First Sunday in Lent
February 26, 2023
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
O holy One, we bow this day aware of the great propensity for evil which exists among all humankind. We wish for an explanation of it but can only stand as did Job after he had asked all of his questions, and expended all of his fury, and realize we do not understand life’s mysteries. Yet like the ancients who saw evil and who explained it in the simple story in the garden, who saw evil resulting from the sin of Adam and Eve, we know that we all have our gardens of evil. We all have known wrong-doing, guilt, and shame. We all are guilty. And we all share responsibility for the evil which is always so rampant among us. We cope so poorly with it.
We would like to distance ourselves from it because it makes us so uncomfortable.
We would like to use the mechanism of blame and project the evil bubbling within us onto others where it is more comfortable.
We would like to remove the speck from our neighbour’s eye and leave for another time the beam which is in our own eye.
We would like to think that the troubles of the world reside in the waywardness of other nations of the world and not our own.
We would like to absolve ourselves of responsibility because that would mean confronting the need for repentance.
Deliver us, gracious God, from the powers of darkness. Help us to find the honesty and courage which would enable us to look at our interior selves and own the truth. May we not fear the shadow within but embrace its reality. And in so doing may we discover the vastness of your redeeming love which is able to remove our transgressions, “as far as the east is from the west.” May we become more gracious to our neighbours and more loving. We pray in your name. Amen
February 26, 2023
Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
O holy One, we bow this day aware of the great propensity for evil which exists among all humankind. We wish for an explanation of it but can only stand as did Job after he had asked all of his questions, and expended all of his fury, and realize we do not understand life’s mysteries. Yet like the ancients who saw evil and who explained it in the simple story in the garden, who saw evil resulting from the sin of Adam and Eve, we know that we all have our gardens of evil. We all have known wrong-doing, guilt, and shame. We all are guilty. And we all share responsibility for the evil which is always so rampant among us. We cope so poorly with it.
We would like to distance ourselves from it because it makes us so uncomfortable.
We would like to use the mechanism of blame and project the evil bubbling within us onto others where it is more comfortable.
We would like to remove the speck from our neighbour’s eye and leave for another time the beam which is in our own eye.
We would like to think that the troubles of the world reside in the waywardness of other nations of the world and not our own.
We would like to absolve ourselves of responsibility because that would mean confronting the need for repentance.
Deliver us, gracious God, from the powers of darkness. Help us to find the honesty and courage which would enable us to look at our interior selves and own the truth. May we not fear the shadow within but embrace its reality. And in so doing may we discover the vastness of your redeeming love which is able to remove our transgressions, “as far as the east is from the west.” May we become more gracious to our neighbours and more loving. We pray in your name. Amen