Lent, Day Forty-Seven, Easter Sunday

Lent, Day Forty-Seven, Easter Sunday
Easter morning. A very simple, quiet Eucharist around the table in Madame Vanier's dining room... A small group of friends happy to be together.

We spoke together about the resurrection. Liz, who works with many anguished people, said, "We have to keep rolling away the large stones that prevent people from coming out of their graves." Elizabeth, who lives with four handicapped people... said "After the resurrection Jesus had breakfast again with his friends and showed them the importance of the small ordinary things of life.: Sue... said, "It is such a comfort to know that Jesus' wounds remain visible in his risen body. Our wounds are not taken away, but become sources of hope to others."

Henri J.M. Nouwen
The Road to Daybreak: A Spiritual Journey, pg 96

Scripture:

³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,^[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.Romans 6:3-8

PRAYER
God of never-failing light, you who created the bright lights of the sky,you who have no hint of darkness, grant that your flame of hope will renew my intention to serve you and to inflame and purify my actions with your love and mercy. Amen.

EASTER ACTION
Observe this great day with prayers of thanksgiving and with actions symbolizing the significance of our salvation. Wear white on this joyful day in honor of your baptism and in memory of this verse from Revelation: "They stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands-(7:9). Spend some time by candlelight this day in honor of the paschal candle that is lit from the Easter Vigil fire and carried into the church to the words "Christ our Light." Or you may wish to create Easter baskets for the poor and needy.

Lent, Day Forty-Six, Holy Saturday

Lent, Day Forty-Six, Holy Saturday
Most of the day I spent preparing... for the Easter Vigil celebration... After the Gospel reading I reflected on the significance of our faith in the resurrection of the body. As a community of people conscious of our disabilities [at L'Arche Daybreak], we are held together not so much by the Word as by the body... It is the weak bodies of our core members that create community. We wash, shave comb, dress, clean feed, and hold the bodies of those who are entrusted to us and thus build a communal body. As we claim our faith in the resurrection of the body, we come to see that the resurrection is not simply an event after death, but a reality of everyday life. Our care for the body calls us to unity... to intimacy... and to integrity.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
The Sabbatical Journal: The Diary of His Final Year, pg 92

Scripture:
¹¹ In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh^[a] was put off when you were circumcised by^[b] Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you^[c] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.Colossians 2:11-14

PRAYER
God of eternal wisdom, hear my call for help as I keep watch with Christ's disciples at his tomb. Inspire me, as you did Joseph of Arimathea, to find a place of burial for my Lord. I wait in anticipation for the Easter light to deliver me from the darkness of my sins. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
Mary, the steadfast one, stayed with her Son even through the sorrowful events of the crucifixion. Meditate on the melancholy occurrences of our Mother Mary's life on this day of silent waiting.

Lent, Day Forty-Five, Good Friday

Lent, Day Forty-Five, Good Friday
About a hundred of us walked from the meeting hall to the Dayspring chapel, each carrying a stone to symbolize our burden and our brokenness. We stopped three times to remember how Jesus is condemned to death, Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry the cross when Jesus falls, and Veronica wipes Jesus' face with her towel. Jesus is nailed to the cross.

Michael, Adam's brother, dressed in an alb and with a crown of thorns on his head is Jesus... We sing and listen to reflections on the passion of Jesus. In the cahpel we place our stones on or around the cross... Lorenzo hammers three big nails in the cross, piercing the silence.

Yes, it is goo Friday. In the midst of all the grief and mourning, there is sweet consolation. We are together, and there is love pouring out from our broken hearts and from the pierced heat of God.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
The Sabbatical Journey, pg 90

Scripture:
⁴⁵ From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶ About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,^[a] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).^[b]
47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”
⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹ The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
⁵⁰ And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.
Matthew 27:45-52

PRAYER
God of all beginnings and endings, whose Son is your blessed image and who was nailed to the cross and crucified this day,let me nail my sins to your cross so that they may die with you. Like the Good Thief, let me pray: "Jesus, Son of God, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
Observe Good Friday, or Great Friday, as those in the Eastern churches refer to it, by preparing and eating Hot Cross Buns. Alternately, or in addition, prepare a soup with cabbage, lentils, and vinegar for Good Friday supper in honor of the sponge tinged with gall offered to Jesus on the cross.

Lent, Day Forty-Four, Holy Thursday

Lent, Day Forty-Four, Holy Thursday
The Lord is at the center of all things and yet in such a quiet, unobtrusive, elusive way. He lives with us, even physically, but not in the same physical way that other elements are present to us. This transcendent physical presence is what characterizes the Eucharist. It is already the other world presence in this one. In the celebration of the Eucharist we are given an enclave in our world of space and time. God in Christ is really here, and yet his physical presence is not characterized by the same limitation of space and time that we know...

