Tag: Ash Wednesday

• Luke 5:1-11: Putting Out into the Deep

  
  

  Luke 5:1-11: Putting Out into the Deep

  Wednesday, February 8, 2023

  Jesus: Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch.

  The Gospel story reminds us that when we hug the shoreline, we have little room for growth. During this Lenten season we encourage one another to take stock of where and who we are so that we can move away from the safety of the shallows, so that we can trust God and venture into the frightening but rewarding depths of kingdom-building.

  Simon Peter: Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.

  Peter reminds us that the waters, boat and nets all belong to the Lord and that the Lord knows far more than we can hope to know. Peter shows us why we can trust God. Jesus shows us that there is bounty where we have found nothing of value.

  We approach the Lenten season when for forty days we will spend time with scripture that gives us the opportunity to open our hearts, un-stiffen our necks; and which allows us to put out into the deep to fish the waters we think are empty.

  Let this be practice for the next several days: Rather than think, “This will not work,” let us say instead, “If you say so, Lord”.

  Tomorrow, taking care.

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  Image from: https://www.dlshsi.edu.ph/daily-lasallian-reflection-prayer/luke-51-11 

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  February 8, 2023

  Ash Wednesday, kingdom-building, Simon Peter, trust God

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• Daniel 9:13-19: Prayer in the Desert

  
  

  Saturday, February 20, 2021

  Daniel 9:13-19

  Prayer of Penitence – In the Desert

  

  In today’s Noontime we ponder Daniels’s famous penitential prayer on behalf of the community. On the Eve of the first Sunday in Lent, we might reflect on three passages that complement today’s from Daniel. Ezra 9:6-15 and Nehemiah 1:5-11 and 9:6-37.  In this story, both priest and administrator rebuild the Jerusalem temple after Cyrus allows the Jewish people to return from exile. They have been told that their exile will last not 70 weeks or 70 years as was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah. No, they receive word that their captivity will end in seven times seventy or in 490 years. This is gloomy news until we begin to understand that this is precisely the amount of time until the arrival of Jesus.

  The HARPER COLLINS COMMENTARY tells us that this prayer we read today is not seen so much as a petition from the people which God obeys but rather as an appropriate act of piety from a people who have erred and disobeyed. It is for this reason that it is best to find others who will pray this together with us as an admission of our collective willfulness, waywardness and disobedience. (Mays 631)

  And let us pray Daniel’s prayer much as the Jewish community prayed with Ezra and Nehemiah when they returned to their ruined city.

  God of Heaven, God of Earth, Spirit Dwelling Among Us,

  Guide us . . . and grant us the faith to follow,

  Be glad in us . . . and grant us the hope to rejoice in you,

  Love us . . . and grant us the grace to grow in you.

  We wish to turn . . . we wish to return to you.

  For you are the beginning, the end, the all.

  We are your servants.

  May we serve you well.

  Amen. 

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  Mays, James L., ed.  HARPERCOLLINS BIBLE COMMENTARY. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1988. 631. Print.

  Images from: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/tent-in-the-desert-the-prayer-detail-eugene-alexis-girardet.html and http://annebender.blogspot.com/2013/07/three-things-i-love-about-catholicism.html

  Adapted from a reflection written on February 17, 2008.

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  February 20, 2021

  9:6-37, Ash Wednesday, desert, exile, Ezra 9:6-15, Jeremiah, Jesus, King Cyrus, Nehemiah 1:5-11 and 9:6-37, penitence, rebuilding Jerusalem

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• John 17:11-12: Unfolding Our Story

  
  

  John 17:11-12: Unfolding Our Story

  Ash Wednesday, March 6, 2019

  When Jesus prays for his disciples, he speaks to a loving parent as if reporting in on a project.

  I spelled out your character in detail
  To the men and women you gave me.
  They were yours in the first place;
  Then you gave them to me,
  And they have now done what you said.

  Jesus speaks not only to this loving parent but to us today as he says,

  They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
  That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
  For the message you gave me, I gave them;
  And they took it, and were convinced
  That I came from you.
  They believed that you sent me.
  I pray for them.

  Jesus continues to speak to his loving parent,

  I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world
  But for those you gave me,
  For they are yours by right.
  Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
  And my life is on display in them.
  For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world;
  They’ll continue in the world
  While I return to you.

  Jesus prepares for his exodus to the resurrected life and as he does, he prepares us for our own exodus.

  Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
  That you conferred as a gift through me,
  So they can be one heart and mind
  As we are one heart and mind.
  As long as I was with them, I guarded them
  In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
  I even posted a night watch.
  And not one of them got away,
  Except for the rebel bent on destruction
  (the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).

  On this Ash Wednesday, when we consider that we are beautiful dust from a great star collision millennia ago, we remember that Jesus takes us with him on his great exodus to new life.

  On this day when we remember that God is an ever-patient, always giving parent, we remember that the Spirit abides with us every step of our journey.

  On this day when we remember that we are dust, we also remember that this glorious ash unfolds our hearts to pull us together in one great union with Christ.

  On this day, we remember, and we celebrate this great blossoming gift of eternal love.

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  Listen to Steven Curtis Chapman’s Glorious Unfolding at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKMjEvF2Fkw

  Images from: https://www.stpaulsf.org/96 and http://stevencurtischapman.com/

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  March 6, 2019

  Ash Wednesday, Steven Curtis Chapman

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