Sunday-Ps. 31 is one of the possible readings for today.Jesus quotes v. 5 at the cross. For me v. 12 has special poignance as I grow older, and this is often the product of old age. Yet even there, God is with us (v. 16).
Monday-“We have to take a long hard look at ourselves. Why we are so eager to condemn others and somehow think that our own condemnation is exempt. How we are so willing to withhold forgiveness and to what extent that means we ourselves are in desperate need of it. How we are so willing to peripherize reconciliation when it necessitates a resolution with our own demons.”"Dear Working Preacher" for the Fourth Sunday in Lent
Tuesday-John S. Mogabgab-Gratitude is the gesture of a heart opened to receive God How do we remain alert for the signs of God’s entrance into our lives and the life of our time? What can keep us awake in the drowsy atmosphere of habit that cozily blankets our days? According to Paul, the answer is gratitude. To the Colossians he writes, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2). Paul is here pointing to the profound relation between spiritual alertness and the act of offering thanks. Gratitude gathers us into that double helix of grace descending and praise ascending that forms the basic design of life with God. Gratitude is the gesture of a heart opened to receive God, a heart acquainted with the shape of things to come, a heart alert to the tremors of a new creation in the birthing.
Wednesday-“Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other. They do not exchange ideas, they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities and commercials.” ― Neil Postman
Thursday-Strangers, people different than we are, stir up fear, discomfort, suspicion, and hostility. They make us lose our sense of security just by being "other." Only when we fully claim that God loves us in an unconditional way and look at "those other persons" as equally loved can we begin to discover that the great variety in being human is an expression of the immense richness of God's heart. Then the need to prejudge people can gradually disappear.
Friday-Paradox-Here is a secret, a beautiful little secret....in every impossibly broken thing there is still an impossibly strong and enduring wholeness. What feels broken apart, might be the place a circumstance, or our spirits break open, expanding and deepening instead of contracting our lives and world. I know this is a paradox, but I read somewhere that paradox is just a truth standing on it's head to get our attention. There are still enduringly strong forces at work. All is not lost, you are not alone, each day we can tap into this not so secret secret.Carrie Newcomer
Saturday-O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.From the desire of being esteemed,Deliver me, Jesus.From the desire of being loved ...From the desire of being extolled ...From the desire of being honored ...From the desire of being praised ..From the desire of being preferred to others ...From the desire of being consulted ...From the desire of being approved ...From the fear of being humiliated ...From the fear of being despised ...From the fear of suffering rebukes ...From the fear of being calumniated ...From the fear of being forgotten ...From the fear of being ridiculed ...From the fear of being wronged ...From the fear of being suspected ...That others may be loved more than I,Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.--Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
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