Echoes of the Desert: How Today’s Walk for Peace Mirrors Jesus’ Journey to Begin His Ministry
With Lent just one week away, the timeless practice of spiritual preparation is finding a powerful, modern display along the roads between Fort Worth, Texas and Washington, D.C.
In a recent interview, Sister Lynne Moldenhauer, IHM, shared the meaning of Lent and drew a striking parallel to the Buddhist monks currently undertaking their Walk for Peace.
“One of the things that has really moved me in the last week or so is this Walk for Peace that the Buddhist Monks are making.” She says, “Jesus entered the desert in preparation for his ministry. In that experience he is tested by Satan to prove his faithfulness to God. The Walk for Peace by the Buddhist Monks parallels the desert experience of Jesus for me in that they are walking to offer a more life-giving way to live and walking to counter evil among us to bring about worldly peace.”
The response of the people who pour out to engage with the Monks on their walk is evidence of the hunger for peace, compassion and mercy the people are longing for.
Whether in the desert or along highways, Jesus and the Monk’s journey echo a shared truth across humanity: peace, love and transformation is something we move towards together, one step at a time.
What is Lent?
During Lent this year, Sister Lynne is setting aside time to journey inward and discern how faithfully she is living out her call to serve God. She says, “In my interactions every day, how am I going to be a person of peace? How am I going to be a charitable person? How am I going to refrain from judgement, from negativity? How am I going to find a way, in the most difficult circumstances, to love a person who commits unlovable acts?“
Click here > Lenten Poem: “Beloved Is Where We Begin”
by Jan Richardson
If you would enterinto the wilderness,do not beginwithout a blessing.
Do not leavewithout hearingwho you are:Beloved,named by the Onewho has traveled this pathbefore you.
Do not gowithout letting it echoin your ears,and if you findit is hardto let it into your heart,do not despair.This is whatthis journey is for.
I cannot promisethis blessing will free youfrom danger,from fear,from hungeror thirst,from the scorchingof sunor the fallof the night.
But I can tell youthat on this paththere will be help.
I can tell youthat on this waythere will be rest.
I can tell youthat you will knowthe strange gracesthat come to our aidonly on a roadsuch as this,that fly to meet usbearing comfortand strength,that come alongside usfor no other causethan to lean themselvestoward our earand with theircurious insistencewhisper our name:
Beloved.Beloved.Beloved.
—Jan Richardsonfrom Circle of Grace
“As we cross with Christ into the landscape of Lent and into the mystery that lies ahead of us, may we know at least this about ourselves: that our name, too, is Beloved.”
Image: Desert of the Beloved © Jan Richardson
Observing Lent: Then and now with Gail Addis, IHM
Sister Gail Addis, IHM, reflects on observing lent as a child with a Presbyterian father and Catholic mother. She shares alternative ways to observe lent that do not require “giving up” or fasting; ways men, women and children can be more proactive, loving and to be more like Christ. She says, “I would take a look at myself to see where I might need to be a little more loving and who might I need to be loving toward.”
It’s a time for me to be a little more quiet, more time for prayer and be a little more reflective.”