(Above) An afternoon pow wow at The Salvation Army’s Celebration of Culture, held in partnership with Indigenous Pathways, at Pine Lake Camp in Alta., in 2024 (Photos: Jane Ayer)

Lent is a sacred time of reflection, repentance and renewal—a time when we turn our hearts more intentionally toward God’s call for justice, healing and right relationships. For 40 days, we are invited to slow down and reflect on Christ’s journey, a road marked with suffering where we find unexpected moments of compassion, healing and hope. 

In this Lenten season, we invite you to join us as we reflect on the wisdom of Scripture, listen to the voices of Indigenous Peoples and practise lament, using a new resource created by the territorial Indigenous ministries department: “Walking Softly With the Declaration: A Lenten Pathway to Right Relationships.”

Lament is a spiritual practice that makes space for sorrow, brokenness and injustice, bringing them honestly before God, our Creator. It gives voice to pain—both personal and communal— but also clings to the hope that God hears, cares and responds. Lament is not hopelessness; it is grief that seeks restoration and transformation.

Throughout Lent, this guide will help us explore connections between the teachings of Jesus and the rights acknowledged in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), reflecting on how our faith calls us to stand alongside Indigenous Peoples on this journey of right relationship.  

Call to Action #48

Adopted in September 2007 by the United Nations, UNDRIP affirms the inherent dignity, rights and cultures of Indigenous Peoples around the world, and establishes a guideline of minimum standards for their survival, dignity and well-being. Its vision is one of respect, partnership and restoration, values that are deeply aligned with the teachings of Jesus. As followers of Christ, we are called to participate in the work of reconciliation, to listen with humility and to walk gently with communities who have long carried the weight of injustice.

In 2016, The Salvation Army joined other faith groups to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #48, which called for faith groups and interfaith social justice groups in Canada to formally adopt and comply with the principles, norms and standards of UNDRIP as a framework for reconciliation.

We are choosing to pray through the principles of UNDRIP during Lent because it is important for the church to acknowledge and confront the enduring legacy of suffering and injustice caused by colonization. We need to mourn the brokenness of relationship and the loss of trust. We need to repent and join Creator in restoring right relationships. Reconciliation requires lament, because lament requires honesty. May God hear the cries of his people. 

Justice, Mercy, Humility

To help guide us for this season, we will focus on two passages of Scripture: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8) and “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

This hunger and thirst that Jesus speaks about in the Sermon on the Mount is not passive. It is a longing for a world where relationships are restored, where truth is spoken and where people, lands, waters and creatures are honoured as God’s creation.

Each week will focus on one or two themes of the Declaration—such as the right to the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, the right to self-determination and the right to practise and revitalize cultural traditions and customs—with a reflection prompt and questions, along with additional exercises, guided prayer and family activities.

After the launch of this Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday, our website will be updated on Monday mornings, with a weekly reflection and activities. Our social media pages (Facebook and Instagram) will be updated throughout the week to provide reminders and moments for deeper reflection in a virtual community space. The resource can be used alone, but we encourage you to invite a friend to join you.

As you participate in this journey, please continue the conversation by sharing some of your reflections or experiences on our social media pages. 

A Lenten Journey

Through prayer, learning and reflection, may we deepen our understanding and strengthen our commitment to reconciliation grounded in love, humility and hope. As we walk this path together, I invite you to pray: Creator, help us walk softly through this Lenten journey, opening our hearts to truth and transformation.

Captain Crystal Porter is the territorial Indigenous ministries consultant and the executive director pro tem of The Salvation Army’s Ethics Centre in Winnipeg.