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Objective
OBJECTIVE: During the Jubilee Year, students will use the Church’s Lenten practices of Prayer, Charity, and Fasting as ways to become Pilgrims of Hope by engaging in global solidarity. They will COMPARE their lives with the lives of teens in Bolivia based on the story that they will read. They and their families will PLAN “Look Up” events to focus on the needs of others.
Step 1: Pray
READ the following prayer.
Beyond the distractions and clicks God is waiting for you.
Waiting for you to look up.
Waiting for you to see the miracles and heartbreaks that are unfolding around you.
In each moment God is asking do you see me?
Do you see me in the rays of sun shining through the clouds?
Do you see me in the smoke rising up from the bombs?
Do you see me in those who think differently than you do?
Do you see me in those who are starving?
Do you see me in the suffering of the children?
Do you see me in the mud and the flood waters?
Do you see me in the joy of the moment?
Do you see me in the smile of a stranger?
Do you see me in the tears of the one who is grieving?
Do you see me in the hand of the one who is reaching out?
Do you see me in the normalness of the day?
Look up God pleads, look up, I am here and the world needs you to make my love visible.
AMEN
SHARE with a partner or WRITE in your journal answers to the following questions:
- Name a time when you have seen God in others or in nature?
- Explain a time when you have struggled to see God in a difficult situation.
How can you make God’s love visible in today’s world?
Step 2: Personal Connections
SION STORY
Before making the hour-long bus ride to San Martín-San Vicente, a home for boys at risk of living on the streets of Cochabamba, Bolivia, Maryknoll Brother Joseph Bruener regularly stops at the city’s huge, sprawling market to buy miscellaneous items needed at the home. Today, he buys two dozen inexpensive aluminum spoons (“they keep disappearing,” he says). The visitors with him ask what they, too, can bring, and he replies, “A spinning top.”
As he wanders through the stalls at the market Brother Bruener thinks of Bernardo and Daniel. He remembers the day Daniel arrived at the San home for boys. “His arms and legs were like little sticks, and his hair was falling out,” the missioner says. Asked his age, Daniel lies that he is 5 — but in reality, he is 7. “He is ashamed,” Brother Bruener explains. “His growth has been stunted.” Daniel’s parents sent him out of the house every morning to fend for himself. School staff, concerned about the severely underweight boy, helped him get to San Martín-San Vicente.
Daniel is typical of the 44 boys, ages 7-17, living at the home. About half of the boys there have already experienced homelessness. The other half, like Daniel, were abused, neglected or abandoned, making it likely that they, too, would end up on the streets. Some of the older boys, including Bernardo, 16, have engaged in alcohol or substance abuse such as sniffing glue. This highly addictive habit replaces cold, pain or hunger with a temporary state of euphoria; however, it also causes irreversible damage to the brain and other organs. Still, there is hope, the social worker at the center, Johnny Nava says, “The fact that they are still here and haven’t run away means that they are trying to change.”
The short-term goal is to keep the boys off the streets, says Nava. The long-term goal, he continues, is to rehabilitate them and reunite them with their families. Parents are allowed to visit on weekends. Therapy and rehabilitation services are offered to both the boys and their families.
Brother Bruener and his guests arrive at the home to see that in the fierce midday heat, most boys seek a patch of shade in the patio. The younger boys shoot marbles. The older boys play with spinning tops — except for Bernardo, who just stands watching. Inside, it is time for lunch. The two younger groups take turns in the small dining room with rough wooden tables and chairs (the older boys eat separately). In the first group, one of the boys says grace before the meal. He prays for their families, the sisters who run the home and their benefactors. At the end of the prayer, he adds, “and for children living on the streets around the world who are on their own and have nowhere to turn and no one to help them.”
As is customary in Bolivia, the main meal begins with soup. Brother Bruener’s two dozen spoons are quickly rinsed and put to immediate use. Soup is followed by a bowl of rice or quinoa with lentils or beans, perhaps with a bit of chicken or meat. Each boy washes his own bowl and spoon at the kitchen sink.
After the meal, it is time for homework, with help from volunteers and visitors. Brother Bruener leads the boys to an area with books, puzzles and games — many of which he brought to the home. “These children cannot be placed in a regular classroom,” Brother Bruener says.
“Many times when I am trying to help them with homework, they cannot focus. They are so attuned to their surroundings and what is going on around them.” The inability to focus is due to the boys’ traumatic backgrounds. “They are always on the defensive, and that takes a lot of their energy.”
The boys face another problem as students, Brother Bruener says. “In Bolivia, the kids get promoted by age, not grade level. Even if you’ve never set foot in a classroom before, if you’re 10 you go to the assigned grade.” Without extra help, they can’t catch up academically. And if they grow discouraged at falling so far behind, they are more likely to drop out.
Students like Bernardo have already had many interruptions to their schooling. He and his older brother lived on the streets with their mother, who then left them. They dulled their pain by sniffing glue until Bernardo was brought to San Martín-San Vicente.
Recently, his older brother had come to say he found their mother living under a bridge. Bernardo ran away to join them. Brother Bruener and a staff member searched the city until they found him. They urged him to return, and Bernardo came back to San Martín-San Vicente.
The spinning top bought by the visitors at the market is for Bernardo, who smiles as he receives it. Now he can join the older boys in their game. In the end Brother Bruener says, “These are still just kids.”
ANSWER the following questions with a small group or in a journal:
- What happened when Br. Joe looked up and noticed the needs of these boys? What did he see? What did he do?
- What do you and your friends have in common with the boys in the story, what are some differences?
- At the end of the prayer the boy prays for children around the world who are living on the streets, this illustrates that even with his challenges in life he is able to live in solidarity with others in the world. How can his example of looking up and noticing others in the world inspire you to live in global solidarity with those in need? How does this inspire us to be more hopeful?
As a practice of remembering our global neighbors who go without food or proper nutrition, WRITE a simple prayer that you can say for them every time you use a spoon.
STEP 3: EXPLORE SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION
READ the following scriptures. REFLECT on the questions.
Old Testament: Exodus 3:2-6
Life of Jesus: Mark 16:1-8
Christian Living: Acts 3: 1-10
- DESCRIBE what happened in one or all of the stories when the people looked up. Include what happened, imagine what they felt, and what was God’s role in it.
- Miracles can be unexpected or extraordinary events brought about by God’s love, particularly when they offer hope in tough situations. Share a time when you witnessed or heard about a miracle. Name one place in the world that is facing injustices, and in need of a miracle.
What is something that you can do to help you stop each day to pay attention to God’s miracles happening around you?
WHAT DOES THE CHURCH SAY?
WHAT DOES THE CHURCH SAY?
Fasting can help us be in solidarity with others.
In 2021 Pope Francis’ Twitter page listed ways we can fast:
Fast from hurting words … and say kind words,
Fast from sadness … and be filled with gratitude,
Fast from anger … and be filled with patience,
Fast from pessimism … and be filled with hope,
Fast from worries … and have trust in God,
Fast from complaints … and contemplate simplicity,
Fast from pressures … and be prayerful,
Fast from bitterness … and fill your hearts with joy,
Fast from selfishness … and be compassionate to others,
Fast from grudges … and be reconciled,
Fast from words … and be silent so you can listen!
Pope Francis’ list reminds us that we can fast from more than just food. READ the list above again and CHOOSE one or two things to fast from during this Lent. WRITE it on a sticky note and put it somewhere where you will see it as a reminder each day. Reflect on how it helped you better connect to the situations of others.
STEP 4: TAKE ACTION
Pope Francis says that Lent is the season of hope, it is a time to look up from life’s distractions, to look out with concern and love for the poor, and to spend time talking to God. These three actions will make it possible for us to live lives of sincere faith, living hope and effective charity.
Adapted from Pope Francis statement February 12, 2021
Look up from life’s distractions: Set a time each day during Lent that you will fast from technology, as you look up from technology, notice who needs a smile or a friend, where is creation struggling and where is it blooming around you? Notice small miracles and areas of the world that are in need of hope and love.
Spend time talking to God: Each day spend time journaling. WRITE down 5 things you notice when you look up, for example: acts of kindness, beauty of nature, the person at school or work that sits alone, the elderly neighbor walking their dog.
Look out with concern and love for the poor– At the end of each week read over what you have journaled and ANSWER the following questions (if possible share these answers with a partner): Do you notice any patterns? Is there one thing that stands out to you? How can you take what you have learned or notice and take action to give of yourself for others or our environment? What steps will you take to start taking this action?
RAISE YOUR VOICE
PLAN a Look Up event at your school or church. Invite other classes or church members. Make this a screen free event designed to get to know others and to do something for your community. BUILD an activity into your event that will support those in need in your community. i.e. food drive, put together bags with needed supplies for those without homes, make it a carnival and charge for tickets with all proceeds going to a neighborhood charity. Be creative, keeping the goal of interacting with those present and doing something to look out for your neighbors in need. Resources for Lenten stations and prayer can be found on Maryknoll.us under resources.
BE A GLOBAL NEIGHBOR
This Lent, join in global solidarity with Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers and help support a home for girls in Bolivia. “Our Home” Shelter, also known as Hogar Albergue Nuestra Casa offers a safe space and protection to girls and adolescents between the ages of 9 and 18 who have suffered sexual violence within their families. Find out how you can change the life of teenagers who need help by going to:
maryknollsociety.org/project/our-home-shelter-hogar-albergue-nuestra-casa
ENGAGE YOUR FAMILY
This lent commit your family to “look up time” each week designed to be in global solidarity with those in need. “Look up time” is when the family puts down and turns off all screens and interacts with each other without distractions. You can USE the lenten themes of Pray, Fast, and Give to structure your family time. Ideas include
- Pray together. Visit Maryknoll.US to find resources your family can use to pray together.
- While fasting from technology, make a simple meal, share the money you saved by having a simple meal with people who are hungry today. Find resources at CRS.org.
- Plan a service project for your elderly neighbor or with a service organization.
Each family member contributes money to donate to a charity or to shop for supplies for a low income nursing center, i.e. colorful socks, blankets, nail polish, call ahead to see what the seniors would enjoy.