March, 2025 Monthly Reflection

Making Space for Justice and Compassion This Lent

Katie Boller Gosewisch

Lent is a season of reflection, sacrifice, and renewal—a time to examine our hearts and align our actions with our deepest values. As we journey through these days, we are called not only to prayer and fasting but also to acts of justice and mercy.

At our conference in February, I had the privilege of listening to survivors and advocates who reminded me just how much courage it takes to stay present. One conversation in particular stood out: a survivor leader shared that what she wanted most—more than resources, programs, or even justice—was for someone to truly listen without judgment or agenda. She had spent years being told what to do, how to heal, who to be. But what she needed was simple: for someone to sit with her, to acknowledge her pain without trying to fix it, and to remind her she wasn’t alone.

That conversation challenged me. So often, we feel pressure to find the right words, the right solutions, the right way to help. But maybe one of the hardest and holiest things we can do is to simply stay present. Not rushing to fix or solve, but bearing witness to someone else’s journey, even when it’s messy and uncomfortable.

During the conference, we also heard from advocates working on the front lines of anti-trafficking efforts. Their message was clear: the work of justice is long and often discouraging. There are no quick fixes. And yet, their faith and resilience reminded me that even small acts of presence—showing up, listening, believing survivors, standing alongside them—can be transformative.

Lent is a reminder of that kind of presence. It’s tempting to think that justice work, or faith in action, is about grand gestures. But more often, it’s about the small, daily choices to show up—to listen when someone needs to be heard, to speak out when silence feels safer, to stay when leaving would be easier.

This Lent, I’m asking myself: Where am I being called to stay present? Where am I being asked to listen without fixing, to sit with discomfort rather than avoid it? And how can I create space for others to do the same?

Lent is about choosing, day by day, to live with more compassion, more courage, and more presence. I hope we can all make space—not just to reflect, but to truly show up for one another.

 

Katie Boller Gosewisch

Executive Director

Alliance to End Human Trafficking

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