Racial Justice Ministries Lent Calendar

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Week of Ash Wednesday | First Week of Lent | Second Week of Lent | Third Week of Lent | Fourth Week of Lent | Fifth Week of Lent | Holy Week

Wednesday: Make a meal for someone grieving or in need or afraid to leave home

Cook an extra meal or casserole when you make one for yourself and put it in the freezer to have on hand when someone needs it. This is one way of practicing what is possible when we live with an ethic of sharing rather than scarcity.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust consume,…but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Thursday: List all the just things you see in a day

So much of our spiritual practice as those who strive to build a more just world can focus on where we see and experience injustice, but we also have to recognize and feel when we experience a glimpse of the inbreaking of God’s justice in our midst.

If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. Isaiah 58:9-10

Friday: Sign up to be a poll worker

Voting is one way that many of our voices and values can be heard and shape society. Voter suppression is one way that many voices are prevented from being a part of that process and has historically been used to silence people of African descent. Working to ensure access to voting is an act of racial justice.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. Psalm 51:15

Saturday: Take time to Reflect

What are you learning about Collective Liberation from these practices? Where do you want to learn more or practice more? What is challenging, joyful, meaningful? Why?

Monday: Attend a Rapid Response or other racial justice training with friends

There are always more skills to learn and more opportunities to deepen capacities we already have. Committing yourself to ongoing training is key to building collective liberation and doing it with folks you can be accountable to and co-conspirators with makes it even more effective.

If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted…you shall be called the repairers of the breach, the restorers of streets to live in. Isaiah 58:10, 12

Tuesday: Turn off biometric unlocking on your phone.

Those who seek to harm members of our communities will look for ways to get information however they can. Making sure you’re devices and actions are secure, practicing security culture, is one way to keep each other safe.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Psalm 32:7

Wednesday: Fact check something before sharing it

It can be so easy to get pulled into the whirlwinds of news and opinions, but taking a moment to verify the sources of something you share might keep you from spreading unnecessary fear or misinformation. Don’t let them use you to sew divisions.

The tempter came and said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone,..’” Matthew 4:3-4

Thursday: Have a courageous conversation about race or immigration or another
justice-related topic with someone you care about

If we are all going to get free together, we have to talk to each other about things that matter to us, even if we might disagree or things are complex or challenging. Developing these capacities with people you care about both invests in that relationship and forms you for having courageous conversations with others.

While I kept silent, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:3

Friday: Be honest with someone about something you need.

Too many of us are inexperienced at knowing and saying what we need. Some of us have been taught we’re not allowed to have needs. Others of us have been told needing something is weakness. However we’ve been formed, collective liberation relies on reciprocity, and reciprocity relies on mutual needing and sharing. So give it a try and see how it feels.

Then the devil left Jesus, and suddenly angels came and waited on him. Matthew 4:11

Saturday: Take Time to Rest

As Tricia Hersey, the Nap Bishop, reminds us, rest is resistance. Take a moment to remember that “rest is a foundation to build, invent, restore and imagine the world we want to see.” Nap Ministries Rest Deck: 50 Practices to Resist Grind Culture

Monday: Memorize an emergency contact number

What a gift it is to know that someone has your back, that there is someone who will fight for you, look out for you, and try to make sure that you are cared for and loved in the ways you need. Let putting that number in your heart be an act of gratitude.

Love will not let your foot be moved; the One who keeps you will not slumber. The One who keeps the people will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:3-4

Tuesday: Help a neighbor with a small task

Take in their trash cans. Bring them their package from the mail room. Ask if they need anything from the store. These small practices can build toward a more robust system of mutual aid, especially if you let your neighbors help you too!

For God so loved the world that God gave their Child, so that everyone who believes in the Holy One may not perish but may have eternal life. John 3:16

Wednesday: Put the local immigrant rights hotline in your phone.

Collective liberation teaches us that when we attend to the needs of the most vulnerable among us, we create freedom and flourishing for all of us.We witness how immigrant communities are at great risk right now, so being prepared to help is one way to build toward a more just world for all.

