As we continue our Lenten journey focusing on the Wheaton Franciscan Laudato Si’ Action Platform commitment, we reflect on the call to
“…embody radical hospitality, and to listen to and engage the young.”
In his Lenten devotional, Because of Grace, John Stevens writes, “We like lines. We like order. We like to be able to tell who belongs and who doesn’t. Grace changes this fact. Grace has an ability to come into our lives and mess with boundaries.”
It seems we draw lines around every aspect of our lives– where we live, our racial, ethnic, and cultural background, gender, lifestyle, sexual orientation, jobs, education, and age– just to name a few. We classify, divide, and divide again. Yet we are more than these narrow classifications.
As John Stevens reminds us, “we belong to God and we belong to each other. We are citizens of Grace.”
“We belong to God and we belong to each other. We are citizens of Grace.”
John Stevens
To embody radical hospitality, and to listen and engage the young, we need to allow Grace to erase the narrow boundaries we have created. We need to widen the circle and open our minds and hearts.
Fr. Dan Horan, OFM shared in his March 9, 2022, NCR column why Gen Z (young adults born after 1996) give him hope. He concludes his column saying, “Gen Z does not need our patronizing admiration, but our sincere respect and the opportunity to lead us, teach us and show us older folks what we are missing and where we need to go.”
May we be open to Grace and wisdom of the young. May we expand the boundaries of heart and mind.
Because Grace: A Lenten Journey by John W. Stevens
“Why Young Adults of Generation Z Give me real Hope” by Daniel P. Horan
