Lenten Meditations: Wednesday 11 March

Mar 11, 2020 by Jill

Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent – St. Aengus, Monk and Solitary, 824

LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: Aengus, born in Clonengh, Ireland, became a solitary monk on the banks of the river Nore. In time he sought a more remote site near Maryborough, erecting a small hermitage there. Visitors drawn by his reputation for holiness  drove Aengus to the monastery of Tallaght, near Dublin, then under the control of St. Maelruain. He tried to enter as a simple lay brother, not telling anyone who he was. Aengus completed his Felire in 805 in his Maryborough hermitage and passed away on  824 and was buried in Clonenagh.

MEDITATION OF THE DAY:  As we consiider Pslam 72 today it should be one that resonates with us very well as it contains a series of prayer requests for the petitioner and the people of God. The foundational request is stated first:

“Give the king your justice, O God. In the Old Testament context , the people of God  s are taught to pray for the king, first of all, that he would do the work of ‘justice’ (governing in such a way that fairness is upheld in the kingdom) and have the character of ‘righteousness’ (genuine, personal devotion to God shown in godly living). If a godly king will promote God’s rule in society by seeking integrity in society then the kingdom will come under the approval of God reflected in the covenant blessings. This is what we pray for when we seek the attributes for one who governs. When that humility is absent you don’t have justice, you have despotism. This is not only true in governance but simply in the daily relationships we seek to maintain with people

PRAYER OF THE DAY: O Lord, open my eyes that I may see the needs of others Open my ears that I may hear their cries; Open my heart so that they need not be without succor; Let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong, Nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich.

Show me where love and hope and faith are needed, And use me to bring them to those places. And so open my eyes and my ears, that I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for thee. Amen – (Alan Paton)

ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE : “Among all his actions there is none which is not entirely a matter of mercy, love, and compassion: this constitutes the beginning and the end of his dealings with us.”- St Isaac the Syrian . ” –

LENTEN DISCIPLINE – Spend an hour in solitude cut off from any persons and examine the times you have been a beneficiary of God’s Justice and Mercy and then share that experience with a fellow Christian.

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