Tag Archives: Lent

Dying to live

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Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)
Field of Wheat with Cypresses
oil on canvas, 1889
Metropolitan Museum of Art

[Jesus answered them,] “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” John 12:24

God has planted the seed of unconditional love in my heart.

May I let the hard shell of resentment, indifference, selfishness, and prejudice that surrounds this precious seed of love die.

I want to do God’s will and produce the living fruit of God’s love in our fragile world.

God so loves us

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For God so loved the world… John 3:16a

God reveals himself in the person of Jesus from whom we learn God is compassion, healing, forgiveness, service to the poor and vulnerable, the shunned and abandoned.

May I also be a revelation of God’s love in the world.

To know the Lord

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James Tissot (1836-1902)
La transfiguration
opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, between 1886 and 1894 Brooklyn Museum

Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Mark 9:5-6

To look on the brilliance of the Lord… it is a terrifying thought and a compelling desire.

It is a call in and to me: I want to know the Lord.

Today I will seek the Lord in holy scripture, in the glory of creation, especially in the faces of the people I meet. I will listen for the voice of the Lord in the words of people in need, in the sounds of nature, in the silence of my heart.

Angels of compassion

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James Tissot (1836-1902)
Jésus tenté dans le désert
gouache over graphite on gray wove paper, between 1886 and 1894
Brooklyn Museum

[Jesus] was among wild beasts,
and the angels ministered to him. Mark 1:13b

I have been in a desert with wild beasts that trigger old trauma, where despair and fear and bad dreams keep me thirsting for refreshing, relaxing sleep.

And angels in the form of faithful friends who listen and comfort, who pray for me when I cannot pray for myself, have ministered to me.

Thank you, Lord, for being with me in the desert times. Bless all the kind and compassionate people who help me day by day.

Cleaning house

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Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Jesus Driving Money Changers from the Temple
etching, state i/ii, 1635
Connecticut College Wetmore Print Collection

It is my hope that God’s grace is driving greed, self-righteousness, and indifference to the suffering of others out of my mind and heart. I would like to be cleansed of all that prevents me from loving God, my neighbor, and myself.

[Jesus] drove them all out of the temple area… John 2:15b

With open eyes

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A.N. Mironov (b.1975)
Christ and the pauper. Healing of the blind man.
Oil on canvas, 2009.

I know I am blind to many of my faults and weaknesses—and sometimes to my gifts and talents, too.

Today I will trust the man called Jesus and ask him to anoint the eyes of my heart so that I may see myself in the light of God’s love and acceptance. I will trust the man called Jesus to heal all that prevents me from being a true servant of God’s love and goodness in the world.

[The man born blind] replied, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went there and washed and was able to see.” John 9:11

Tempted

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Augustin Hirschvogel (1503-1553) Temptation of Christ

Augustin Hirschvogel (1503-1553)
Temptation of Christ

When I am hungry, angry, tired, lonely, afraid, or in pain, I tend to be short on patience, compassion, and forbearance. I am tempted to snap at others, wallow in discouragement, and forget my call to treat all of God’s people with respect.

Jesus shows me how to turn temptation into contemplation of God’s Word, and to let God’s vision of love triumph over a moment’s satisfaction.

[Jesus] fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry. The tempter approached and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves of bread.” Matthew 4:2-3

Alone with the Lord

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James Tissot (1836-1902) La femme adultère seule avec Jésus, opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, between 1886 and 1894 Brooklyn Museum

James Tissot (1836-1902)
La femme adultère seule avec Jésus
opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, between 1886 and 1894
Brooklyn Museum

How vulnerable I will feel to stand alone with Jesus and face the truth of how I have hurt and betrayed others.

How amazed I will feel to know he does not condemn me for my wrongdoings. How I hope I will have the courage to accept responsibility for my actions.

How I pray for the humility to ask for God’s grace to change the way I treat my family, friends, colleagues, strangers, the poor, the elderly, the sick, the needy.

How unburdened I will feel to experience the mercy of the Lord. How I trust I will extend that mercy to others.

Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” John  8:11b

 

Today’s choice

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Düsseldorf, Germany. Catholic church St. Lambertus, main portal with bronze door created by Ewald Mataré. Detail: Return of the prodigal son. Photo by Beckstet, 2010

Düsseldorf, Germany. Catholic church St. Lambertus, main portal with bronze door created by Ewald Mataré. Detail: Return of the prodigal son.
Photo by Beckstet, 2010

I may identify with either the prodigal son or his resentful older brother, but in this parable Jesus is calling me to be like the compassionate father.

How ready am I to forgive? To let go of resentment? To welcome the lost? To be a peacemaker? To show compassion to those who are poor, ill, or different from me in culture, ways of thinking, acting, being?

Today I will choose compassion over indifference and acceptance over judgment.

While [the younger son] was still a long way off,
his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. Luke 15:20b

Never too late to bloom

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James Tissot (1836-1902) Le vigneron et le figuier opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, between 1886 and 1894 Brooklyn Museum

James Tissot (1836-1902)
Le vigneron et le figuier
opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, between 1886 and 1894
Brooklyn Museum

Rooting ourselves in prayer, meditation on God’s Word, and conscious awareness of God’s presence in each moment and in all of creation, we allow God, the Master Gardener, to cultivate our hearts and minds to bear the fruits of peace, joy, forgiveness, compassion, justice, acceptance, and love.

[Jesus told them this parable:] “[The gardener] said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’” Luke 13:8-9