Reflecting on Lent and 20 years of democracy
As Christians preparing for Easter, the Lenten season offers us a time to reflect on our own faith — our strengths and weaknesses, our commitment to Christ and the kingdom of God, and how we might translate God’s vision into our daily lives from within our imperfect (sometimes downright sinful) society.

Ash Wednesday, which falls on March 5 this year, calls the faithful to reflect on their sinfulness and turn towards the Lord in repentance. It is a day of fasting and abstinence.
But, as South African Catholics, Lent 2014 offers us a further reason to reflect.
We will be celebrating 20 years of democracy and preparing for new elections. I have therefore tried to produce meditations for Lent that reflect in faith on where we’ve come from, what our challenges are as a nation, and where we might go.
According to one definition, theology is a critical reflection on social practice from the point of view of faith. What these meditations try to do is critically examine society from the perspective of faith — basic trust in God. In fact, it is more than that: it is an attempt to analyse and understand the spirit of our democracy.
The book is designed primarily to be read daily from Ash Wednesday on March 5 to Easter Sunday on April 20. Each meditation can be read on its own. But careful examination will reveal a pattern, rooted in reflection on the past, as an attempt to understand the present, with a view to a possible future.
Certain themes recur: the interconnection between God working in biblical “history” and in the history of South Africa; our moral responsibility to make democracy in South Africa work; the memory of the 1994 transition to democracy and the anticipation of the 2014 election; and the need for a critical reading of where we’ve come from in order that we might keep our future accountable, for ourselves and generations still to come.
What is more, only 16 days after Easter Sunday, we will be given the chance to put our faith into action. Our fifth — and many would say pivotal — democratic election takes place on May 7, and we will exercise the right that we have “as believers and citizens” (to coin a phrase from Vatican II). I would encourage readers who find the reflections helpful to return to them in the final days before the election.
You could take the ones that have most inspired or most challenged you, and use them in the run-up to the critical day on which you will cast your vote.
Or you could use the material in small Christian communities, sodalities or Bible-sharing groups to start a discussion about how we as Christians are called to participate in politics in our country.
Some might complain that we are trying to mix religion and politics. I take comfort in the words of our late great Archbishop Denis Hurley who was similarly accused when facing trial for standing up to the apartheid government.
“To keep religion out of politics,” he said, “is to try to keep the example, the wisdom, the influence, the virtue, the holiness and the freedom of Jesus out of political life.”
If we needed reminding of our important role as South African Catholics we can seek inspiration from Pope Francis’ recent document The Joy of Evangelisation. In it he says: “Responsible citizenship is a virtue and participation in political life a moral obligation.”
n A Revolution of Spirit is available for R60 from Paulines in Johannesburg and Durban and from the Catholic Bookshop in Cape Town. Or it can be ordered from or by calling 011 482 4237.
To receive for free an edited version of the reflections every day electronically, send your name, parish location and e-mail address to ">. To receive a shorter SMS reflection every day during Lent, send the word JOY to 31222 (R4 per week).
A smartphone app will also be available to download.
- Saint Paul and the Bible - July 29, 2019
- Religious Orders: Then and Now - November 6, 2018
- A Brief History of Religious Orders in South Africa - October 25, 2018