2021 LENTEN MEDITATIONS
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Week IV | Sunday, March 14 - Saturday, March 20
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Sunday, March 14
O merciful Father, who has taught us
in your holy Word that you do not willingly afflict or grieve our children: Look with pity upon the sorrows of all your servants for whom our prayers are offered. Remember them, O Lord, in mercy, nourish their soul with patience, comfort them with a sense of your goodness, lift up your countenance upon them, and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. —The Book of Common Prayer, p. 831 |
Monday, March 15
So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. —Matthew 5:23-24 As we ready for the journey in Christ in the way of the cross, we are moving in the Spirit of God toward the gift of divine luminosity. Making amends and forgiveness is not easy. Sometimes these two actions take time, yet with courage, we move toward reconciliation a step at a time. We are like mosaic pieces. We have imperfections. These imperfections guide us to see deep within ourselves in order to make amends and change where it is needed. We learn how to fit our mosaic pieces in the image of the cross where we are made right with God, ourselves and with those with whom we make amends and forgive. This takes vulnerability and bravery, and these two things created in the image of God are very good and beautiful. The paradox of divine spirituality brings us together. God’s light enters and shines to help us live in wholeness in Christ. May your Lenten journey be a peace offering in the light of the divine healer. Amen. —Cornelia Eaton |
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Tuesday, March 16
For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him. —2 Chronicles 30:9b During the reign of Hezekiah, the Feast of the Passover was only one of three feasts that required a pilgrimage to the temple in Jerusalem each year. “Come to his sanctuary, which he has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God,” Hezekiah invited (verse 8). As in that day, God’s grace and forgiveness are available today to all who return to God. According to the Law of Moses, God will be compassionate and merciful to those who truly repent (Leviticus 26:40-42). The same invitation is in force today. No matter what our situation may be, we can turn our face to God. Our mistakes are not that different from those of people in biblical times, and we can see how God showed compassion and mercy toward them. This is the season to turn to God and invite God’s peace and the fruits of the Spirit into our lives. God will never turn away from us if we return to God. These promises are based on an eternal principle regarding God’s nature: God promises to draw near to those who draw near to him. —Patricia Martin |
Wednesday, March 17
Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” —Matthew 15:28a Jesus usually shows us how to be, how to think and how to act. However, in this encounter with the Canaanite woman, he models how to learn from a foreign woman from across the border. The teacher learns, unlearns and repents. Power is a real thing. Jesus was a powerful man in this Jewish context. He was, however, blind to his power and blinded by his perspective of having a clear 20/20 vision of the purpose and strategy of God’s plan. Any ideology of superiority has a built-in assumption of surety that over time can become arrogant and normative. The American “caste” system is a thing but only when seen in interaction with those who are from the subordinate “castes.” Only interaction with those who are different from us can help us correct dominant ways of being and living. Jesus, in this encounter, learns the truth of the Beatitudes he preached. He found out that the poor will inherit the earth when they are not silenced and ignored by theologies and ideologies of Empire. Repentance is about recognizing and turning away from not so life-giving ways. Amendment of life is an inner thing that happens quietly without statements but with an affinity for a change of heart and path. Repentance heals the world from the sin of caste where all gifts, the root of asset-based community development, are welcomed and celebrated. God have mercy! —Prince Singh |
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Thursday, March 18
