Lent
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Wednesday, March 24th, 2010Wednesday : March 24, 2010
Readings: Daniel 3:13-28 ; John 8: 31-42
Scripture Verse: “…you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” John 8:32
Reflection: What “truth” is Jesus referring to? In order to make the proclamation “Jesus Christ is Lord” we need to accept the truth about ourselves. It is only when we are honestly willing to come to terms with who we are that we can accept our need for Jesus to be Lord in our lives. It is only when we are willing to explore the truth about ourselves that we are able to accept the possibilities for differences to take place in us because of the Jesus we profess to be Lord.
The truth about ourselves, and the truth Jesus and his gospel can make in our lives, is the truth that can set us free. For once we accept how we are imperfect, we can become free from perfectionism. Once we accept the fragility of life, we can become free from all impulses to take ourselves and others for granted. And once we are able to move beyond sinfulness as a negative word and come to accept how it does describe our imperfect self, we can accept the gift of God’s forgiving love. God’s love is given to us in our sinfulness. That is the true gift of God’s love for us.
In Lent we are invited to examine our lives honestly, to reflect on the greatness of God’s love for us and ask God to help us accept His gift of love in a way that touches our hearts and shapes our lives.
Lent - Week Five 2010
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010Tuesday: March 23, 2010
Readings: Numbers 21:4-9, John 8:21-30
Scripture Verse: “Because he spoke in this way, many came to believe in him” John 8:30
Reflection: Jesus was not afraid to speak the truth, or to challenge many of the accepted beliefs and practices of his day. He exhibited a sense of self-awareness many of us have to struggle with in order to achieve.
Today’s reading reminds us that Jesus’ image of himself was rooted in his relationship to the God he called Father. Jesus was secure in who he was, and was able to say and do what he did, because he was connected to the will of his Father.
Our faith does not grow in a vacuum. It needs to be nourished. The fruits of faith…a sense of who we are as Christians…a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives as Christians…do not just happen. They are the result of a willingness on our part to take the time and to do what is necessary so that we, like Jesus, can experience a sense of being connected to the will of God the Father.
Through our willingness to gather for worship each week…through our willingness to try to observe a Holy Lent through reflection, penitence, prayer, fasting, almsgiving and reading and meditating on the word of God in Holy Scripture, we are showing a desire to take responsibility for our faith. Through our willingness to participate in Holy Week, we show our willingness to be nourished in the faith. Through entering into the worship of our church we show a willingness to be present to, and to know a little better, the God we are privileged to call “Our Father”
Lent - Week Five 2010
Monday, March 22nd, 2010Monday : March 22, 2010
Readings: Susanna 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 (note: Susanna– “Daniel rescues Susanna” is found in Apocryphal texts of Bible—; John 8:1-11
Scripture Verse: “Nor do I condemn you. You may go.” John 8:11
Reflection: The perfection that Jesus demands of his followers (Matthew 5:48) is being merciful as “your Father is merciful” Luke 6:36. Mercy is the essential condition for entering the kingdom of God. (Matthew 5:7). A merciful attitude and stance in life makes us like the Good Samaritan, like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son, like Jesus who raises the widow’s son and who forgives the woman caught in adultery. Mercy is acting with tenderness towards the hurt in others. When Jesus spoke of mercy, he echoed the Jewish tradition that when you extend mercy you become connected to the other.
Right after the story of the woman caught in adultery comes Jesus’ proclamation—“I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12). Mercy is the handle that opens the door to the light. Saint Patrick (whose day we acknowledged last week) is a person who understood this, He returned to the country where he was originally enslaved and extended to the people first mercy and then the gospel.
In Lent we are invited to look inside ourselves and see the parts of us that might be hard-hearted or holding a grudge. We are invited to ask God help us turn away from these attitudes and instead turn towards allowing mercy to affect our actions.
Lent - Week Four 2010
Friday, March 19th, 2010Friday : March 19, 2010
Readings: Hosea 6:1-6; Luke 18:9-14
Scripture Verse: He will come to us like the rain, like spring rain that waters the earth. Hosea 6:3
Reflection: Fairy tales often have a wizard or a magician in the story. These “special” people, like Merlin in Camelot, have magical formulae that only they know. Their incantations may bestow a curse or a blessing, or rearrange history or change someone’s life. Merlin uses his magic to change the young Arthur into various animals and this, in turn, helps Arthur to see the world with new eyes and new understanding.
Jesus makes it clear in our gospel today that there is no magic formula for prayer that is only possessed by a few. Prayer is a gift that is open to all. Jesus gives us a model for prayer: we are sinners, totally dependant on God for our salvation. We are to lower our heads and ask God to pour mercy on us and rub that mercy, like oil, into our muscles and bones. We are to allow ourselves to be touched by God.
Hosea tells us that this is the love God asks from us. He doesn’t want frantic activity. He wants us to allow him to direct our comings and goings.
We pray: Lord I approach you with my head bowed and my hands open. Pour your mercy upon me this day. Let me feel your love. Let me know that you are near me, guiding and leading me. Amen.
Lent - Week Four 2010
Thursday, March 18th, 2010Thursday: March 18, 2010
Readings: Hosea 14:2-10 Mark 12:28-34
Scripture Verse: You shall love the Lord your God… Mark 12:30
Reflection: It has been written, “Life is change and those who have changed often are perfect.” As we know change is often difficult for Anglicans and the older we get the more trapped we can become in our patterns of life. The Chinese philosopher wrote about this when he commented on how supple and flexible infants are and how, as we age, we become stiffer and more brittle until at last we die. Life is flexibility. Death is rigidity.
The great commandment to love God above all else is a commandment directed to helping us change. Our love of neighbour cannot be understood or fulfilled without love of God. In our love of God, we begin to look at people the way God looks at them. We learn to treat them the God treats them. We learn to work with them the way God works with them. We learn to treat them with the respect and dignity they (and we) are due as people created in the image of God.
In Lent we are invited to renew our love of God and to respond to God’s love for us through treating others as God treats us. We are invited to become more flexible and to see people as God sees us.