This Lent, we invite you to take some time to lament that which you and others have lost. In her essay, “Four Steps of Lament,” Heidi Weaver invites us to:
• Rest, to take sabbath time to simply be present to our current situation;
• Reflect on that which has been lost;
• Repent for the sufferings and loss we have caused or overlooked; and
• Make Restitution and be Restored to God and to one another.

This year for our Lenten Meditations we have invited ten writers to share reflections on each of these four steps of lament. These writers are all leaders in The Episcopal Church and represent a diversity of perspectives, ministries and backgrounds. As a result, we are blessed to have a unique and rich tapestry of viewpoints on the universal experience of lament, loss and new life. Many of the authors share deeply personal and painful experiences related to a variety of issues including disease, violence, racial injustice and poverty.

Readers, come to these meditations with an open heart. What you read may challenge you and give rise to unexpected or uncomfortable feelings. We encourage you to engage the “Four Steps of Lament,” by resting, reflecting, repenting and ultimately being restored to God and to one another. Finally our wish for you is that God brings you rest this Lent so that you may reflect on your own loss and be transformed in the process. May God then restore your soul and bring you into the bright new life that is our Easter promise. And may you continue to know that you are loved now and always.
Amen.
Robert W. Radtke
President & CEO
Episcopal Relief & Development

RESTITUTION & RESTORATION

“Therefore, my friends… we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh).”
—Hebrews 10:19-20

The youth group at Iglesia San Andrés in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) was going to reenact the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the congregation was about to move from the chapel to the auditorium. I was a 3-year-old girl, holding my mother’s hand, when all of a sudden I found myself face-to-face with that man covered in “blood,” crowned with “thorns,” carrying a cross so heavy that it bent his body forward. His face was in
my line of sight.

My mother moved me to the side so that Jesus could lead the procession, but I burst into tears and shouted, “No, Mommy, no!” My mother explained that it was just a play, and we entered the auditorium to see the rest of the Passion. I calmed down in her arms until the moment when the same man was being “nailed” to the cross. My mother had to take me out of the room before the end. I could not understand that it was a reenactment of
a true story—it seemed all too real to me.

Every year on Good Friday, I remember that man who looked at me tenderly in the midst of his agony. That is the day when I began my story with
the real Jesus.

I invite you to think of moments that highlight your own story with the Savior. In the midst of pain, joy, daily struggles and uncertainties, can you recognize him next to you? This is a good time for us to consider how to respond to the greatest act of love ever carried out for humankind and for you. It’s true—you and Jesus have a story together. —Patricia Martin

Source: https://www.episcopalrelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Lent-2021-English-BlackWhite.pdf; © 2021 Episcopal Relief & Development. All rights reserved. Printed in partnership with Forward Movement.