The Holy One is your keeper; God is your shade at your right hand.The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. The Holy One will keep you from all evil; God will keep your life. Psalm 121:5-7

Thursday: Experiment with using new or uncomfortable language around race,
gender, socioeconomic status, citizenship, ethnicity, etc.

Racism, settler colonialism, xenophobia, Christian nationalism, etc. have shaped not only our spirits, but also our physical brains. We literally need to create new neuropathways to move toward collective liberation. Experimenting with new ways of speaking, acting, thinking is one way to do this.

Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.” John 3:4-5

Friday: Listen to the testimony of someone who has been incarcerated or
detained by ICE or experienced racial harm.

If you’ve never been incarcerated or detained or experience racial harm, it can be hard to imagine and maybe even believe what it’s like. But there are many who have had the courage, fortitude and support to be able to share their stories. Dwelling with the experience of others is a key component of building collective liberation.

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony.” John 3:11

Saturday: Take Time to Reflect

What are you learning about Collective Liberation from these practices? Where do you want to learn more or practice more? What is challenging, joyful, meaningful? Why?

Monday: Introduce yourself to a neighbor you don’t know

It can be tempting to stay in our comfortable circles of people we know, but isolating and siloing our lives can lead to mistrust and fear. Fostering interdependence requires reaching out across difference.

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) John 4:9-10

Tuesday: Choose an organization or institution led by impacted people to support

The people who know best how to cultivate justice in our communities are the people most impacted by systems and structure of injustice. Investing in and supporting organizations who prioritize the leadership of impacted people and communities is one way to move from saviorism to solidarity.

Many Samaritans from that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” John 4:39

Wednesday: Lean into a conflict you’ve been avoiding.

So many of us have been taught that conflict is dangerous and should be hidden. Yet, we also know that what emerges from conflict is often change. Open yourself up to the transformative possibilities of good grounded conflict and see what new things might emerge.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship God neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…True worshipers will worship God in spirit and truth. John 4:22-23

Thursday: Take some time to feel your feelings today.

Sometimes we try to protect ourselves from our own feelings. But not acknowledging feelings can create a cycle of self-blame and self-harm that impacts every part of our lives. As Patrisse Cullors reminds us, “When we give ourselves permission to access our feelings, we can make decisions from a place that honors our needs and the needs of the community around us.

But the people thirsted there for water and complained against Moses saying, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” Exodus 17:3

Friday: Imagine 9 different ways to approach changing an aspect of racial
injustice you are noticing.

Sometimes we get so caught up in naming, understanding, and diagnosing injustice that we forget that we also need to envision the world beyond that pain, injustice, or oppression. Learning to dream beyond fear and our own self-censoring is an important capacity for collective liberation – without it we can only repeat what we know.

The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket and the well is deep.Where do you get that living water? John 4:11

Saturday: Take Time to Rest

As Tricia Hersey, the Nap Bishop, reminds us, rest is resistance. Take a moment to remember that “there are infinite ways to liberation. Expand. Rest now.” Nap Ministries Rest Deck: 50 Practices to Resist Grind Culture

Monday: Listen to someone with a different opinion

Come up with two questions that are curious and non-judgmental. Ask them and really listen to the answer. Building your capacity for empathy is one way to grow toward collective liberation.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5

Tuesday: Stop using dehumanizing language (for anyone)

Dehumanization is part of the permission structure for mass violence. Mass violence is bad for all of us and impacts the vulnerable most acutely. Abolitionist practice tells us that no one is disposable; no one – not even those we experience as enemies. How can we use language that respects the fundamental human dignity of every person?

As Jesus walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither …” John 9:1-2

Wednesday: Join or host a racial justice or abolition or collective liberation book club

Collective liberation requires learning and re-learning so much of what we’ve been taught about history, society and how the world works. Creating a learning community empowers you to learn not only from your books, but from each other.

Walk as children of light for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to God. Ephesians 5:8-10

Thursday: Take accountability for a harm you’ve caused.

“Accountability does not have to be scary, though it will never be easy or comfortable. And it shouldn’t be comfortable. True accountability, by its very nature, should push us to grow and change, to transform.” – Mia Mingus. Investing in accountability moves us away from punishment and toward connection.

