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First Sunday of Lent

Recalling the covenant "for ages to come" (Genesis 9:8-15), the first Sunday of Lent draws on the ancient story of cleansing, the great flood.  Violence answered by God's wrath at injustice--filtered by St. Peter is fitting to draw our own prayer regarding Guantanamo. For example, he writes of the patience of God as Noah built the ark (1 Peter 3:18-22). It would have been a bold and daring undertaking by "a few persons, eight in all." Women and men building a future without torture, putting together plans and building the means to close Guantanamo. 

The eight builders refused to be complicit in all that had gone awry, and in their collective determination found in God's voice the strength to resist ridicule, (as John had been proclaiming "the kingdom of God is at hand, Repent!" down came tear gas cans, the crowd about him was dispersed with pepper spray, rubber bullets, tasers, and so while they took John into incarceration), Jesus came proclaiming "This is the time of fulfillment") so that they could put together the planks of the ark. 

The way St. Peter puts it, stressing God's patience, helps me when I can doubt the action of God. No matter the size of our local affinity group, each of us can identify with Noah daring to challenge the Creator today in our prayer, in the words of psalm 25: "Remember that your compassion, O Lord, and your love are from of old." 


"Good is the Lord, thus the Lord shows sinners the way." (Ps 25)

One of several suggestions proposed in the open letter to President Biden about Guantanamo proposed by Mansoor Adayfi, Moazzam Begg, Lakhdar Boumediane, Sami Al Hajj, Ahmed Errachidi, et al. is the following:

Appropriate measures are taken to ensure that former Guantanamo prisoners are granted the means to a meaningful life in the new country and are afforded protections from violations of those measures by the receiving state.

Take a moment to email the White House with this demand.

Thank you! 










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What do you think of this passage? What is at stake here? How would you evaluate this author's claim? With what criteria do you support your view? Which authority would you point to as an authority of the principal at stake in your view?

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