dying to self, wednesday

Wednesday, March 19

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: John 12:20-36

Reading for Reflection:

                                               
     alive by Jim Branch

     the view
     from this side
     of the stone
     now rolled away
     takes my breath
     in awestruck wonder
     who would've believed it

     a new world received
     spacious and free
     fruitful and abundant
     rich and full
     alive

     but o how difficult the terrain
     and how long the journey
     in arriving at this place
     who could've imagined
     in the midst of the pain
     and the struggle
     and the cross
     that this new land
     could be so beautiful

     something had to die
     in order for
     something new
     to be born

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Closing Prayer: Thank you, O God, that spring always follows winter, that Easter always follows Good Friday, that resurrection always follows death!!!  We thank you that death does not have the final word—life does.  We praise you, O God of life!!!