It is now the second day of Lent. We keep wondering if anything has changed. Russia is still invading Ukraine, and Ukrainians are still fighting for their lives and freedom. The members of the Senate Banking Committee are still at loggerheads over the nomination of Bloom Raskin. And the Arctic ice cap is melting even more quickly.
It is now the second day of Lent and we wonder if anything has changed in ourselves. We are more worried about the increasing prices at the gas pump than by the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine and the many other places where war and violence rule.
It is now the second day of Lent. The world seems to remain depressingly the same. But it is not the same because Lent is changing us, and as it changes us, it can change the world – if we change.
Prayer for the Day
We come to you, O God, because we need your Presence in our lives,
And we often forget whose people we are supposed to be;
Forgetting that the world belongs to you, we scramble to claim all we can,
Denying the good news you brought to us to share with all.
But you, O God, are merciful to forgive us when we repent of our failings,
Granting us an opportunity to have a fresh start.
In the name of him who gives us that opportunity,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
Lent is a time for discipline, for confession, for honesty, not because God is mean or fault- finding or finger-pointing but because he wants us to know the joy of being cleaned out, ready for all the good things he now has in store.
- N.T. Wright, scholar, theologian
But daily, hourly, to give up our own possessions and especially to subordinate our own impulses and wishes to others - these are hard, hard things; and I don't think they ever get any easier.
- Dorothy Day, social activist (1897-1980)
The righteous will see, and fear, and will laugh at the evildoer, saying,
“See the one who would not take refuge in God, but trusted in abundant riches,
And sought refuge in wealth!”
But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the kindness of God forever. I will thank you forever for what you have done.
In the presence of the faithful I will proclaim your name, for it is good.
Psalm 52: 6-9