Solidarity Sunday
- March 26, 2023
Let us shine the light of faith.
This Solidarity Sunday, we are called to Stand for the Land through a joint expression of faith and almsgiving. Today’s first reading (Ezekiel 37:12-14) alludes to this theme through a powerful description of God’s words to Ezekiel: “I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own soil.”… How fitting that, in today’s reading, the Lord is asking His people to stand for the land. …
Today’s Gospel reading contains the second most famous resurrection in the Bible—that of Lazarus. Christ’s words just before the miracle, offer the most profound testament of hope: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.” Those who saw Lazarus emerging from the tomb must have felt both radical hope and profound disbelief. Witnessing those in the Global South who, despite threats to their lives and wellbeing, continue to fight for God’s creation, can ignite similar feelings of surprise and optimism.
This Solidarity Sunday, we are invited to reflect on the profound hope and transformative nature of our faith. Let us shine the light of that faith onto the darkest peripheries of our world. May we be open to God’s desire to breathe His spirit into us, so that we can plant our feet firmly and stand for the land.
(Taken from a reflection by Jeremy Laurie, DEVP animator for British Columbia, www.devp.org/en/campaign/stand-for-the-land/resources/)