Author: Jana

From the Book of Alternative Services from the Anglican Church of Canada

“For the one holy catholic and apostolic Church throughout the world, we pray to you. Lord, have mercy.

For the mission of the Church, that in faithful witness it may preach the gospel to the ends of the earth, we pray to you. Lord, have mercy.

For those preparing for baptism and for their teachers and sponsors, we pray to you. Lord, have mercy.

For peace in the world, that a spirit of respect and reconciliation may grow among nations and peoples, we pray to you. Lord, have mercy.

For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, all who suffer; for refugees, prisoners, and all in danger; that they may be rlieved and protected, we pray to you. Lord, have mercy.

For all whom we have injured or offended, we pray to you. Lord, have mercy.

For grace to amend our lives and to further the reign of God, we pray to you. Lord, have mercy.”

In the name of our Eternal God.

Amen.

*Sorry for the delay in posting we have been experiences some internet issues.

Today I invite you to read this Psalm of David. If you have the opportunity to read it slowly aloud do so, and see what percolates and revealx itself to you.

Psalm 103 NRSV

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the Pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good as long as you live[a]
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord works vindication
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
14 For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for mortals, their days are like grass;
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.

19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
obedient to his spoken word.
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers that do his will.
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.

In most denominations there is time during the weekly worship for us to confess our sins to God, and often the minister does confess on our behalf.  This is an important part of our faith, the ability to acknowledge our weakness and to continue to grow. However, I know I often tend to hold onto “sins”  perhaps not the deadly sins. The seven deadly sins being: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, but the little errors that I tend to ruminate on and not let go. I spend time dwelling on how I could of done things differently. I expect that I am not the only one out there. So, as a result I encourage you to join me in the exercise below today.

Grab a piece of paper and a writing implement and write down any things that you struggle to let go. Once you have written everything down, take a minute and say a prayer thanking God for giving you these distractions because they do show you what matters to you. After this ask God to help you let them go. If you have the opportunity to (safely) burn them do so, otherwise tear them up and throw them away. It is time to not be constrained by earthly things, but to start moving to heavenly things.

Today’s theme is Art, and on these days we will be exploring various artists using various mediums. We will start with one of the masterpieces from the Classical Era. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requieum – Kryie.

Mozart was Roman Catholic and lived in Austria during the late 1700s. The Requieum is written in D minor and was unfinished at the time of his death (at age 35), it was finished the following year by Franz Xaver Sussmayr. It has been suspected that Mozart believed that he was writing the Requieum for his own funeral.

As such, it seems appropriate to the beginning of our Lenten journey, and our dying away from earthly things.

The lyrics in Latin are:
Kryie eleison,
Christe eleison,
Kyrie, eleison.

Or in English:
Lord, have mercy on me,
Christ, have mercy on me,
Lord, have mercy on me.

“Here we are, you and I, and, I hope, also a third who is Christ”. – Aelred of Rievaulx

On this first day of Lent I invite you to pause, to take a few breaths to breathe in some stillness. Hear our breath, for this moment we are alive. We are filled with Spirit. As we prepare for our Lenten journey, let us make an intention for this journey. How do you want to grow? Where do you want to seek God in your daily round? Do you need to let things go, and have some meditation or scripture time? Do you want to study the Scriptures, or a theological work? Think about one intention, that you will focus on for the next 40 days, and a plan as to how you may make that happen.

For me, I have always been inspired to read Dante’s Divine Comedy, but I never seem to be able to completely follow through. My intention is to read through Inferno and Purgatorio through the course of Lent, and reflect on biblical themes. If you are wiling to share your intention, please comment below.

As we start our journey, may we now prepare to pray in unity:

“Then I turned to the Lord God, to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession saying. “Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you and keep your commandments, we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances. (Daniel 9:3-5)

Bring us back O God, to focus on divine things and beyond our earthly horizons. You remind us that we are ‘but dust and to dust we shall return’, but for now your Spirit breathes within us. Help us to slow down, to look to you, to seek to deepen our understanding and experience of you Eternal God in our lives. Today as we take the first steps on our journey, give us enough light to illuminate the next part of our journey. Together we pray… Amen.