Light and shadow

Lenten Reflection
Light and Shadow
A
dolescents are at a time of life when they are growing in their awareness of how personal choices
impact others. This can make Lent, with its call to self-reflection, an especially fruitful season for them.
The challenge is that the adolescent sense of self-worth can be fragile, and those who work with
teenagers must be able to help them reflect on what needs improvement in their lives without causing
them to become discouraged. It is not easy.
St. Paul has some help to offer. In chapter 13 of the First Letter to the Corinthians – one of the richest and
most beautiful chapters in the Christian Scriptures – Paul offers a particular bit of wisdom that both
affirms and challenges the human spirit.
In his treatise on love in verses 4-7, Paul reflects on what authentically loving attitudes look like, and he
names several: patience, kindness, honesty, forbearance, trust, hope, endurance and faithfulness.
At the same time, Paul also names attitudes that are distinctly unloving: envy, boastfulness, arrogance,
rudeness, selfishness, irritability, resentfulness and spite. Paul’s insight here is the recognition that the
value of love is not only appreciated when it is present, but also – and perhaps more so – when it is
absent.
This reflection on loving and unloving attitudes – light and shadow, if you will – can be used to help
young people reflect not only on what is unhealthy in their lives, but also on their individual goodness and
giftedness.
To help with this, we have designed a reflection exercise for young people based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
It can be used to support a weekly lesson or group discussion, as an examination of conscience during a
communal penance service, or as an exercise during a Lenten retreat.
As we grow in our awareness of how personal attitudes do and do not reflect love, we also become more
sensitized to the needs of those in our families, our communities and our world. If you want to learn about
more avenues for your young people to grow in their awareness of the needs of others, we invite you to
visit us at www.walkwiththepoor.org.
This eLesson was written by Larry Livingston, director of Church relations at CFCA. Larry has been involved in Catholic
religious education and youth ministry for more than 30 years. He has written for several Catholic publications and served as a
contributing author for junior- and senior-high catechetical texts.
Walk with the Poor is a youth movement of Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA).
Choose one of these shadow qualities that you recognize in
yourself and reflect upon it. How does this trait impact your
relationships with those you love most? What can you do to
become healthier in this area? Write about it in the space below.
Choose one of these qualities of light that you recognize in
yourself and reflect upon it. How does it manifest itself in your
life? What can you do to celebrate and nurture this quality,
especially toward those you love the most? Use the space below
to write your thoughts.
© 2011 CFCA Envy Boastfulness Arrogance
Rudeness Selfishness Irritability
Resentfulness Spite
Patience Kindness Honesty
Forbearance Trust Hope
Endurance Faithfulness
Paul also names negative qualities (what we might call
shadows) that inhibit our ability to love. These are:
Light & Shadow
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul names qualities of love that allow us to
live in the light. These are: