Making the most of Lent

Ministerial PJPs will join others within the Church on the journey to Easter through the season of Lent (14 Feb – 29 March 2018).

Pancake Tuesday

In Australia, Caritas’ Project Compassion is often a vehicle for the Lenten practices of prayer, penance and almsgiving. A pancake fundraiser for Caritas is often an enjoyable way for offices and ministries to engage in Lent. The Caritas website has a useful guide and recipes to assist groups with a pancake fundraiser.

Picture source: Caritas Australia

Free Lenten Resources

Mercy International Association has compiled a comprehensive list of free, online resources from various sources for Lent 2018.  You can access these via their website:   http://mercyworld.org/news_centre/view_article.cfm?id=2894

Day of Fasting and Reparation (14-17 Feb 2018)

A MESSAGE TO THE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY AT THE BEGINNING OF LENT: Days of fasting and reparation in sorrow for child sexual abuse and for the healing of victims – February 14-17, 2018

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last December, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse handed down its final report. Like the Australian Government and many other institutions, the Catholic bishops of Australia and leaders of religious institutes are currently studying the final report and its recommendations.

In the long years since the tragedy of child sexual abuse within the Catholic community became known, the Church has committed to policies, procedures and structures to respond better to survivors of abuse and their families, to establish professional standards for all ministers and Church workers, and to safeguard children and vulnerable people. For the Church, as for other institutions, this has involved gradual learning and development, and so it will continue to be.

Through these years, Australia’s bishops and other Church leaders have often expressed their sorrow and have offered their apology for what has occurred in the past – the harm suffered by victims and survivors, the instances of cover-up, the failure to believe survivors’ stories and to respond with compassion and justice, and the distress that many still experience.

Our apologies have, at times, seemed too little – not because they were insincere, but because trust has been broken. We stand firm in our resolve to ensure that the abuse of children never happens again in the Catholic Church and to build new bonds of trust.

With the Royal Commission concluded, our country and our Church enter into a new moment. We are calling upon the Catholic community in Australia to embrace this new moment by beginning the penitential season of Lent with four days of fasting and reparation. These are spiritual practices which express our desire for God’s reconciling and healing grace.

Through fasting, we stand in solidarity with the victims and survivors of abuse whose much deeper hunger is for healing and peace in their lives. Through reparation, we make amends for the sin of those in the Church who abused children or failed to listen and act when they should have.

The days of fasting and reparation in sorrow for child sexual abuse and for the healing of victims and survivors will be marked by prayer – in our homes and in our Catholic communities.

Please take to heart the importance of these days in preparing the Church to respond to the recommendations of the Royal Commission and to make the journey from Ash Wednesday to Easter. We cannot undo the past. With God’s help, we can make the future better.

A number of liturgical and prayer resources have been developed for use in parish and other public settings, as well as a prayer for use at home. The resources can be downloaded below or the links are in the right panel.