dying to self, sunday

Sunday, March 16 (Second Sunday of Lent)

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer: You, O Christ, are my wealth.  All those things I thought I couldn't live without "dissolve" in a glance from you.  They are nothing when considered in the larger light of your intimate presence.  How difficult it has been to come to this moment!  The moment of letting go!  I, who have learned so well to hoard, grasp, clutch, and control!  Now I want only to be grasped by you.  All my possessions are empty when they become obstacles to my union with you.  O Glance of God, prepare my heart for the Great Surrender.  Enable me to surrender my ego self so that I may put on Christ.  Then I will begin enjoying heaven on earth.  Amen. (Abide by Macrina Wiederkehr)

Scripture Reading for the Day: Philippians 3:7-16

Reading for Reflection:

          Nothing that has not died will be resurrected.

                   ~C. S. Lewis

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Closing Prayer:

Dear God,
     Please untie the knots that are in my mind my heart and my life.  Remove the have nots, the can nots, and the do nots I have in my mind.  Erase the will nots, may nots, the might nots that may find a home in my heart.  Release me from the would nots could nots and should nots that obstruct my life.  And most of all, remove from my mind my heart and my life, the am nots that I have allowed to hold me back especially the thought that I am not good enough.  Amen. (Author unknown)