A prayer for this fifth and final Sunday of Lent:

O God our Father, renew our spirits and draw our hearts to thyself, that our work may not be to us a burden but a delight; and give us such love to thee as may sweeten all our obedience.  Help us that we may serve thee with the cheerfulness and gladness of children, delighting ourselves in thee and rejoicing in all that is to the honor of thy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

In 2009, an artist named Amie Hollmann sketched passages of Scripture throughout Lent.  Below is the image for Day 30.  The whole set can be viewed here.

Can these bones live?

Lent intends to drive into us a hope and conviction that the Divine One responds to our query–“Oh, yes!”

Yesterday my two-year-old was with me as we opened the garage door early to head to church.  An inch or more of snow had fallen overnight, quickly disguising all the spring weather we’d been enjoying.  Emmanuelle began saying something, but I was only half-listening.  I assumed it was a word about the fresh snow or “church day” or something she saw in the garage.  As my ears tuned in, I realized I didn’t recognize what she was saying–they weren’t familiar words coming from her little mouth.  When I finally tuned in for real, there they were–clear as day…

“Birds are singing.  They’re talking.”

And indeed they were!

It had been months since I last heard them, and I don’t think I’d ever heard my girl point it out to me.  Even more, I was amazed that minus her freshly tuned senses, I’d likely have missed the sound altogether.

As we drove, it struck me that Lent is something like this.  It is a season where routines are intended to break down, at least enough to allow for some fresh listening.  Themes like repentance and confession unclog our ears and give volume to some voices and some matters which we may have been muffling with a poorly-shaped life.

And we might be shocked to wonder, “How long have those birds been singing, and I never even heard them?”

A prayer for this forth Sunday of Lent:

Lord God, you who are the source of all truth, wisdom, justice, and love, lead me through this time of worship and throughout this day of service to you.  Help me constantly to rest my life upon the eternal foundations of your love and presence.  Save me from haste and confusion, from wronglful desire, and the net of evil.  Through the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, enlighten, instruct, and guide me all the day long.  In the name of Jesus, amen.

Credit to Scot McKnight yet again…

Jeff Cook, author of Seven: The Deadly Sins and the Beatitudes , has offered some brief meditations for us to ponder during Lent this year.

Greed

During Lent, we will meditate together on the Seven Deadly Sins and use this list as an aid in confession as we prepare ourselves for Holy Week, Good Friday and the Easter announcement of resurrection.

Greed is a misdirected love. Dante depicted the greedy chained to the ground, with their backs turned to heaven and their eyes fixed on the earth. The destructive power of greed was noted by one of those enchained who said, “Greed quenched my love of good, thus all my labors were in vain.”

Notice, greed is not gluttony, which indulges to the point of bursting. Greed in many ways couldn’t care less about enjoying its spoils. Greed pursues accumulation. Greed is the desire to possess more than I need, because of fear or idolatry. A fitting personification of Greed is Ebenezer Scrooge, who sat alone at night with a single candle to light his frigid bedroom. “Darkness is cheap,” wrote Charles Dickens, “and Scrooge liked it.”
Greed does not care about living well in the present for greed is obsessed about the future, and the future is a place of fear—fear that I will not have enough for tomorrow, fear that somehow the God who gives me each breath will stop providing if I do not squirrel away all I can.

Jesus’ brother James called greed the primary obstacle to peace in our world. Paul wrote that monetary greed is “a root of all kinds of evil.” All four gospel writers suggest that Judas betrayed Jesus partially because of greed. At its core, greed prefers wealth to the growth of our souls, to the God who made us, and to peace among people.

To those of us who struggle with greed Jesus says, “Freely you have received, freely give … What good will it be for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul?” (Mt 10:8, 16:26)

(Excerpt from Seven: the Deadly Sins and the Beatitudes by Jeff Cook)