Lent daybook, 39: my life is spent with sorrow

My Lent daybook for these 40 days of prayer. Join me, won't you? (see previous Lent daybook 2016 posts here)

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look

Black Crucifixion
Fritz Eichenberg, 1963
source

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read

Psalm 31:9-16

9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress;
    my eye is wasted from grief;
    my soul and my body also.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
    and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
    and my bones waste away.

11 Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,
    especially to my neighbors,
and an object of dread to my acquaintances;
    those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have been forgotten like one who is dead;
    I have become like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the whispering of many—
    terror on every side!—
as they scheme together against me,
    as they plot to take my life.

14 But I trust in you, O Lord;
    I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hand;
    rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
16 Make your face shine on your servant;
    save me in your steadfast love!

all readings for the day: Psalm 31:9-16; Leviticus 23:1-8; Luke 22:1-13

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pray

• Sisters and brothers,
  as Jesus, in the days before his passion,
  offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears,
  let us pray for those who suffer, those who are in need,
  and those who seek reconciliation.
  
  Include prayers here for your family, friends, neighborhood and the world.  
  
  God of compassion,
  you know our faults and yet you promised to forgive.
  Keep us in your presence and give us your wisdom.
  Open our hearts to gladness,
  call dry bones to dance,
  and restore to us the joy of your salvation. Amen. (source)

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listen

Fix Me, Jesus by American Spiritual Ensemble

( I invite you to listen with me to my ever-evolving Lent playlist & Lent Spirituals playlist )

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do

Using the guide below, take time today to examine your heart and look for meaningful ways to put your faith into practice.

#1 Prayer of Self Examination

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24)

Take a moment to quiet your heart and reflect upon the past week. Look especially for ways to express gratitude and thanksgiving to God for his goodness and love, as well as genuine sorrow over your own sin and brokenness. Close this time of prayer by expressing your hope in the power of the Holy Spirit who is faithful to forgive, cleanse, and transform you into his likeness (2 Cor. 3:18). (source)

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(see all Lent daybook posts from 2015 here)

Lent daybook, 36: he will be shamefully treated

My Lent daybook for these 40 days of prayer. Join me, won't you? (see previous Lent daybook 2016 posts here)

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Ecce Homo
Georges Rouault
source

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read

Luke 18:31-34

And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

all readings for the day:  Psalm 20; Habakkuk 3:2-15; Luke 18:31-34

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pray

source

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listen

O Sacred Head Now Wounded by Fernando Ortega

( I invite you to listen with me to my ever-evolving Lent playlist & Lent Spirituals playlist )

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do

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY, summer 2015
Christ Crowned With Thorns by Antonella da Messina

Set aside time today to reflect on how you can intentionally keep yourself centered on God's abundant and extravagant grace and mercy so that you can experience His deep and abiding love for you. (source)

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(see all Lent daybook posts from 2015 here)

Lent daybook, 32: It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover

My Lent daybook for these 40 days of prayer. Join me, won't you? (see previous Lent daybook 2016 posts here)

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Lent

Phaedra Taylor

source

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read

Exodus 12:21-27

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

all readings for the day: Psalm 126; Exodus 12:21-27; John 11:45-57

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pray

Sisters and brothers,
as Jesus, in the days before his passion,
offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears,
let us pray for those who suffer, those who are in need,
and those who seek reconciliation.

Include prayers here for your family, friends, neighborhood and the world.  

God of compassion, you know our faults and yet you promised to forgive. Keep us in your presence and give us your wisdom. Open our hearts to gladness, call dry bones to dance, and restore to us the joy of your salvation. Amen. (source)

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listen

When I See the Blood by Nathan Partain

( I invite you to listen with me to my ever-evolving Lent playlist & Lent Spirituals playlist )

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do

Using the guide below, take time today to examine your heart and look for meaningful ways to put your faith into practice.

#1 Prayer of Self Examination
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24)

Take a moment to quiet your heart and reflect upon the past week. Look especially for ways to express gratitude and thanksgiving to God for his goodness and love, as well as genuine sorrow over your own sin and brokenness. Close this time of prayer by expressing your hope in the power of the Holy Spirit who is faithful to forgive, cleanse, and transform you into his likeness (2 Cor. 3:18).

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(see all Lent daybook posts from 2015 here)

Lent Daybook, 28: are there any who seek after God?

My Lent daybook for these 40 days of prayer. Join me, won't you? (see previous Lent daybook 2016 posts here)

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Day 5, Lent 2016

Paul Soupiset

source

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read

Psalm 53:2

God looks down from heaven
    on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,
    who seek after God.

all readings for the day: Psalm 53; Leviticus 25:1-19; Revelation 19:9-10

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pray

Almighty and most merciful Father, we are thankful that your mercy is higher than the heavens, wider than our wanderings, deeper than all our sin. Forgive our careless attitudes toward your purposes, our refusal to relieve the suffering of others, our envy of those who have more than we have, our obsession with creating a life of constant pleasure, our indifference to the treasures of heaven, our neglect of your wise and gracious law. Help us to change our way of life so that we may desire what is good, love what you love and do what you command, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (source)

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listen

Help, O Lord by Ordinary Time

( I invite you to listen with me to my ever-evolving Lent playlist & Lent Spirituals playlist )

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do

Take time today to talk with God about areas in your life you have not yet surrendered to Him. Ask for His help in learning to ask for His will, not yours. (source)

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(see all Lent daybook posts from 2015 here)