Some of the Pharisees who were with Jesus heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” John 9:40

Friday: Wear or put a sign of solidarity in your window or lawn.

When we are facing or fighting injustice, it can be easy to feel alone and overwhelmed. These systems and structures feel like great big monsters that keep finding new ways to hurt and harm. But! We don’t carry this alone. So let someone else know, through an outward and visible sign, that they aren’t alone in this either.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

Saturday: Take Time to Reflect

What are you learning about Collective Liberation from these practices? Where do you want to learn more or practice more? What is challenging, joyful, meaningful? Why?

Monday: Leave a kind note for someone to find

When we’re faced with all the hard and harmful things that are happening in our world and our communities, it is understandable and right to despair about what humans are doing to one another. Maybe your note will help someone else remember that good and kind things are part of our days too.

I wait for the Holy One; my soul waits and in God’s word I hope; my soul waits for the Holy One more than those who watch for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6

Tuesday: Know your rights. Memorize them.

Here’s a great resource from the ALCU about your rights in different situations. Knowing these rights by heart can equip you to not only defend yourself, but also take better care of your neighbors or others who are in harm’s way. We keep us safe.

And you shall know that I am God when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you and you shall live…Ezekiel 37:13-14

Wednesday: Fundraise for a BIPOC organization you care about

A fundamental practice of racial justice is finding ways to redistribute wealth because we know racism has economic impacts. By sharing funds and encouraging others to do so, we can all live more abundantly in the world.

God said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Holy One, you know.” Then God said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Holy One. Thus says the Holy One to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live.” Ezekiel 37:3-5

Thursday: Develop a grieving ritual

The grief has to go somewhere. Share it with an altar, a therapist, or friend. Find a song you sing when the grief is heavy or a certain color or item of clothing you wear. Honor your grief so it allows room for action.

When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Teacher, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her and those who came with her weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved…Jesus began to weep. John 11:32-34

Friday: Write down something you’re having a strong reaction to and why, so you
can slow down your reaction time and respond instead.

Divisive algorithms, media, and rhetoric rely on keeping us in a posture of reacting (acting in reply to something without thinking it through) to deepen the power of their messaging. Finding ways to pause, breathe, consider allows you to respond in a more grounded and meaningful way.

Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. John 11:5-6

Saturday: Take Time to Rest

As Tricia Hersey, the Nap Bishop, reminds us, rest is resistance. Take a moment to remember that “rest makes us hopeful, open and tender.” Snatch some rest today. Nap Ministries Rest Deck: 50 Practices to Resist Grind Culture

Monday: Send a thank you card to someone who did the right thing

They could be a friend, elected official, faith leader, or community member, anyone who could use some affirmation. Gratitude can be a form of solidarity.

The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven! Matthew 21:9

Tuesday: Memorize the S.A.L.U.T.E. protocol for reporting ICE presence.

When we are working to protect each other from harm, our fear sometimes gets the better of us. Try to find ways to stay grounded, like the SALUTE pneumonic. Spread information, not panic. When reporting or signal boosting threats, provide as much information as possible.

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near. Joel 2:1

Wednesday: Gather regularly with people who live close by

Developing relationships with your neighbors allows you to show up for one another in good times and when things get hard. Whether you’re dealing with a natural disaster, immigration enforcement, or inaccessible sidewalks, the more you know about each other, the more able you are to keep each other safe.

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples…” John 13:34-35

Thursday: Create a phone tree or group message with your neighbors

Racialized capitalism tells us to value independence and not needing to rely on anyone, but the truth is, we need each other to survive. Creating lines of communication is a good way to start building connections that could save lives.

So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. John 13:14

Friday: Clear space on your phone so you can record if needed

So much of what is harmful and oppressive in our communities multiplies because it stays hidden. Part of the practice of collective liberation is attending and testifying to the truths of those being harmed and suffering oppression. Recording harmful interactions with police and other agents of the state is one way to do that.

Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. John 19:25

Saturday: Take Time to Reflect

What have you learned about Collective Liberation from these practices? Where do you want to learn more or practice more? What is challenging, joyful, meaningful? Why?