Wen Jiizas si ar a ala an a baal, an si di Juu dem we did kom wid ar a baal tu, im aat muuv. “Wich paat unu put im?” Jiizas aks dem. “Kom, Laad, kom an si,” dem se tu im. Jiizas baal. —John 11:33-35 Di Jameikan Nuu Testament In this passage, Jesus is mourning the loss of a friend. But his heart is moved by the mourning of the community. In Jamaican culture, to baal is a full physical expression of one’s pain. It is not merely water falling from one’s eyes. We’ve experienced much loss through our harmful words, institutional violence and global pandemic. At times, harm has been up close and personal. The loss of a childhood friend moved me differently than the statistics. In 2020, we were locked inside and could not turn our faces from communal grief. So many in the church wondered: how might we, like Jesus, mourn what is lost and make conditions for resurrection to happen? Once the full expression of pain is experienced, Jesus rolls up his sleeves and invites the crowd to get to work, removing the stone and bandages of death. Repentance is not just the act of saying, “I am sorry,” but an opportunity to speak the truth so that the facts might change. It is about doing the work, going beyond the mere catchphrase. The work isn’t just about large public gestures of repentance. It is also about how you see your fellow-creature (human and otherwise). Doing the work is showing up and seeing the belovedness in every being, allowing your heart to be so moved by their grief that the resurrecting love of Christ is the central energetic force that propels you to move through the world baaling. —Tamara Plummer |
Friday, March 19
Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger. —Ephesians 4:26 My daughter came home from kindergarten one day crying because she wasn’t white. She had picked up that white is better. “Why can’t I be white?” This brought back memories of my childhood growing up in the first integrated class in my school, and it made me angry. I was angry that I couldn’t protect my daughters from a culture where Black is perceived as bad. But mostly I was angry because no matter what I did, I could never give my daughters the opportunities and wealth that their white counterparts receive simply because of history. Society would penalize and blame them for the disparity. As Marvin Gaye said, the situation “makes me wanna holler and throw up my hands” in defeat and frustration. I wanted to just give in to anger and vent on the world. But I had to stop. The still small voice in my spirit reminded me that being angry was ok, but how was I using it? When it comes to race, how many times have we given up, stopped trying or refused to forgive? In this season of Lent, let us repent of anger that leads to hate, stereotyping and social or relational laziness. Let us embrace an anger that leads to justice, radical engagement and truth-telling inside a fierce relationality. We can’t give up on each other because Christ did not give up on us. —Willie Bennett |
Saturday, March 20
For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there
among them.
Matthew 18:20
Where Jesus is, there is love. When Jesus is present, all ills
of society are addressed, challenged, corrected and healed.
Rochester, New York, was one of many cities impacted by the
inhumane death of Black people. Daniel Prude was a Black man
who was also mentally ill. Mental health has been neglected
in our communities overall, and we are all participants in that
neglect. The unjust way he died has exposed, yet again, the
moral health pandemic of a “caste system” in the United States
and around the world. Unless we address this moral health crisis,
we will come back to some manifestation of the same problem
again and again.
Episcopal Relief & Development has consistently worked with
partners around the world to reach the most vulnerable—those
struggling with poverty, hunger and disease. Beyond policy and
systemic changes, we get through these difficult circumstances
because someone stands with us. Jesus needs his body to
stand with the vulnerable and the invisible peoples of our world.
Standing with those who suffer to correct the wrongs of history
is practicing the presence of Jesus. We can each do our part of
loving and healing by expanding our circles!
—Prince Singh
For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there
among them.
Matthew 18:20
Where Jesus is, there is love. When Jesus is present, all ills
of society are addressed, challenged, corrected and healed.
Rochester, New York, was one of many cities impacted by the
inhumane death of Black people. Daniel Prude was a Black man
who was also mentally ill. Mental health has been neglected
in our communities overall, and we are all participants in that
neglect. The unjust way he died has exposed, yet again, the
moral health pandemic of a “caste system” in the United States
and around the world. Unless we address this moral health crisis,
we will come back to some manifestation of the same problem
again and again.
Episcopal Relief & Development has consistently worked with
partners around the world to reach the most vulnerable—those
struggling with poverty, hunger and disease. Beyond policy and
systemic changes, we get through these difficult circumstances
because someone stands with us. Jesus needs his body to
stand with the vulnerable and the invisible peoples of our world.
Standing with those who suffer to correct the wrongs of history
is practicing the presence of Jesus. We can each do our part of
loving and healing by expanding our circles!
—Prince Singh