The Fraternity Campaign (CF) is a way that the Catholic Church in Brazil has found to experience Lent. For five decades, the Campaign, coordinated by the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), has proposed themes that point to the need for Christian commitment. It also proposes discussions and confrontation of problems that affect the poor: precarious health, work, education, housing, public policies, among others, have already been the focus of the CF.

The theme proposed for 2020 is Fraternity and life: gift and commitmentFour words of profound meaning. Fraternity: Kinship, solidarity among siblings, harmony among humans. Life: it has a very broad concept, but here we are interested in life as existence. Gift: it means a present, a gift. Commitment: it is responsibility. Thus, the Campaign invites Christians to care for life! Life in its various dimensions: personal, community, social, ecological, political.

This attentive gaze must first answer distressing questions: what has happened to us? Why do we see and allow so many forms of violence, aggression, and destruction to grow? Have we truly lost the value of brotherhood? "Look at the earth, see how much evil there is" (samba theme song of Mangueira).

The 2020 Campaign for Fraternity uses the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) as a reference. The priest and the Levite turn away from the wounded man because they had no time for him. But the Samaritan approaches the victim of the robbers and, moved by compassion, spends his time and money, staying with him at the inn. He pays all the expenses and promises to repay the innkeeper for everything he spends caring for the wounded man.

The Samaritan's posture contains the core of Jesus' teaching: our neighbor is not only someone with whom we have ties, but everyone we approach. Feeling compassion is the key to doing God's will, who loves all of creation. It is a time of openness to the mystery of Jesus' pain and death. His sacrifice on the cross is the culmination of the style that marked his life. Only by contemplating the world with the eyes of Jesus, the Samaritan gaze, is it possible to heed the cry that emerges from the various faces of poverty and the agony of creation.

The priest's and the Levite's gaze is one of indifference. A gaze that generates threats to life. And what are these threats? Abortion, forced migration, and wars that create thousands of orphaned children. Unemployment affecting millions of workers. Precarious work reaching 41%. Desolation! 27 million cannot find any work. Misery that punishes more than 15 million excluded people. Suicide, the fourth leading cause of death among young people. Traffic violence: 19,398 deaths in the first half of 2018 alone. Brazil is the fourth country in the world in deaths from traffic violence. Faith in God and foot on the gas pedal?

Femicide! Between 2016 and 2018, there were more than 3,200 deaths in the country. In the same period, more than 3,000 cases of femicide went unreported. Ideas such as the death penalty and the arming of the population are also attacks on life. Meritocracy, individualism, religious fundamentalism, and unhealthy consumerism that creates a throwaway culture. The banalization of evil, massacres, criminalization of the poor, racism, homophobia, hatred. A government compromised with the rich and powerful: in 2019, Itaú bank's profit was 10.2%, Santander 17%, and Bradesco 20%. Itaú earned a minimum wage per second in 2019! Per second. The minimum wage adjustment was 0.1%.

What to do in the face of so much evil? The disciples and friends of Jesus are at the service of life. They break with indifference and defeat injustice. It is necessary to feel the pain of others and commit oneself to the suffering. Those who love do not accuse. Their attitude is merciful. It motivates equality and justice. Overcoming hunger, social and economic despair, the degradation of the ecosystem, and the culture of waste is everyone's responsibility! The purpose of Christian life is to promote solidarity in the building of the Kingdom of God.

“"There is no future without sharing, nor a messiah with a weapon in hand" (Mangueira samba school theme song). May every human being have life, and life in abundance (John 10:10). The campaign is an invitation to a compassionate outlook. The mission of the missionary disciple of Jesus is to reveal to the world the face of God's mercy and justice. Promoting justice is an act of faith. Charity is the true meaning of life. Social charity leads us to love the common good. Justice will never be separated from charity.

Lent is a time for discovering the tenderness that reveals the maternal face of God, passionate about humanity. It encourages us to love, care for, and accept others. Lent should encourage the Church to go out, the one that goes to the peripheries without fear of getting its sandals dirty. To serve! To see! To feel compassion and care for life is the authentic Lenten Program.

Source: Dom Total (Élio Gasda). DomTotal is maintained by the School of Engineering of Minas Gerais (EMGE).