4th SUNDAY OF LENT (REJOICE)

 

 

Sisters and brothers, thanks to God’s love in Jesus Christ, we are sustained in the hope that does not disappoint (cf.Rom5:5). Hope is the “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul”. It moves the Church to pray for “everyone to be saved” (1 Tim2:4) and to look forward to her being united with Christ, her bridegroom, in the glory of heaven. This was the prayer of Saint Teresa of Avila: “Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one” (The Exclamations of the Soul to God, 15:3).

May the Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope, intercede for us and accompany us on our Lenten journey. (Conclusion of Pope's message for Lent 2025) We also pray for Russia, whom our Lady said would be converted.  The following man exemplifies the hope one must have for this to happen- and soon!

For Lent we are, listening to the memoirs of ALEXEI NAVALNY and while he is not a canonized saint, he certainly was a man of God. He portrayed hope until the end of his all too short life. Hope for himslef and hope for his country. Knowing such people exist in our world today, is a cause to rejoice!

 Alexei’s Memoir “ Shadows of Truth" is more than just about politics, it portrays the mind of a man who faced death yet fought on. This was a man of great courage in the face of the impossible. His was the voice against the brutality and corruption of Putin’s regime.

 In 2020, Alexei was poisoned with a nerve agent, by one of Putin’s henchmen. After recovering from the near-fatal incident in a German hospital, he was arrested upon his return to Russia for violating the conditions of his suspended sentence. He was transferred around Russian prisons and penal colonies for the next three years.

 What comes across in his memoirs is a great sense of  humor, making one laugh at some of the dire circumstances he finds himself in. Also his faith is evident throughout the book, he can see a light at the end.

 “I have always thought, and said openly, that being a believer makes it easier to live your life and, to an even greater extent, engage in opposition politics…[you must ask] are you a disciple of the religion whose founder sacrificed himself for others, paying the price for their sins? Do you believe in the immortality of the soul and the rest of that cool stuff? If you can honestly answer yes, what is left for you to worry about?… My job is to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and leave it to good old Jesus and the rest of his family to deal with everything else. They won’t let me down and will sort out all my headaches. As they say in prison here: they will take my punches for me.”

On February 16, 2024, Alexei Navalny died in a penal colony in the Russian Arctic. He was 47 years old. As tragic as his life was, he left us reasons for hope and strategies for resistance, particularly for those whose advocacy springs forth from a passion for the teachings of Jesus. I highly recommend this book and even better the audio. The narrator is so good one feels they are listening to Alexei himself.