Important: All links in the Lent 2010 post have been fixed

All,  my sincere apologies!  Somehow the links in my Lent 2010 post got very messed up, and I just realized they were all wrong!

I’ve fixed them now.

Karen

Feb 18 Daily Lenten Devotional from Church of the Resurrection/Anglican Mainstream

Update: there is now a Lent category at Anglican Mainstream.  You’ll find the daily Lenten devotionals here.

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Here’s the link at Anglican Mainstream

You can also download all of the meditations for Lent 1 at the Church of the Resurrection’s website.

I’m posting today’s reflection here in full below, particularly as the Epistle lesson today from Philippians 3 is something I and my teammates have been using as a theme for prayer and reflection for the past 3 weeks.  This is very relevant for me today!

Don’t miss also Torre Bissell’s wonderful prayer through Phil 3.  I think Torre’s lectionary prayers are a wonderful example of a form of “Lectio Divina” as recommended today in the Lenten reflection!

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Thurs Feb 18

am: 37:1-18 pm: 37:19-42

Hab 3:1-18

Phil 3:12-21

Lk 9:22-25

Thursday After Ash Wednesday – Colman of Lindisfarne, Bishop and Missionary, 676

LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: A disciple of St. Columba born in Connaught, Ireland. He was a bold voice at the Synod of Whitby defending the Celtic celebration of Gospel against those who insisted on the Roman rites and practices. He resisted the decision of Whitby and led a group of Irish and English monks to the Isle of Innishboffin, near Connaught and then onto Mayo. He was committed to  the liturgy and formation and was highly regarded by the likes of Alcuin and St. Bede.

MEDITATION OF THE DAY: Jesus clearly states what we as Christian followers need to do in order to live in Christ. In the gospel story today Jesus says to his disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Like Colman centuries ago, at times stand against the tide of popularity for the conviction of the Gospel.

We must make a choice. This choice is between self-denial which is initially seen by us as a hardship; versus the call God gives to us to make it a lifestyle. God asks us to give up our lives to him daily, not just during Lent. He asks us to continue to choose to find him and become closer to him in order to spend eternal life with him and witness that promise to the world.

Lent is the time to name what the obstacles are in our life that is sinful, unhealthy and self-centered. The essential choice this season is a “change of heart” from the circumstances, attitudes, and other behaviors that contribute to my living outside the bounds of grace in Christ Jesus.

PRAYER OF THE DAY: Lord, teach us to enter more deeply into the mysteries of this Holy Season that the power of this season may be more effective for ourselves and for the world as we seek the sacrament of salvation. Amen

ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: ““For though I am bound for the name of Christ, I am not yet perfect in Jesus Christ. For now I begin to be a disciple, and I speak to you as fellow disciples with me. For it was needful for me to have been stirred up by you in faith, exhortation, patience, and long-suffering”. – St. Ignatius of Antioch

Lenten Discipline – Rise early this day and consider practicing Lectio Divina on today’s lessons as a new discipline for your spiritual Journey. Go to http://www.thedome.org/SeekGodWithUs/NourishSpiritOnline/WaysOfPrayer/ContemplativePrayer/Lectio.html

Lent Quotes: The things that distract us from the crucial

From our archives…

Quotable: Peggy Noonan

Peggy Noonan has this observation in her Wall Street Journal commentary yesterday:

Earlier this week I heard a minister quote a spiritual genius: “All the problems in the world are caused by man’s inability to sit quietly in a room by himself.” We’re restless and need action, which in a modern media world means information. We need the busy buzz–the Internet, TV, instant messages, magazines and newspapers, the beeps and boops and bops. Rudy’s up in Iowa. Hillary’s stuck. We want to be among the first to have this information and the first to share it. And we want it not because it’s crucial but because it distracts us from the crucial. It takes our minds away from what is most important. Who you are, for instance, or what we are about. It’s a great relief not to think about the important. It’s a relief to focus on factoids. [link]

Patrick Allen noted it on his blog under the title “Lent & the Crucial.”

