigation

← Thriving Communities →
  • Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
  • Network Advocates for Catholic Social Justice
  • Privacy Policy
  • TERMS & CONDITIONS
  • Jobs/Volunteer Opportunities
  • Contact Us

820 First Street NE | Suite 350 | Washington DC 20002 | USA | 202-347-9797
© COPYRIGHT 2025 NETWORK LOBBY FOR CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE