Friday
After Ash Wednesday
Have mercy on me, O God, according
to your steadfast love… I know my transgressions…
Psalm
51:1,3
Friday
Prayer
Sometimes life is full of hardship. Other times life is full
of happiness in their proper season.
When the crosses in my life become too much for me to carry, I beg you
to remove my burden. When the crosses in
my life become too few, I beg you to add more
In the fullness of time, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to the cross for
me. In the fullness of my life, Lord,
show me the crosses that I am to carry.
Amen.
Friday
Meditation
God’s mercy is greater than our sins. There is an awareness of sin that does not
lead to God but to self-preoccupation.
Our temptation is to be so impressed by our sins and failings and so
overwhelmed by our lack of generosity that we get stuck in a paralyzing guilt. It is the guilt that says: “I am too sinful to deserve directing our
eyes to God. It is the guilt that has
become an idol and therefore a form of pride.
Lent is the time to break down this idol and to direct our attention to
our loving Lord. The question is: Are we
like Judas, who was so overcome by his sin that he could not believe in God’s
mercy any longer and hanged himself. Or
are we like Peter who returned to his Lord with repentance and cried bitterly
for his sins? The season of Lent, during
which winter and spring struggle with each other for dominance, helps us in a
special way to cry out for God’s mercy.
-
Henri Nouwen
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