Easter with an Amazonian Face – Weekly Easter Reflections

This Easter the Jesuit Conference Office of Justice and Ecology invites Jesuit schools to encounter God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and in the beauty and suffering of the Amazon region and its people. 

As the Coronavirus spreads across the world, we are reminded yet again of our fragility and interconnectedness, as we share with each other a Common Home. Where one part of the human family suffers, we suffer with them, knowing that others are sure to follow. And where another part of the world begins to experience healing and resurrection, resuming the fullness of daily life, we too find hope.

We also recognize that this Easter season, which we traditionally celebrate with great joy in community, may instead be spent at home with family and, tragically, mourning the loss of loved ones, neighbors and people around the world. It can also be a time to come together in prayer, caring for one another and for our sisters and brothers around the world with whom we share this beautiful and fragile home. We hope this guide provides some inspiration as well as spiritual comfort, as we journey together through this Easter season with people who participated in the Synod on the Amazon, a gathering that brought Catholic and indigenous leaders from around the world to the Vatican in Rome in October 2019.

Through their stories of struggle and resistance, you can walk with communities impacted by an extractivist economy in the Amazon and beyond, and find hope in the many ways we can all work together to form “new paths for the Church and for an integral ecology.”

Below you will find seven reflections on resurrection from participants of the Amazon Synod, one for each week of the Easter season.

Weekly Easter Reflections

You can also download this resource as a PDF by clicking on the button below. 

We hope this reflection guide, developed by the Inter-religious Working Group on Extractive Industries, can provide some inspiration and spiritual comfort during this time.

May we join the people of the Amazon in facing today’s immense challenges without losing heart, rather, allowing ourselves to be filled with Paschal hope, believing in the power of the resurrection of Jesus in our lives and all creation. And may we embrace Pope Francis’ call in his Apostolic Exhortation, Querida Amazonia, for an ‘interior conversion’ a change of heart and to envision a new way of living in harmony with the natural world and with one another.

Truly, everything is interconnected, and we are one human family sharing a Common Home.