A Daily Lent

Facing Our Restlessness Sunday of the Fourth Week of Lent – March 22, 2020 Our current coronavirus-induced isolation has challenged us in many ways. Among the challenges, we are finding that when isolated from others, we have to befriend ourselves in new ways. We also find that our usual ways of being productive are disrupted. We may not think of ourselves as geared for productivity . . . until we are forced into a more passive, isolated stance for a few weeks or months. We begin to say things like, “I don’t feel like I’m accomplishing anything,” or “I need to find some projects to keep me busy,” or “I get bored so easily.” Especially in Western culture, we have internal wiring that equates personal worth with productivity. We assume that I am what I produce , that what I do defines me. Then, we are pressed into a situation in which our doing is more limited, and suddenly we find ourselves in a crisis of being. Who am I? Why am I here? These are huge questions, fundamental ...

Good Friday Daily Reading : John 19:17 – 30 Focus Passage : Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (Jn. 19:28 – 30) John editorializes about Jesus in verse 28: “ knowing that everything had now been finished . . . .” Then he writes of Jesus cry from the cross: “ It is finished .” The words announce his death. They also make a statement about his life-purpose. At other times in his ministry, Jesus claimed that his purpose was to complete the work God sent him to do. In John 4:34, for instance, when the disciples offered him food to eat, he said, “ My food is to do the will of the One who sent me and to finish God...

Maundy Thursday Daily Reading : John 13:1 – 15 Focus Passage : It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (Jn. 13:1 – 5) All of Jesus’ actions, both on this night and through the last days of his life, are framed by these words: “ Jesus knew that he had come from God and was returning to God .” In other words, Jesus knew who he was. He knew his identi...

The First Sunday of Lent Daily Reading: Luke 4:1 – 13 Focus Passage: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. (Lk. 4:1 – 2) This is a core Lenten reading. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, hearing God say, “You are my son, my beloved, the one who delights me.” Coming up from the water his core identity was confirmed, pressed deeply into his soul. Immediately from those waters, the Spirit led Jesus into the desert, where he fasted for 40 days and was tempted by satan. Matthew says more about fasting in his version of this story (Matt. 4:1 – 11), while Luke gives attention to the leadership of God’s Spirit and to the temptations themselves. Both accounts shape the Lenten season, where we take a 40 day walk with Jesus that involves fasting, self-denial, and inner cleansing. Satan (the name means “...

Monday of the Second Week of Lent – March 2, 2015 Amma Syncletica said, “There are many who live in the mountains and behave as if they were in the town, and they are wasting their time. It is possible to be a solitary in one’s mind while living in a crowd, and it is possible for one who is a solitary to live in the crowd of his or her own thoughts.” [Benedicta Ward, SLG, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers , p. 234.] The spiritual practice of solitude offers us space to live more fully into our connection with God, apart from concern for how we appear to other people. In this sense, solitude provides a setting in which we can interact freely with God and begin to discern the purpose for which we were created. We, then, are able to come to some sense of our core identity apart from what other people say about us, think about us, or tell us we are. The Desert Fathers and Mothers recognized that it is possible for us to be alone, yet not truly be in solitude. In contemporary cult...

John 13:3 Jesus knew that he had come from God and would go back to God. Jesus knew who he was. He knew his origins in God. He did not need success to tell him who he was, nor did he need great accolades or diplomas on his wall or financial security to confirm his identity. He knew who he was deep within himself. He lived out of the abundance of his core identity in God. When a person is fully in touch with who they are, every possibility opens up before them. They are not threatened with tasks that seem beneath them, nor do they get inflated when given responsibility or position. They are able to be at ease with every kind of person and in every kind of situation, because they don't spend their time thinking, "I'm glad I'm not so-and-so," or "I wish I were that person." The complete text for today is John 13:1 - 15. In it, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Jesus was able to strip down and then kneel at the feet of his followers to wa...

John 7:40 – 53 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” They replied, “Are you f...

John 5:31 – 47 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true. “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. “I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that yo...

Matthew 4:1 - 11 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to h...

John 13:1 – 15 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "U...

Matthew 16:13 –19 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." When Jesus asks Peter, “Who do you say I am?” he has no interest in asking for Peter’s opinion. Peter’s opinion is no ...