May the Lord grant us grace this Lent to learn to love times of silence, to nurture times in which we focus on the important, when we tune out every voice and distraction and turn our eyes to the Lord and hear what He is speaking to our hearts.

Philippians 3:12-17

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. (Philippians 3:12)
      Jesus, thank you for laying hold of my life; help me press on day by day this Lent; help me answer the upward call.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, (Philippians 3:13)
      Holy Spirit, please help me find the freedom to let go of past burdens and press on to what is ahead.

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)
      Holy Father, though I see through a glass dimly, help me keep my eyes on the prize: life forever in your presence.

Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. (Philippians 3:15)
      Father, bring us to maturity and give us a quiet common mind about the truth of the gospel. Thank you.

Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. (Philippians 3:16)
      Holy Spirit, please help us throughout this diocese to have the same mind which was also in Christ Jesus.

Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. (Philippians 3:17)
      Jesus, please raise up leaders and teachers throughout your church who will be effective ministers and mentors of your grace and mercy. Thank you.

      A word received: You are in my care; don’t be afraid.

Thursday: 37:19-42; Habakkuk 3:1-10(11-15)16-18; Philippians 3:12-21; John 17:1-8
Friday: 35; Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; Philippians 4:1-9; John 17:9-19

Albany Intercessor

Letter to the Editor from Fr. Nigel Mumford

Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2010
From: Fr. Nigel Mumford
Subject: Letter to the Editor

Dear Prayer Warriors,
I have written a letter to the Editor of the local newspapers. I would like to share what I wrote:

Dear Editor,
I have just gone through a life threatening disease; H1N1, which hit me out of the blue. I was very fit until October of last year. I was in Saratoga Springs Hospital ICU and Sunnyview rehab in Schenectady, for a total of three months. For the first three weeks in a coma. I felt moved to write to thank the medical staff of Saratoga Hospital and the pulmonary doctors of Saratoga for saving my life. A huge thank you to Dr’s. Ares, Ying, and Del Giacco. I would like to thank the Sunnyview rehab staff and especially thank the Greenwich Family Medical facility, Dr. Austin Tsai and Dr. Colleen Quinn for their devotion, kindness and compassion. The nurses in ICU and all nurses we have been in contact with in all of the medical facilities, and visiting nurses of Washington County have just been amazing. As horrible as the physical effects of being so ill is, the people that surrounded me have been totally fantastic. I have seen another side of human nature being very kind and considerate, it has refreshed my very soul. So often news is rather negative I just wanted to write something positive to thank all those who saved my life and to remind people that it is good to be alive! I really want to say publicly, thank you to all those who prayed for me and all those involved in my healing.

Yours sincerely, The Rev. Nigel Mumford

Ruth Haley Barton: Inviting God to help shape our Lenten disciplines

Ruth Haley Barton has an excellent Ash Wednesday / Lent reflection:  Practicing Lent: Cleaning Our Messy House. It includes a series of questions we can reflect on in prayer, in effect inviting God to help shape our Lenten disciplines:

The Gospel reading for today (Matthew 6) highlights concrete disciplines that have the potential to loosen the grip of sin and distraction in our lives, thus creating more space for God. As we invite God to guide us in shaping our own Lenten disciplines, we might ask:

• How will I give? (v. 2, 3) Lent is a time for “giving things up” balanced by “giving to” those in need.

• How will I pray? (v. 5-13) As we “give up” some of our usual distractions, it creates more space for prayer. Perhaps there is a prayer practice (such as fixed hour prayer) that God is inviting us to during Lent.

• Who do I need to forgive and from whom do I need to seek forgiveness? (v. 14,15) Seeking forgiveness and offering forgiveness creates space for God’s grace to flow in our lives.

