By Sister Celeste Reinhart, SSND
The traditional start to Lent on Ash Wednesday begins with the invocation, “Remember that you are dust.”
A more contemporary greeting, “Remember that you are stardust,” gives me a more hopeful start to my Lenten journey.
Let me explain.
Brian Swimme, speaking at the LCWR Conference this August, acknowledged that the Paschal Mystery is at the heart of our cosmic journey. Every element of our body was fashioned inside a star which exploded, giving birth to life.
Because of the death of a star, we come forth and become witnesses of the divine creativity that infuses the universe. At the core of this view is the scientific fact that the universe is an organic whole evolving through relationships. We celebrate the Paschal Mystery and Easter in relationship with each other, as part of the whole of creation. In fact, all of life is relationship.
Thus my first practice for Lent is a silent, reverent greeting to each person I meet: “Remember that you are stardust.”
My second practice for Lent comes from Laudato Si’, which I will use as my guide for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving this Lent.
Prayer: In my daily walking prayer, I want to explore God’s creation by listening to the voice of Earth – the trees, the rivers, birds and animals; to the voice of newcomers; to the voice of racial equity; to the voice of synodality. “We have only one heart.” (LS 92)
Fasting: “Cosmic spirituality encourages a lifestyle ... free of the obsession with consumption.” (LS 222)
I will fast from consumer lifestyle habits such as buying things and using plastic, social media, or even a car.
Almsgiving: I will think of the 7 generations with whom to share the gift of Earth (guided by the philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world 7 generations into the future.)
I will attend parish renewal on ‘Listening to Indigenous voices’ led by Indigenous. I will make peace cranes and share them. I will join Canada’s Development and Peace Lenten project ’Stand for the land.’
In the spring, then, I will work with gardeners to repair a garden dedicated to SSND. In this way, the garden metaphor for Easter will take on special cosmic and Laudato Si’ dimensions.
I firmly believe that the celebration of the Paschal Mystery and Easter belong to the whole of creation and not just to the historical Jesus. Thus, I will take care of myself, as well. Take a nap; sleep, exercise; eat my vegetables. “Learning to accept our body, to care for it, and to respect its fullest meaning, is an important part of any genuine ecology”. (LS 155)
The collective grace that we pray for in Lent is an acceptance and sharing of God’s love for the world. We are stardust ... together.
