Blogging toward Sunday

"The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain" via Wikimedia Commons

In preparation for worship the First Sunday in Lent, prayerfully read and meditate on Matthew 4:1-11. Afterward, take a few moments to closely examine the art provided above. Then consider the following:

1. What strikes you as most important from the gospel reading?
2. Who are the participants in the story, other than Jesus?
3. What do you learn from the image above?

Finally, may you be blessed by the following Lenten prayer written by Ann Weems:

Holy is the time and holy is this place,

and there are holy things that must be said.

Let us say to one another what our souls whisper...

O Holy One, cast your tent among us;

come into our ordinary lives and bless the living!

Forty days stretch before us,

forty days of hungering after faithfulness,

forty days of trying to understand the story,

and then, Holy Week...

O God, if every week were holy...

These forty days stretch before us,

and those of us who believe,

yearn to feel Your presence,

yearn to be Your people;

and yet the days fill with ordinary things

with no time left

for seeking the holy.

Spiritual contemplation is all right

for those who have the time,

but most of us have to make a living.

Most of us have to live in the real world

where profanity splashes and blots out

anything holy.

Where, O Holy One, can we find you in this unholy mess?

How, O God, can we find the holy in the ordinary? 

I look forward to worshiping with you this Saturday, at the Celtic Service, as well as Sunday morning.
May the Lord bless you on your Lenten journey.

Shalom,
Glenda