• How will I fast? What do I need to abstain from in order to create more freedom and space for God? (v. 16-18)

• What earthly treasures am I attached to and how can I let go? The way we use our time, financial resources and energy reflect powerfully on what we treasure. Is there any specific way in which God is inviting us to “let go” of our attachment to some earthly treasure—at least for this season? (v. 19-21)

Daily Lenten meditations Anglican Mainstream / Church of the Resurrection

Update: there is now a Lent category at Anglican Mainstream.  You’ll find the daily Lenten devotionals here.

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It looks like Anglican Mainstream will once again be posting daily Lenten meditations this year. Today’s meditation for Ash Wednesday is here.

These meditations come from Church of the Resurrection (AMIA) in Tampa, Florida.

Unfortunately, since there is no special Lent or devotional category at Anglican Mainstream, the daily devotionals may be hard to find. (They are posted in the main “news” feed). I recommend downloading the devotional booklet from Church of the Resurrection.

You’ll find the meditations for week 1 here.

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Here is an excerpt from today’s entry:

Ps: am: 95, 32, 143 pm: 102, 130

OT: Amos 5:6-15

Epistle: Heb12:1-14

Gospel: Luke 18:9-14

MEDITATION OF THE DAY Lent is a time of remembering—remembering who we are and whose we are. The disciplines and liturgical practices of Lent are about turning our focus away from the deadening distractions that sometimes fill our days toward the essentials of life and love. We pray. We fast. We give alms. We turn our attention toward God, toward our interior lives, and toward others. And we do so in order to remember, to put back together again our covenant with God, and to realign ourselves with the grace of our baptism. Perhaps we as a community could consider the disciplines of Lent not as disciplines but rather as a way to deepen the covenant that binds us to Christ and each other.

PRAYER OF THE DAY: Lord, as we begin the discipline of the Lenten Journey,   make us holy through these holy disciplines and help us to avoid evil and temptation.  Grant this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Luke 18:9-14

Also he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: (Luke 18:9)
      Jesus, you know that we have no righteousness in ourselves; all that we have comes from you. Help us to know that — write it on our hearts.

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.” (Luke 18:10)
      Holy Spirit, teach us to stop judging by the outward man — it is what is inside that makes the difference.

“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men–extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector’”. (Luke 18:11)
      Father, please help us cease “praying thus with ourselves” and turn to you in true humility.

“‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’” (Luke 18:12)
      Holy Spirit, please help us make our offerings with humility.

“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’” (Luke 18:13)
      God, be merciful to me a sinner!

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14)
      Jesus, please help us humble ourselves this Lent — help us walk the way of your cross. Thank you.

Ash Wednesday: 102, 130; Amos 5:6-15; Hebrews 12:1-14; Luke 18:9-14
Thursday: 37:19-42; Habakkuk 3:1-10(11-15)16-18; Philippians 3:12-21; John 17:1-8

Albany Intercessor

Lent Quotes: Make your Lenten observance a gift to God

I found the following via Word Press’ Lent Tags at a blog called “Serviam.”  The post focuses on the dilemma of “what to give up for Lent” – but then reframes the question:

Are you struggling with what to do for Lent?  In these final hours are you dealing with these classic dialogs with self?

But I always do that.

I should give that up that anyway.

I should do more of that anyway.

That’s not REALLY a sacrifice.

What if I’m at a party?

I get Sundays off, right?

So here is something to consider.  Caritas.  God so loved us that he gave us His Son.   We so love God that nothing we can do can truly express our love for Him or be worthy.  But we can try.  What can we do to express our love for God?  What can we do during this Lent to express our caritas?

Don’t make your lenten observance something that you do for yourself, but make it a gift to God.  Then you know it will be the best that you have, like the offering of Abel, and the best thing you can do this Lent.

Matt Kennedy: Advice on Lenten Disciplines

From our archives…

Matt Kennedy: Advice on Lenten Disciplines

This is excerpted from the Rev. Matt Kennedy’s 2005 parish newsletter article What to Give up for Lent?. Very practical advice. Before adopting some rote Lenten discipline, take time today to pray and ask the Lord what discipline will accomplish His purposes in your life this season.

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So, rather than thinking about what vice to give up or what discipline to add, a better place to start is prayer. Ask God to search your heart and bring to your mind those habits of thought, word, and/or deed that displease him most. (Sometimes what is displeasing in your life will be so obvious that you won’t even need to pray, you’ll just know. The Holy Spirit living inside you will have made it abundantly clear already). When you ask this in sincerity you can be sure that God will provide you with an answer.

This answer will tell you whether you need to add a discipline or be rid of a behavior or attitude. If, for example you believe that God wants you to be more committed to studying scripture, then you should probably consider adding personal or group bible study to your routine. If on the other hand you believe God is displeased with the amount of time you spend on the internet or the kinds of things you look at on-line, then you should probably consider cutting out or down on your computer usage or installing some parental control program to keep you accountable (even if, especially if, you’re a parent).

In other words, your Lenten discipline should not be arbitrary. If you have a problem with lust, don’t give up chocolate. Give up whatever it is that leads you into lustful behavior. And don’t just give it up for Lent, use Lent to give it up forever. Let the Lord know that you are committed to turning from the sin he has shown you and then ask him to help you in your task though the power of his Holy Spirit.

The full article is here.

Lent Quotes: David Mills – Ash Wednesday’s Double Meaning

So the imposition of ashes has a double meaning, one despairing, because it describes the reality of what we have made ourselves; the other hopeful, because it describes the new reality God has made for us. For the Christian, hope trumps despair. “In Adam all die” and “In Christ shall all be made alive” are both true, but Christ has conquered death.

But this is not a reason to feel good about yourself on Ash Wednesday. That would be to presume upon God’s good will and take the Lord’s death for granted. Ash Wednesday is a fast day given us to remember what we have done and to try to learn how much of the old Adam remains in us. And of course the more you see what Jesus did for you, the more you will want to face your sins, to track them down to the places they have hidden, drag them into the light, and with God’s help drive them away.

From David Mills’ wonderful essay on Ash Wednesday, published in Touchstone Magazine in March 2004.

The whole article is a must read for those wanting to reflect on the meaning of the Ash Wednesday service and liturgy.

Lent Quotes: Louis Tarsitano – Repentance, a miraculous invitation from God

A powerful definition of what it means to repent, from the late Fr. Louis Tarsitano’s Ash Wednesday sermon of 2000:

Precisely because God is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness (just as the Prophet Joel tells us), God also calls out to us and says, “Turn ye even unto me, with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” What Joel describes here is “human repentance,” a miraculous invitation from God to become like him in the only way that we can: by submitting to the power of his grace, by turning away from everything in our life that is disobedient, sinful, and false, and by turning to the one and only Living God.

By his invitation to repentance, God gives us the opportunity to imitate him as loving children. He allows us to recall and to repudiate the sentence of death that we have imposed upon ourselves by sinning, and to replace it with a life of grace. By his Son’s death and resurrection, he gives us the supernatural power to take on his holy commandments, not as strokes of the lash, but as the blueprint for our reconstruction and rehabilitation in his own image and likeness.

The full sermon is here, we originally posted it in 2005 at our old blog.

A Lenten Prayer of Confession Based on the Decalogue

From the web archive of Todd Granger’s Confessing Reader blog.  This wonderful prayer of confession was originally posted at the old Lent & Beyond site in 2006:

For his 1534 Liturgy for the Church of Strassburg, Martin Bucer wrote a paraphrase of the Decalogue in the form of an extended prayer of confession to serve as the third form of the reformed Confiteor, the corporate confession of sin. The text is from Bard Thompson’s Liturgies of the Western Church, 1961.

I poor sinner confess to thee, O Almighty, eternal, merciful God and Father, that I have sinned in manifold ways against thee and thy commandments.

