Lawmakers from both political parties gathered for prayer and worship at St. Peter’s on Capitol Hill March 5, attending a Lenten Mass hosted by Catholic Charities USA.
According to a March 10 Catholic Charities press release, Reps. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., and James McGovern, D-Mass., worked with the organization to help arrange the Mass.
At the close of the liturgy, Catholic Charities USA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson thanked the lawmakers for their public service and called attention to those suffering worldwide.
“All of us, public servants and Catholic Charities service providers, bear witness to great suffering in our world,” Robinson said, according to the release. “The suffering of hungry children. Of those needing warm and safe shelter. Of immigrants and refugees yearning for a brighter future for their families.”
She added that the faithful are “daily mindful of the ravages of war and famine and violent, hateful rhetoric.”
“But, as Catholics, we also know what follows Lent’s 40 days of suffering: 50 days of Easter. We are a Paschal people,” Robinson said. “We know that out of suffering and death comes new life. We are people of hope.”