The Earth Cries Out: Fourth Sunday of Lent
By Anton Flores-Maisonet
Today, we enter the fourth Sunday of Lent with a reflection on care for God’s Creation. The theme of our Lenten devotional series is “The Earth Cries Out: Reflections, Lamentations, and Prayers for the Injustices to Our Earth and Our Communities.”
Each week contains a short reflection, discussion questions, and a prayer. We hope that you can utilize these devotions with your congregation, friends, and family.
2 Corinthians 5:17-19a:
And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation. The old order has passed away; now everything is new! All of this is from God, who reconciled us through Christ - and made us ministers of that reconciliation. This means that through Christ, the world was fully reconciled again to God.
Meditation:
Before joining an immigrant church I had often heard “those people'' referred to in dehumanizing ways. However, the moment I stepped inside the sanctuary filled with worshipers singing in Spanish; some clapping on the upbeat, some on the downbeat, and still others to their own beat, I felt the rhythm of God’s reconciling Spirit synching with my heart.
Inside this church, the old descriptors of fear and hatred were replaced with a new language of family and inclusion. To them I was “Hermano” Anton, their “Brother,” and they were my siblings.
As trust and rapport were established, I began to learn about the crises of my spiritual kinfolk and how immigration policies and often unscrupulous employers only worsened their plight.
The first time I realized just how far apart we were from anything resembling equity, inclusion, or reconciliation was on a Sunday after Memorial Day.
Earlier that week I read in my town’s local newspaper about the drowning of a Guatemalan man in our area lake. No details were offered in the paper so I assumed, wrongly, that Walter Xicay’s death was just another unfortunate holiday drowning of a recreational swimmer. When I entered the sanctuary that next Sunday, grieving congregants revealed something even more horrific.
Walter’s death was work-related. He worked for the elite country club and was given instructions in English to paddle a kayak into the lake and clear out a clog in the golf course’s irrigation system. Everyone knew Walter had very limited English. How could he comprehend the instructions, much less voice concern? Those who knew Walter said he did not know how to swim and still, safety measures weren’t followed. Somehow the media story was filled with critical omissions and the truth was almost buried along with Walter.
But I heard the truth inside this church of marginalized children of God and it wouldn’t set me free until others knew it. I immediately reported the work-related death to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and an investigation was launched. I demanded the newspaper print a follow-up story and they did. I even served as interpreter for a group grief counseling session for the traumatized colleagues of Walter who also worked on the landscaping crew at the country club.
There is a new order coming where everything is new and living in a right relationship with one another and creation. God invites us to be conspiring ministers of a divine reconciliation. Just know, it requires love-infused truth-telling.
Reflection Questions:
In order for justice to flow in your watershed, what do you need to have God open? Your eyes? Your ears? Your heart? Your mouth?
What’s the next most faithful step you can take towards that direction?
Prayer:
Open our eyes, God, for we are blinded by power, status, and wealth.
Open our ears to hear the cry of the poor.
Open our hearts to a life of compassionate solidarity.
Open our mouths to speak the truth that leads to reconciliation.
Let justice flow like a river and let the oppressed be set free.
Amen.
—Adapted from Liturgies from Below by Cláudio Carvalhaes
About the Author:
Anton Flores-Maisonet is the founding director of Casa Alterna, which offers hospitality, accompaniment and assistance to individuals and families fighting for asylum and against deportation. He is also the Friend-in-Residence at the Atlanta Friends Meeting, serves as a consultant for the Forum for Theological Exploration, and is enrolled in the spiritual direction certification program at Columbia Seminary.