It’s the last Sunday of Lent as we look toward next week and Palm/Passion Sunday, and we begin to wind down our journey with Jesus as he continues toward Jerusalem. Although we all know the story of what is going to happen, the events of our day put the story in a new perspective each year.
At the beginning of the Lenten season, the Minneapolis-St Paul region was still in a state of siege with masked ICE agents dragging people out of their homes half clothed and dumping a refugee on a frozen street to die. The Roman occupiers had about the same disregard for the lives of the people as well.
As we now approach the end of the season, we are faced with a series of regulatory changes in environmental policy endangering people who live near plants spewing forth toxic fumes, not to mention degrading our Nation’s resources. Add to that the spiraling costs of living for us who are not part of the superrich, akin to the temple authorities castigated by Jesus. Now, as then, the interests of the wealthy rule.
Prayer for the Day
They must have wondered, the disciples, why this journey,
But we know, O God, that we all take the same in our lives;
They must have asked, the disciples, why is this necessary,
Just as we question if we need to continue in our struggles.
Be with us, Merciful One, as we continue our Lenten journey,
One that is both fearful and hopeful.
In the name of the One who accompanies us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
It is all well and good to let religion be a matter of mood, but God is not a matter of mood. He is still present even when we are not in the mood to meet with him.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from Reflections on Lent and Easter (1906-1945)
No evil dooms us hopelessly except the evil we love, and desire to continue in, and make no effort to escape from.
George Eliot, English novelist (1819-1880)
The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night my heart also instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me, because God is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved.
Psalm 16: 5-8