Lent is a most important time for all of us as we reflect on the sacrificial love of our redeemer on the Cross. A grace-filled time is given to us to journey with ourselves and experience Jesus’ companionship in our life journey. Jesus’ mission is to bring the scattered children into one family, the Family of God. He was always faithful to the mission entrusted to him and fulfilled it till his last breath. Through participation and communion, the Synod carries out the same mission, participating and coming together for the purpose for which God came on earth, lived among human beings, and died for the salvation of all.
We, the Holy Family Sisters in Pakistan, are trying to live and promote that mission, according to our context. Each one of us likes to have the company of others on our journeys. The companionship of others or the presence of others on a journey makes us peaceful and comfortable. To celebrate and make this a faith-filled Lenten and synodal journey for our catechism children in the school, we arranged a day with an activity to explain to them the process in a creative way. We started the day with a prayer service and explained each symbol used in the logo of the synod. We also made small paper hands and footsteps on which to write something in answer to the question, “What help do I need from the Holy Spirit on this journey?” All the children were wrote their papers with great interest, and finally we pasted on the globe and logo of the synod.
During this Lenten season, we try to participate in the lives of the people, sharing in their sorrows and joys. In one of our villages, served by the Priest Associate Fr. Waqar Amir, some Christian women were mistreated in the workplace by people of other religions. This issue became serious, and it was reported on the 52 news channels and in the newspapers too. We, the Holy Family Sisters, were with the people in all the situations, including meeting the village council and police station, etc. This way, we were able to participate and bring communion in the mission that is entrusted us.
In all our communities, we are trying our best to walk the Synodal journey by living the spirit of Lent. We decided to depict the 14th station of the Cross and some clips from the movie Passion of the Christ on the big screen every Friday. We conducted the Stations of the Cross in today’s context with the theme of the Synod. We presented it every Friday in different churches and during the week to the Associates, youth, and children in our school, as well as to the Sunday catechism children. We are happy that we were able to help the people to walk in the synodal journey…
In Gojra, we worked as a team to gather people in one place and presented the Way of the Cross to them. We were joined by Fr. Waqar Amir, our Priest Associate, who is ready to help us at all times. We, the Sisters, Formees and Fr. Waqar Amir always worked as a team for the success of this program. A lot of people took part in this faith journey to experience the unconditional love of God to humanity.
May God always use us as His instruments to strengthen the faith of the people and to live and spread the mission of Communion with love and zeal.
Sr.Saima IQBAL
Pakistan