...I will make a new covenant...I will put my
law within them, and I will write it on their hearts...I will forgive their
iniquity, and remember their sin no more. [Jeremiah
31:31,33b,34b]
Have mercy on me, O
God...in your great compassion...Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a
right spirit within me...Give me the joy of your saving help and sustain me
with your bountiful spirit. [Psalm 51:1, 11, 13]
Although he was a Son, he learned
obedience through what he suffered...he became the source of eternal salvation
for all who obey him... [Hebrews 5:8a, 9b]
Very truly, I tell
you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a
single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. [John 12:24]
From the
beginnings of Christian Liturgy until the late 1950s, the 5th Sunday in
Lent was known across many liturgical denominations as Passion Sunday and it
marked the beginning of a two-week Passiontide. The 6th Sunday was Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, with the
Passion cycle finishing with the Hallelujahs of Easter Day. There are a few traditionalists that
still follow that liturgical line but these days in our corner of
Episcopal/Anglican Land, the two weeks of Passiontide is no
longer observed in that way. The 6th Sunday in Lent is now the combined Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday.
We who have been
Christian for a fair amount of time know what is coming, especially as parish
calendars are filled with the schedules of preparations and services for Holy
Week and Easter. Some will
enter the experience of the next weeks as a rote exercise of obligation
with a sense of the sacred a bit worn or dimmed. Some will skip a few or all of
the extra events in favor of laying all their spiritual eggs only in the joy of
Easter. But for me, in this 5th Sunday in Lent, it is time again that I consciously think more
about what it all means for me now and especially for my eternal life. How do I break out of my self-protecting
shell and be rooted again in Christ, growing, blossoming in Holy Ground?
This week, Jeremiah tells us that God plans a new covenant and from the least of them to the greatest, God says, I will...remember their sins no more.
Jesus tells his disciples about the grain of
wheat that must die in order to bear fruit. It is a cue for me to remember that
my life in this world is brief and shortening with every day that passes. It is
time for me to crack open the seed of wisdom and truth in the ground of my being,
to grow its fruit in my soul, and perhaps, along the Way, it may plant a few
seeds in others.
LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ O Lord our God, turn us from
our earthly wants and purge us from our sins. Strengthen our faith in and by
Your constant Presence that we may hear again, intentionally follow, and obey
Jesus the Christ, our Source of eternal salvation.
O God of
Compassion
RESPONSE: Create in us
clean hearts
~ O Lord our God, renew right spirits and write Your
Law and Covenant on the hearts and souls of all who have or take political
authority in this World, in this Nation, and in this Community, that their
actions will restore all Your people to justice, mercy, and peace. We pray
especially for: add your own petitions
O God of Compassion
Create
in us clean hearts
~ O Lord our God, calm the fears and pain of all who
are afflicted by illness, turmoil, or doubt, and refresh the energy of all
who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for those in
need…add your own petitions
O God of Compassion
Create in us clean hearts
~ O Lord our God, we offer our praise and unending
gratitude for the joy and gladness of those we love, who now live again
forever, in Your glorious and bountiful Spirit. We pray especially
for: add your own petitions
O God of Compassion
Create in us clean hearts
r other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions,
petitions, and memorials, aloud or silently…add your own petitions
O God of Compassion
Create in us clean hearts
~ O Lord our God, grant special grace and blessings to
all who endeavor in Faith to live in and bring us Your Word and
Sacraments, that we all may know the reconciling love of Christ. We pray
especially for: add your own petitions
O God of Compassion
Create
in us clean hearts
The Celebrant adds: God
of Loving-Kindness, break us out of our self-protecting shells to die to
temporal distractions, that, rooted in the holy ground of Christ, our spiritual
fruitfulness may nourish the souls of ourselves and others, guiding us all into
eternal life. We ask through Jesus, our great High Priest; and the Holy Spirit,
our Sanctifier; who together with You, live, love, and reign as One God, now
and forever. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment