52 posts categorized "Lent"

On Sundays during Lent, we invite you to reflect and respond to the weekly prayer and action from our Lenten Prayers for Hungry People resource.

Lectionary readings (from the Revised Common Lectionary):

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:1-12
or Psalm 119:9-16
Hebrew 5:5-10
John 12:20-33

Prayer:

O Christ, we live in a world filled with suffering and death, but you call us to follow you and serve you. May your abundant mercy open our eyes to new ways we can create hope and opportunity for hungry people.

Amen.

Action:

Members of Congress pay special attention to the local newspapers in their district and state. Write letters to the editor and contribute op-ed pieces so your representative and senators in Washington, D.C., see that their constituents believe ending hunger should be a national priority.

+Read all of our Lent reflections.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays during Lent, we invite you to reflect and respond to one highlighted Scripture reading from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Lectionary readings:
Psalm 51:1-12
Exodus 30:1-10
Hebrew 4:14—5:4

Psalm 51:1-12

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.

+Read all of our Lent reflections.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays during Lent, we invite you to reflect and respond to one highlighted Scripture reading from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Lectionary readings (from the Revised Common Lectionary):
Psalm 19
Exodus 19:1-9a
1 Peter 2:4-10

Exodus 19:1-9a

At the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.’

 So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. The people all answered as one: ‘Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.’ Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.’

+Read all of our Lent reflections.

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays during Lent, we invite you to reflect and respond to one highlighted Scripture reading from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Lectionary readings:
Psalm 22:23-31
Genesis 15:1-6, 12-18
Romans 3:21-31

Romans 3:21-31

But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.

Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

+Read all of our Lent Reflections.

Photo by Flickr user IvanWalsh.com

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays during Lent, we invite you to reflect and respond to one highlighted Scripture reading from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Lectionary readings:
Ps. 25:1-10
Dan. 9:1-14
1 John 1:3-10

Psalm 25:1-10

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me.
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

+Read all of our Lent Reflections.

Sunday, April 24 

"After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you” (Matthew 28:1-7).

There is a tradition repeated every Easter by devout Roman Catholic Filipinos: the salubong (literally meaning “meeting”). Just before dawn—at 4 a.m.—men gather in one part of town, following a procession with the statue of the resurrected Christ. In another part of town, a procession of women, led by a statue of the Virgin Mary veiled in black. The two processions then converge on the plaza in front of the cathedral or church.

There, a young girl dressed as an angel is hoisted up (nowadays they use a crane) and lifts the black veil of the Virgin Mary so she sees the resurrected Christ. Tradition holds that the veil must be fully lifted up otherwise the coming year will be full of misfortune. All the while, the choir sings a chorus of alleluias. Then the two statues and the people enter the church for a one-house mass.

There is, of course, something wrong with the way the salubong is celebrated. There is no record in the Bible that the Virgin Mary actually met Jesus Christ after he rose from the dead or that she was the other Mary who visited the tomb and met the angel. Somehow, it was reinterpreted, and the Virgin Mary now meets Jesus in the salubong held in the Philippines.

But no matter how the story of the resurrection is reinterpreted, one truth remains immutable: Christ is risen, Christ is risen indeed! Even if the Virgin Mary’s black veil is not fully lifted, and misfortune may follow, the truth remains that after three days of mourning, Christ is risen as has been foretold by the prophets.

Let us rejoice this Easter day—let us commit ourselves to another year of service, of worship, of praise to our Lord, the risen Christ.

Our Father, remove from us the sophistication of our age and the skepticism that has become, like frost, to blight our faith and to make it weak. Bring us back to a faith that makes people great and strong, a faith that enables us to love and to live, the faith by which we are triumphant, the faith by which alone we can walk with Thee …. Lord we make this our prayer. Amen.—by Dr. Peter Marshall, from The Prayers of Peter Marshall, by Catherine Marshall.

Adlai J. Amor is director of communications at Bread for the World.

Photo credit: Sarah Rohrer

Saturday, April 23

One of my favorite movies is The Princess Bride. Vizzini, who is in charge of the bandits who kidnap the princess-to-be, repeatedly exclaims, “Inconceivable!” They discover that they are being followed by a boat: “Inconceivable!” Their pursuer follows them up a giant cliff: “Inconceivable!”

Like Vizzini, our lives are filled with moments that make us stop, frozen where we are, shake our heads, and mutter, “Inconceivable!” Something huge happens, and we have to pause to regain our composure and reconstruct our understanding of what’s normal and possible.

Sometimes, we are stunned by the wonder and beauty that surrounds us. Several macaws frequently fly by my office in Miami, and I look up to see their yellow bellies soaring overhead. It’s amazing, inconceivable even, that I live in this (sub)tropical wonderland. 

But other moments overwhelm us with a sense of helpless grief. Every time I turn off the turnpike onto the street that leads to my house, someone walks between the cars at the stoplight, asking for spare change. I try to remember to keep granola bars in my car or to have dollar bills with me, so I have at least a small offering. One day, I had a chocolate cake with me, so I gave that to the man walking between cars. He looked at me like that was ridiculous, inconceivable.

