Faith

Friday, April 4, 2025Faith

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Lent is a time to deepen our spiritual resilience as disciples of the Lord.

Last year, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, hosted a gathering of scientists and leaders at the Vatican for a conference to discuss responses to a changing climate. Organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the event included leaders from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City of Boston. Throughout his pontificate, the Holy Father has made clear his concern for the care of our common home, most notably in his 2015 encyclical "Laudato Si'." Pope Francis has also been clear in his deep concern for the poor and vulnerable, who are often overlooked in our global economy and highly materialistic culture. These two priorities came together in the conference last year as it looked at the question of climate resilience. In a world where the climate is changing, and weather events have intensified, there are significant consequences for human communities and disproportionate effects on the poor. The conference sought to understand how people of goodwill might build resilient communities through scientific study and innovation -- and through the building of solidarity among people.

This past week, I had the privilege of attending a conference here in Boston with the same focus on resiliency. Here in our city, the conference was sponsored by Umass Boston and the Pontifical Academies. While the conference discussed very challenging matters, I was moved by the hopeful, determined, and compassionate character of the presenters and the content. In effect, the conference modeled the very resilience that it sought to promote. The campus of Umass Boston sits in a truly beautiful and dramatic setting, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the beautiful skyline of Boston on the other. It was a reminder that our city, its history, and its economy are intertwined with the sea and, therefore, vulnerable to extreme events.
It was reassuring to hear our own local leaders outline their substantial and ongoing efforts to prepare our communities for events by reinforcing infrastructure and harnessing technology. I was also grateful to hear Pope Francis's own particular concern for the most vulnerable and his reminder that great challenges are never truly solved by technocratic efforts alone. Presenters spoke of the need to foster communities where we take responsibility for one another. When we practice living as neighbors to one another in peaceful moments, we prepare ourselves to offer and receive help from one another in a crisis. This is the resiliency of the human spirit, and it is perhaps the most important element in the mix. It shows the wisdom of the Holy Father's instinct to join scientists with political and religious leaders in this process.
Just a few days later, I attended another gathering. The event was a celebration of the 125th anniversary of the founding of Local 104 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. This union serves outside electrical workers (linemen) who keep the power on and restore it in the aftermath of storms. It also includes the electricians who keep the T running. It was a joyful and raucous celebration, and I felt honored to offer the invocation. During the speeches, I was struck by the link to the earlier event on resilience. First, I realized how these workers, and those who came before, have proven so resilient in the face of challenging and dangerous work. I also realized that their resilience was not just about the qualities of the individual workers but that it rested on the brotherhood they had established to support and encourage one another and to advocate for safer working conditions and fair wages. That sense of shared identity and common purpose is key to their effectiveness and their resilience. I felt grateful to them for the work they do to serve our communities and for the lesson they were offering me about how resilience is lived. I will never look at an electrical pole the same way!
Lent is a time to deepen our spiritual resilience as disciples of the Lord. With its emphasis on almsgiving, it is also a training ground for compassion and solidarity -- key building blocks for resilient communities. I am grateful to the Holy Father for his prophetic teaching, to our civil leaders for their planning and hard work, and to all of the working men and women who work so well and in so many ways to build up and protect us. I pray that all of us, in our care for one another, will help to forge more compassionate and resilient communities.

- Archbishop Richard G. Henning is the Archbishop of Boston