You are light in the darkness

To be human is to be scarred. But we can help each other bear our suffering.

1. Want to do something good in the midst of everything terrible? Join our Compassion Brigade fundraiser for Catholic Relief Services. We’ve already raised over $34,000 to support the humanitarian work of CRS around the world that has been devastated by cuts to USAID. Special thanks to Meg Hunter-Kilmer, Rakhi McCormick, Julie Walsh, and Chris Damian who made this communal effort possible. We’ll keep the fundraiser going through Lent so folks can continue to support it with their almsgiving. Thank you SO MUCH to all who have donated: you are light in the darkness.

2. If you missed the virtual retreat on Walking through Lent with the C21 Center at Boston College, check out their Lenten resource page to sign up for free weekly reflections. (I’m contributing a section connecting the Lenten labyrinth to the daily readings). You can still register here to join us for part 2 of the free virtual retreat on April 10: Walking Through Holy Week.

3. Hands down, the best Lenten reflection I’ve read thus far this year: Ash Wednesday services remind us of death. I bring my children anyway, by

   Stephanie Duncan Smith
   at America Magazine.

4. “On a long-ago day in a bright blue pool, a scar made the way for a stranger to share a sliver of my suffering. The stories we offered to each other created kinship in the most unexpected places. But no matter how we choose to live with our scars—to care for them in quiet or to hold them with a trusted confidant—we can move through the world with more tenderness and compassion when we remember that we have each known deep pain.” From my latest at (in)courage: The Scars We Can’t See.

5. Are you in Colorado Springs, CO, Birmingham (Vestavia Hills), AL, or Asheville, NC? The

   Collegeville Institute
   (an incredible place of support for faith writers) is offering one-day pop-up writing workshops there in March/April. Check them out here & register for free.