It’s easy to become numb to this kind of inconceivable—the poverty you can’t miss on urban streets, the pain of disease and mental illness, the brokenness of relationships. It’s too much. The ache of so much gone wrong in the world leaves us overwhelmed and paralyzed. And so we try to drown out the growling stomachs of children. We watch YouTube videos of kittens and laughing babies, while we ignore stories of oil-strewn coastlines, tsunami-ravished towns, earthquake-flattened homes, and violent suppressions of uprisings across the world.

In the passage from Luke 18, Jesus tells the disciples exactly what is going to happen during this time. He lays it out for them, plain and simple. But they’re so caught up in the frenzy of Jesus’ ministry—parables, teachings, healings, crowds, and Passover. Jesus’ words about his impending capture, torture, death, and resurrection are just too much, just inconceivable. In the middle of all that activity, how can they possibly understand that what Jesus has foretold will again deliver God’s people, this time from slavery to sin and death and hopelessness?

Because we know more of this story than the disciples did that day, we approach this holiest of weeks knowing that all kinds of crazy stuff is about to happen. We encounter the sacred moments of foot-washing and holy meals with awestruck, humbling wonder. We find ourselves crushed in that garden, stunned at the betrayal of one we love. We hide when things get too scary, buckling under the weight of the pain and hopelessness. We sit in grief—still, silent, soul-wrenching grief. We go to visit the tomb, determined to confront the darkness. And with Mary, we stop, frozen where we are, shake our heads—remembering what we know about Christ, and finally fully realizing that life defeats death, love conquers hate, and God continually makes all things new. And we mutter, “Inconceivable!”

Rev. Beth Bostrom is the United Methodist campus minister at the University of Miami.

Photo credit: dracobotanicus

Friday, April 22

It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!”

In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.

When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”

Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem (Mark 15: 25-41).

Thursday, April 21

“Stabat Mater” is a 13^th-century hymn that can also be read as a beautiful poem about Mary and her suffering leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion. It was written in Latin, but its English translation is often sung in connection with Stations of the Cross during Lent.

Are you moved thinking about what Mary must have gone through? Each of us has pain and suffering in our lives—the loss of a loved one, illness, disability, financial hardship. Think about those last days of Jesus, and think about what he offered us in return for his suffering. “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).

Scott Bleggi is senior international policy analyst for hunger and nutrition for Bread for the World Institute.

Photo credit: ManonManon

Wednesday, April 20

We have all heard the expression: “Seeing is believing!” But seeing can also be misleading. What you see and experience can actually deceive, delude, or even trick you. How many of us have watched magicians at work? We see birds and rabbits pop out of hats; we see people levitate or disappear before our eyes. In other words, seeing can be misleading!

Similarly, in our society there are “truths” that are not truths at all but are in fact like magic tricks. Some of us have bought into them. They have become part of our everyday lives. Our thoughts and actions are guided by them on a subconscious level. Our goals and aspirations are shaped by them. They are so entrenched in our thinking that they have become normalized in our consciousness and express themselves throughout our culture. The sad fact is such deceptions have not only infiltrated society but also the church of God.

What are these deceptions?

Psalm 49 calls on the world to hear the truth concerning the temporary glory and false security of those who gain their wealth unjustly. But this psalm also distinguishes the everlasting hope of the righteous who put their trust in God’s word and follow the Spirit of God.

This psalm takes head-on a great deception in our society. We all know that in our society a person’s wealth or lack thereof determines not only his or her social standing but also the way others treat him or her. Let Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, or another billionaire or millionaire grace our presence. People will stand at attention and often cater to his or her every need. It’s not the worship of the individual but, rather, the wealth he or she possesses. It is our perception of the power of wealth and the so-called comfort and security it brings in this life.

At the same time, let someone with shabby clothes, not the best of odors, hair unkempt, and obviously poor come in. It is easy for us to dismiss him, to walk past and not recognize his humanity. We never ask, “How did he get where he is?” We never ask about his morality or righteousness. We sometimes consider him as possibly not being blessed! All we know is that he is poor and so subconsciously something kicks in and causes us to ignore—and even evade—his presence at times.

This psalm challenges this way of being. Wisdom cries out, saying, “Be mindful of your perceptions. Be mindful both rich and poor of how you perceive riches and those who possess them. Be mindful not to put your trust in the wealth that is fleeting and temporal. Be mindful to put your trust in God and God’s eternal riches.”

For earthly wealth has its limits, but God’s riches are limitless! There comes a time when all men and woman will part from their wealth, either in this life or when this life is over, and will have to stand before their Maker. This is the message of the psalm. Learn the ways of love, loving your neighbor as yourself. Learn the ways of sharing and the gift of giving. Learn the ways of seeking God’s will in all matters. Then you truly will be blessed.

Derrick Boykin is Northeast regional organizer for Bread for the World.