March 27, 2024

This is a hard week. 

Sunday started with the singing of, “All glory, laud, and honor,” and quickly moved to shouting, “Crucify him!”

The Daily Collects this week refer to the way of the cross and death as a way of life and peace; ask that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of Jesus; remind us that Jesus gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon; recall his willingness to be betrayed; and ask us to wait while the body of Jesus lay in a tomb. 

This is a hard week.

For most of the year we celebrate Christ’s victory over death.  We practice hope.  We remember that life is changed, not ended.  But this week is different.

This week we betray Jesus.  This week we join with a blood-thirsty mob and shout, “Crucify him!”  This week we watch from a safe distance as Jesus is beaten, whipped, and hung on a cross to die.  This week we let someone else place his body in a tomb, because we are afraid of being associated with him.  This week we wonder if hope dies.  This week we wonder if life is not changed, but simply ends.

This is a hard week.

Let us bless the Lord.

March 13, 2024

Wednesday Word:  Secret Faults

Who can tell how often he offends? * cleanse me from my secret faults. – Ps. 19:12

Ps. 19 was the appointed psalm for Lent III.  It’s a good one for Lent, as it offers a variety of verses that can be meditated on and prayed with during this season of self-examination.  If you are still looking for a Lenten discipline, or if your original discipline went by the wayside and you want to pick something up, may I suggest reading and meditating on Psalm 19?

As I was sitting in church that Sunday reciting this psalm, I began to think:  How often have I/do I offend God or others?  Sure, the big ones are easy to identify:  being short-tempered with my family or coworkers; being discourteous or impatient with another person without knowing their story; using God as a weapon; excusing my behavior while blaming others for theirs.

But what are my secret faults?  What are those offensive things I do so often that I can’t keep count?  And are my secret faults faults that I commit when I’m alone so nobody else can see or know about?  Or are they faults I commit that are so concealed to me that only God knows?

One way to cleanse ourselves from secret faults is to get them out in the open, to bring them into the light so that we can address it and say, “I repent of this sin and will work to not commit it again.”  It may be that we do commit that sin again, but by bringing it to light we can deal with it in such a way that those sins will not get dominion over us (Ps. 19 again, verse 13).

Holy Week begins on March 24, and I will be offering time for personal confessions during that week.  What secret faults are troubling you?  What sins do you need to be cleansed from?

Lent is a time for us to make a right beginning.  I pray that you are finding this season prayerful, hopeful, and a time of cleansing so that you may, indeed, make a right beginning as we head into the Easter season.

Blessings, 

March 6, 2024

Wednesday Word:  What Are We Paying Attention To?

We are halfway through Lent, the season of self-examination and repentance; of prayer, fasting, and self-denial.  During this penitential season we make a right beginning by confessing our sins in a more deeply and personal way.  We read the Litany of Penitence on Ash Wednesday, confessing our sins to God, to each other, and to the whole communion of saints.  We begin each Sunday service with the Penitential Order, and the Confession of Sin is one of the first things we do in the liturgy.  On Lent 1, I read the Exhortation which encouraged you to “open your grief to a discreet and understanding priest” so that you may receive the assurance of pardon.

Lent is heavily focused on sin and repentance.

Lent is also focused on growth.  We give up those things that separate us from God and replace them with things that draw us to God.  By doing that, we (hopefully) grow in our relationship with God.  We might take on things that lead us to grow spiritually – praying during specific times of the day, reading Scripture, committing to regular worship attendance, etc.  In the physical world, we see the sun rising earlier and setting later, a physical reminder that light grows and always overcomes the darkness.

But whether we are focusing on our sins or on our growth, Lent is a time of personal reflection.  The Exhortation reminds us to judge ourselves, examine our lives and conduct, and acknowledge our sins.  All too often we focus on the sins of others, their lives and conduct, and make judgements about their worthiness.

Yes, we need to pay attention to where we have sinned and fallen short, and the need for repentance and forgiveness.  But what would happen if, instead of always focusing on the negative, we spent more time focusing on the positive.  What if we spent more time paying attention to the fruits of the Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

How might we grow both personally and as the faith community of Saint Luke’s if we spent more time focusing on and living into the fruits of the Spirit, rather than the shortcomings of ourselves and others?

Jesus said, “Where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.”  May our hearts pay attention to the good things of God so that our treasure becomes beneficial to all.