Lent 2025 Day 30

Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Theologian and Activist
Luke 19:28-40 | Isaiah 43:1-7

Ada María Isasi-Díaz (1943–2012) was a Cuban-American theologian, activist, Roman Catholic scholar, and the founder of Mujerista Theology—a powerful theological movement centering the lived experiences of Latina women. She immigrated to the United States as a teenager following the Cuban Revolution and entered religious life as a Roman Catholic nun. After earning her Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary, she became a professor of Christian Ethics at Drew University and a prophetic voice in the fields of theology and justice.

Mujerista Theology, a term she coined, centers lo cotidiano—the daily lives of Latina women—as the starting point for doing theology. It insists that the voices of marginalized women are not merely to be included in theology but are the authoritative source for it. Drawing from liberation theology, feminist thought, and her Catholic faith, Isasi-Díaz emphasized that the experience of oppression—and the faithful resistance to it—is sacred and reveals the presence of God. In this way, she shifted theological reflection from the ivory tower to the kitchen table, from seminaries to stories.

Isaiah 43 declares God's intimate claim: "I have called you by name, you are mine." For Ada María Isasi-Díaz, this proclamation is not abstract or individualistic—it is collective, rooted in a community of women whose names have often been erased. Mujerista theology takes God's “you are mine” seriously, affirming that Latina women, and by extension all who are overlooked and silenced, are named and claimed by God. This divine naming is a declaration of worth, a rejection of systems that render people invisible, and a theological claim that God’s love is inseparable from justice.

In Luke 19, as Jesus enters Jerusalem, the people erupt in joyful praise for all they have seen God do. They cannot help but cry out. The religious authorities tell Jesus to silence them, but he replies, “If these were silent, the stones would shout out.” Ada understood this passage as emblematic of the persistence of marginalized voices. The cry for justice, like the joy of salvation, cannot be silenced. Mujerista theology takes up this cry, proclaiming loudly and without apology that liberation is the work of God, and that theology must rise from the margins to reflect the fullness of God's vision.

Lent is often seen as a time of silence and solitude. But Ada María Isasi-Díaz teaches us that it is also a season of sacred noise—the noise of praise, protest, and proclamation. It is the time to remember that we are called by name, that we belong to God, and that we are invited to join the movement of voices bearing witness to love, liberation, and solidarity.

Reflection:

• Where do you hear the cries of justice rising in your community? 
• How does Mujerista theology help you see God at work in everyday life? 
• What would it mean for you to shout praise and protest with the crowd on the road to Jerusalem? 

Breath Prayer: Inhale: You have called me by name… Exhale: …I am yours.

May this Lenten season draw us into solidarity with those who long for liberation and remind us that our cries are heard by the God who walks beside us.

Amen.