Contemplative life is a human response to the fundamental fact that the central things in life, although spiritually perceptible, remain invisible in large measure and can very easily be overlooked... The contemplative looks not so much around things but through them into their center. Through their center he discovers the world of spiritual beauty that is more real, has more density, more mass, more energy, and greater intensity than physical matter.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
The Genesee Diary: Report From A Trappist Monastery, pg 88

Scripture:
¹⁴ When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.Luke 22:14-20

PRAYER
God of all grace, let the Eucharist, the Bread of Life, always remind me of the breaking of Christ's body and the pouring out of his blood for me and the forgiveness of my sins. Let me shed the false demeanor of Judas, let me always remember his kiss of evil, and never fail to acknowledge my part in this betrayal. Amen. 

LENTEN ACTION
Plan and celebrate a Seder, or Passover meal, today. Make it an ecumenical observance of reconciliation and unity.

Lent, Day Forty-Three, Wednesday of Passion Week

Lent, Day Forty-Three, Wednesday of Passion Week
To say with all that we have, think, feel and are, "God exists." is the most world-shattering statement that a human-being can make... Because when God exists, all that is flows from God... However, as soon as I say, "God exists," my experience no longer remains the center, because the essence of the knowledge of God reveals my own existence as deriving its total being from God's... I no longer let the knowledge of my existence be the center from which I derive, project, deduct, or intuit the existence of God; I suddenly or slowly find my own existence revealed to me in and through the knowledge of God. Then it becomes real for me that I can love myself and my neighbor only because God has loved me first.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
Gracias!: A Latin American Journal, pg_

Scripture:
⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
⁵ By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:4-6

PRAYER
Most high God, you who accepted the gifts of Enoch and Abel, accept also my gift of faith offered always and especially during this Holy Week. I believe with my whole being that you exist and have done so from before the beginning of time. Send me a realization of the magnitude of this belief and make this act of faith a life-changing experience. Let my life be rooted in you. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
Today recite, renew, and meditate on your baptismal vows or the Nicene Creed.

Lent, Day Forty-Two, Tuesday of Passion Week

Lent, Day Forty-Two, Tuesday of Passion Week
Jesus, in whom the fullness of God dwells, has become our home. By making his home in us he allows us to make our home in him. By entering into the intimacy of our innermost self he offers us the opportunity to enter into his own intimacy with God. By choosing us as his preferred dwelling place he invites us to choose him as as our preferred dwelling place. This is the mystery of the incarnation. It is beautifully expressed during the Eucharist when the priest pours a little water into the wine, saying: "By the mingling of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of him who humbled himself to share in our humanity."

Henri J.M. Nouwen
Intimacy, Fecundity, and Ectasy in Christian Perspective, pg_

Scripture:
¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Psalm 23:1-3, 5-6

PRAYER
Everlasting God, you have offered me an intimate place that I can call "home" where I can rest and be healed. Help me accept this true home, where feelings and emotions can be expressed without censorship. Let this home be a place where it is good to be; a house where love is always present. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
Remember that the fronds waved in joy by those welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday become the ashes of death and dust: the source of the marks that are put on our foreheads at the beginning of Lent. Use this day to examine your own feelings about death. During this week in which Christ faced his death, you may wish to examine your own mortality.

Lent, Day Forty-One, Monday of Passion Week

Lent, Day Forty-One, Monday of Passion Week
We know that it is important to spend time in solitude. We even start looking forward to this strange period of uselessness. This desire for solitude is often the first sign of prayer, the first indication that the presence of God's Spirit no longer remains unnoticed. As we empty ourselves of our many worries, we come to know not only with our mind but also with our heart that we never were really alone, that God's Spirit was with us all along... The pains and struggles we encounter in our solitude thus become a way to hope, because our hope is not based on something that will happen after sufferings are over, but on the real presence of God's healing Spirit in the midst of these sufferings.

Henri J.M. Nouwen
Making All Things New: An Invitation To The Spiritual Life, pg 82

Scripture:

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we^[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we^[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 5:1-5

PRAYER
God of glory, I pray that you will help me build that inner solitude, that secret place of peace, apart from the world, apart from life's pain and struggles. Grant me the spiritual strength to wear the outer world as a loose garment, one that can be quickly shed If my inner life is strong, if it is lived with you, nothing in the world will seriously upset me. As I practice finding this place of silence, let me cherish it as a place to hear your Word and from which to face the world. Amen.

LENTEN ACTION
This day is the time to actively enter into the Passion of Christ. Jesus did not expect his life on earth to go smoothly just because his Father loved him. Just the opposite occurred, out of the Father's great love he sent his only-begotten Son to an ignominious death on the cross for our benefit. Then we must acknowledge that love is not free of pain, hurt, humiliation, and death. Inventory your sins and find true sorrow for the deeds that brought Jesus to this place of crucifixion.