Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and
heart to be still before God.
Opening Prayer: O persistent God, deliver me from assuming
your mercy is gentle. Pressure me that I
may grow more human, not through the lessening of my struggles, but through the
expansion of them…Deepen my hurt until I learn to share it and myself openly,
and my needs honestly. Sharpen my fears
until I name them and release the power I have locked in them and they in me. Accentuate my confusion until I shed those
grandiose expectations that divert me from the small, glad gifts of the now and
the here and the me. Expose my shame
where it shivers, crouched behind the curtains of propriety, until I can laugh
at last through my common frailties and failures, laugh my way toward becoming
whole. (Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder)
Daily Scripture Reading: Isaiah 53:1-12
Reading for Reflection:
Jesus was broken at the cross. He lived his suffering and death not as an
evil to avoid at all costs but as a mission to embrace. We too are broken. We live with broken bodies, broken hearts,
broken minds, or broken spirits. We
suffer from broken relationships.
How can we live our brokenness? Jesus invites us to embrace our brokenness as
he embraced the cross and live it as part of our mission. He asks us not to reject our brokenness as a
curse from God that reminds us of our sinfulness but to accept it and put it
under God’s blessing for our purification and sanctification. Thus, our brokenness can become a gateway to
new life. (Bread for the Journey by Henri Nouwen)
Reflection and Listening: silent and written
Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
Closing Prayer: Now, O Lord, calm me into a quietness that
heals and listens, and molds my longings and passions, my wounds and wonderings
into a more holy and human shape. (Guerrillas of Grace by Ted Loder)
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