I confess that I have not believed in thee, my one God and Father, but have put my faith and trust more in creatures than in thee, my God and Creator, because I have feared them more than thee. And for their benefit and pleasure, I have done and left undone many things in disobedience to thee and thy commandments.

I confess that I have taken thy holy Name in vain, that I have often sworn falsely and lightly by the same, that I have not always professed it nor kept it holy as I ought; but even more, I have slandered it often and grossly with all my life, words and deeds.

I confess that I have not kept thy Sabbath holy, that I have not heard thy holy Word with earnestness nor lived according to the same; moreover that I have not yielded myself fully to thy divine hand, nor rejoiced in thy work done in me and in others, but have often grumbled against it stoutly and have been impatient.

I confess that I have not honored my father and mother, that I have been disobedient to all whom I justly own obedience, such as father and mother, my superiors, and all who have tried to guide and teach me faithfully.

I confess that I have taken life: that I have offended my neighbor often and grossly by word and deed, caused him harm, grown angry over him, borne envy and hatred toward him, deprived him of his honor and the like.

I confess that I have been unchaste. I acknowledge all my sins of the flesh and all the excess and extravagance of my whole life in eating, drinking, clothing and other things; my intemperance in seeing, hearing, speaking, etc., and in all my life; yea, even fornication, adultery and such.

I confess that I have stolen. I acknowledge my greed. I admit that in the use of my worldly goods I have set myself against thee and thy holy laws. Greedily and against charity have I grasped them. And scarcely, if at all, have I given of them when the need of my neighbor required it.

I confess that I have born false witness, that I have been untrue and unfaithful toward my neighbor. I have lied to him, I have told lies about him, and I have failed to defend his honor and reputation as my own.

And finally I confess that I have coveted the possessions and spouses of others. I acknowledge in summary that my whole life is nothing else than sin and transgression of thy holy commandments and an inclination toward all evil.

Wherefore I beseech thee, O heavenly Father, that, thou wouldst graciously forgive me these and all my sins. Keep and preserve me henceforth that I may walk only in thy way and live according to thy will; and all of this through Jesus Christ, thy dear Son, our Saviour. Amen.

The full entry is here.

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

In January 2006, the Executive Council of TEC joined the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, which exists solely to provide a religious veneer over pro-abortion advocacy. According to the study “Holy Abortion? A Theological Critique of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice” RCRC receives little funding from its member organizations, relying upon secular foundations such as George Soros’ Open Society Institute and the Playboy Foundation for almost all of its financial support. Recently, RCRC has engaged U.S. lawmakers in opposition to an amendment restricting federal funds from subsidizing abortion coverage in health care reform legislation. It has also targeted the faith formation of seminarians.

Dear Heavenly Father,
As Episcopalians, we confess that we are guilty of the spirit of Cain by judging our autonomy to be more important than the lives of the unborn.
We confess that we are guilty of the spirit of Balaam by squandering the honor of our church’s name in the merchandising of unrighteousness and heresy.
We confess that we are guilty of the spirit of Korah by rebelling against the teaching of Your Holy Church and Your Holy Word.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Amen.

Today commences the beginning of the 40 Days for Life Campaign.

Lent 2010 at Lent & Beyond

This post is sticky. All new posts are below.

Lent 2010 officially begins on Feb. 17th and continues through April 3rd.  This page will stay at the top of the blog throughout Lent to help readers easily find the many different varieties of Lenten resources and devotionals we have posted.

A Blessed Lent to all of our readers! May the Lenten entries posted here be an encouragement to spiritual growth and may they exalt our Lord Jesus Christ.

We should have a Lenten prayer and/or quote just about every day of Lent.   So check back often!

All of our Lent entries .  Lent Posts Index 2006-2009 .  Lent Quotes .  Lent Prayers .  Lent Devotionals .  Lent Resources . Lent: Family & Children . Our Top Ten Favorite Lent Resources .

2010 Index follows below