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Caritas Australia’s Project Compassion 2014
Reflections for Lent
PROJECT COMPASSION SUNDAY – 2 March
Gospel: Matthew 6:24-34
As Lent begins, on Ash Wednesday this week, we are signed on the forehead with
ashes, a reminder that we are in this world for a relatively short period of time. Our
principal purpose in this life is to grow in the deep knowledge that God loves us
unconditionally – and to allow that understanding and love to flow in us, and through
us to others.
Christians are called to live in a different way – as Jesus spells out for us in today’s
Gospel: ‘Do not worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body
and how you are to clothe it. … Set your hearts on the kingdom of God first – and all
these other things will be given you as well.’
Less concerned for ourselves, we see people as Jesus sees them. Every single
person alive today is precious in the eyes of God, with the right to live a life full of
meaning and purpose.
This Sunday is recognised by the Church in Australia as Project Compassion
Sunday. It brings us to recognise that we are Gospel people, carrying the mind and
heart of Jesus Christ into today’s world. Project Compassion is a way of bringing
unconditional love in a tangible way to people who lack the basic resources of life.
Caritas Australia draws its inspiration and energy from the revelation of God’s love.
As we become aware of some of the physical needs of our brothers and sisters,
Caritas gives us one way to respond, turning our Project Compassion contributions
into well-designed programs.
ASH WEDNESDAY – 5 March
Gospel: Matthew 6:1-21
Today we stand on the threshold of Lent. What will this Lent mean for me? Will I
somewhat reluctantly ‘do a bit extra’ for Lent? Or will I take the opportunity to truly
‘repent’, to open myself up in a new way to the transforming love of God?
At the start of Lent it is good to remind ourselves that growth in faith is not a matter of
doing more, or trying harder. We do not sanctify ourselves – God is the one who
sanctifies us. We cooperate in the process by inviting the Holy Spirit to transform our
hearts of stone into hearts of grace.
We dispose ourselves to be open to God’s transforming love through the Sacraments
and through the actions described in today’s Gospel: almsgiving, prayer, fasting.
Almsgiving springs from a true perspective on money – to use it to care for my family
and for others in need. Prayer is giving God time, inviting Jesus to ‘make his home in
me’. Fasting helps me create a space where God can come more fully into my life.
All these actions are a response to my deep longing for the Truth that is God.
In the Gospel Jesus warns us that we humans have the ability to do good things for
the wrong reasons. If we take pride in our actions, then we can defeat the purpose
for which we do them.
The theme this year for Project Compassion is ‘That you may have life’. It reminds
us that only through Jesus can we have the ‘fullness of life’ – which will include
sharing our time and gifts in bringing life to others.
FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT – 9 March
Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11
At the start of his public life, Jesus went into the desert and took time to reflect. He
was tempted to take self-serving, comfortable options. He chose not to abandon his
vision for justice and life for all. He chose to be faithful to his call to lead all people to
a fullness of life, to know God and to love one another.
Lent is a time for spiritual reflection. We open our eyes to a wider horizon. Am I open
to being transformed by God’s love? Am I reflecting God’s love to others, especially
to those in need?
Confronted by the extent of poverty in the world, we may be tempted to think that we
are powerless. But we are far from powerless when we are part of the Catholic
Church’s world-wide response to poverty, led principally by Caritas. Our contributions
to Project Compassion fan out around the world to give people access to hope, to
have life – and have it to the full.
One example is a young Brazilian woman, Maristely, who grew up in a crowded
slum, known as a favela, in São Paulo, in a house made of cardboard with no
electricity, or water. Now 18, she is involved with Caritas Australia’s partner
Movement for the Defence of Favela Residents which is active in 40 favelas in São
Paulo to provide, through education and advocacy, access to clean water, electricity,
sewerage, and a certificate of home ownership. Maristely tells what the change has
meant for her: ‘Being a part of MDF has given me awareness of my dignity as a
person, and critical thinking. I know that to live in a favela is nothing to be ashamed
of.’
SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT – 16 March
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9
Jesus is fully human and fully divine. Up to the age of 30, he led the life of an
ordinary craftsman in Nazareth. The Gospels show him as a person who was easy to
approach, enjoyed the company of children, got tired, happily shared meals with
others, and wept with grief at the death of a friend.
We catch a glimpse of the divinity of Jesus in the Transfiguration: ‘his face shone like
the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white’. The searing light of the
Transfiguration confronts us with the quite extraordinary realisation that God, creator
of the universe, lives with us. Jesus shows us that as fully alive human beings, the
great light of God’s deep compassion can shine through us to others.
This week’s Project Compassion story is about a family in South Sudan. Deng and
his wife, Aketch, fled into the bush when civil war broke out in 1983. Frequently on
the move, they survived precariously on berries and bush meat, not knowing if they
could ever return home. To add to their problems, Deng went blind.
Now back in their village, Deng and Aketch, have received practical assistance from
Caritas Australia and its partner in South Sudan, the Hope Agency for Relief and
Development (HARD). Provided with two goats, five chickens, fishing nets and seeds
to plant, they are now in a position to earn a little income – and their children are
able to attend school.
Through us, Jesus continues to bring hope and new life to people like Deng, who are
facing difficulties beyond their control. Our generosity, shown through Project
Compassion, enables Caritas Australia to undertake these projects.
THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT – 23 March
Gospel: John 4:5-42
Imagine you drop in to your local shop to get some milk or bread – the sort of thing
that you might do any day – and you meet Jesus there! Sounds incredible, doesn’t
it? But that’s pretty much what happened to the Samaritan woman when she went to
the well to collect her daily supply of water. It was an unlikely meeting to begin with –
given the antagonism between Jews and Samaritans – but it was an encounter that
would change her life.
Jesus crosses a cultural boundary by asking the woman for a drink. Then Jesus
opens up for her a new horizon – ‘a spring of water gushing up to eternal life’. It
would bring a new perspective on life, seeing people and situations through the eyes
of Jesus. Fear is banished. Hope is restored. One’s purpose is clear. New life has
begun!
Something similar happened for 19 year old Archie from Bulacan Province in the
Philippines. With his nine siblings and his parents, he had been living in a one-room,
make-shift house, close to a rubbish dump, at the mercy of flooding and typhoons.
Then new life came for Archie in the form of an emergency resettlement program
supported by Caritas Australia. The family moved to a home in a safer area, and with
clean water and a sewerage system. And Archie is delighted to be studying under
Caritas Australia’s Alternative Learning System to increase his opportunity for work.
Jesus continues to change lives, bringing hope and opportunities for growth to
people through the intermediary of agencies like Caritas, supported by the
contributions that you and I make to Project Compassion.
FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT – 30 March
Gospel: John 9:1-41
In this Sunday’s Gospel Jesus speaks of himself as ‘the light of the world’. A central
theme of John’s Gospel is the contrast of light and darkness. The question for us is
‘am I living in the light of faith or in the darkness of a cocoon of self-focus?’
The healing of the man who was blind from birth emphasises the role of Jesus in
making it possible for people to escape from darkness into light. In this powerful
story we watch as the faith of the man grows as he progresses from describing Jesus
as ‘the man Jesus’, to ‘prophet’, to ‘one from God’ and finally to addressing Jesus as
‘Lord’.
When we are in spiritual ‘darkness’, our focus is primarily on ourselves – and our
ability to love is limited. As Jesus draws us into the light of faith, our horizon expands
and we grow in compassion. We begin to see beyond ourselves, and are drawn by
the example of Jesus to attend to people affected by disaster. We come to recognise
what Pope John Paul II expressed: ‘Because we are all really responsible for all.’
For people in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, life-challenging events come in the
form of floods, earthquakes, landslides and cyclones. Often these disasters occur in
the early morning when children are at school. Caritas Australia’s Disaster Risk
Management project uses well-known tunes and simple lyrics to teach children what
to do when disaster threatens. The program has been rolled out through 35 schools
in the Solomon Islands and 22 schools in Vanuatu. Through Project Compassion the
threatening fear of these events is significantly reduced.
FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT – 6 April
Gospel: Matthew 25: 35
In this Sunday’s Gospel we meet Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary.
They were friends of Jesus, always making him welcome in their home. The death of
Lazarus in today’s story moved Jesus to tears – and it brought forth Martha’s
acknowledgement of her faith in the power of Jesus, ‘If you had been here, he would
not have died.’ Jesus went to the tomb and called, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ The dead
man responded, stumbling out of a vault, still wrapped in his funeral sheet.
We stand in awe at the power of Jesus to restore the dead to life. Jesus indeed
brings the fullness of life. And Jesus commissions us to follow his example, to bring
life to others, through the power of the Holy Spirit vested in us.
This week’s Project Compassion story is about a First Australian woman. Six years
ago, Lorraine discovered she had kidney failure and had to move to Alice Springs,
550kms away from her home community, for weekly dialysis treatment. To keep her
spirit alive, Lorraine visits The Purple House, a home away from home. This centre
offers traditional cultural activities – including a bush balm program supported by
Caritas Australia – to support patients who have been dislocated from their home and
culture.
This program offers people who are chronically unwell, a sense of purpose, meaning
and wellbeing. It gives them the opportunity to pass on traditional knowledge and
values, ensuring participants retain connection with their culture. In such a way,
through Project Compassion, and our generosity, Jesus continues to restore life to
people searching for their sense of home, both in Australia and overseas.
SIXTH SUNDAY OF LENT – 13 April
Gospel: Matthew: 26:14
Christianity centres around two quite extraordinary events. The first is that the God of
the universe, in the person of Jesus Christ, chose to visit our tiny planet, a relative
speck of dust in a universe with billions of galaxies, each containing a billion or more
stars.
The second is that Jesus Christ, the second person of the divine Trinity, was crucified
and died on a cross. As we reflect on the Passion of Jesus, we are filled with the
enormity of the communication of God that he is God-with-us in all things. Jesus was
born into our world, lived life, faced challenges and experienced death.
The Jesus, who now calls us to carry on his healing mission on earth, is the Jesus
who gave his life for every human person, be they African, Asian, South American or
from other lands. It is for us to reflect God’s love to each and every person alive
today.
When civil war ravaged Sri Lanka from 1983-2009, Nirangini, her 67-year-old mother
and seven-year-old son, were forced to flee from temporary shelter to temporary
shelter many times. In 2009, thanks to a Caritas Sri Lanka program, supported by
Caritas Australia, the family secured a permanent home. With a livelihood grant,
Nirangini has been able to start a home garden and small poultry business, providing
her family with a good income and nutritious food.
Through Project Compassion, Nirangini and many others will come to live a much
fuller life in the way God wishes: ‘The glory of God is a human being fully alive.’
EASTER SUDNAY – 20 April
Gospel: John 20:1-9
‘He is risen! The joy of Easter wells up within us and surges out to the world. Jesus
is risen from the dead – death has been defeated!
The Gospel tells the story of Mary Magdalene going to the tomb early on Easter
Sunday morning, and finding it empty. She runs to tell Peter and John. Hurrying to
the tomb, they too find it empty. Imagine their confusion as confronted with this
astounding evidence, they do not yet realize that Jesus has risen.
Often we are somewhat like Peter and John. We know Jesus is the Son of God, but
we still do not believe that God is effectively active in today’s world. We think life has
to be lived in a pragmatic, functional way where everything depends on us. We
forget the words of Jesus, ‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and
all these things will be given to you.’
Then the Resurrection breaks through into our thinking – the tomb is empty! Divine
power has swept aside human limitation. Faced with many challenges in life, we will
fail often. Easter is the reassurance that our efforts are not in vain – we too will rise
with Christ!
As we look out on the world, we see many people crippled by many different
experiences of poverty. We yearn to make a difference. Project Compassion gives us
the means for participating in the work of Caritas Australia to bring new life to many
people.
‘The Risen One goes before us and accompanies us along the paths of the world. He
is our hope, He is the true peace of the world.’ (Pope Benedict XVI, Easter, 2009)