| Fri Apr 4 | am: 107:1-32 pm: 107:33-43 | Jere 23:1-8 | Rom 8:28-39 | John 6:52-59 |
FOURTH FRIDAY OF LENT – – Saint Isidore of Seville, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, 636
LITURGICAL THEME FOR THE DAY: Saint Isidore was born in Cartagena to a family that included devout members and had 3 other saints, including his brother Leander, whom he succeeded as bishop of Seville in a time of conflict and growth for the Church in Spain. As the Dark Ages began to touch parts of Europe with the barbarian invasions, the Visigoths invaded shortly before Isidore’s birth. People of orthodox faith were tested as many were Arians— apostate Christians who said Christ was not God. Spain was split in two: One people (Catholic Romans) struggled with another (Arian Goths). Eventually, Isidore reunited Spain, making it a center of culture and learning, a teacher and guide for other European countries whose culture was also threatened by barbarian invaders.
MEDITATION OF THE DAY: The Psalm for both the morning and evening offices is Psalm 107. Perhaps not one of the most well-known, but it does highlight the question of why I need to give thanks to God. We all know the simple answer from the Psalmist: because his love never ends. But for the person of faith, the Psalmist tells us it is much more than that; it is in large measure due to the fact that we have been set free, sin and oppression do not have the final word in my life.
Despite this great declaration, many of us wandered for years in a desperate search for meaning. What will determine that meaning? Well, the truth is the source of our meaning. The truth that points to beauty, goodness, light, and life. That can shift us from the things in this world that make us numb and exhausted.
The lesson of the Psalm is simple: if we are open to a new reason to live, to embrace the God who saved me, we can be retrieved and set free to live in a holy place singing for joy.
PRAYER OF THE DAY: “My Lord Jesus Christ, hear my prayer, even though it may be that I have by my deeds done nothing to deserve it, yet do it because you are true God and worthy. Make my heart burning with the fire of your love, so that everything that is in it, which is against you becomes like ashes in the blowing wind.” Amen.
ANCIENT WISDOM/PRESENT GRACE: “Gratitude goes beyond the ‘mine’ and ‘thine’ and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past, I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have been given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”—-Henri J.M. Nouwen.
Lenten Discipline – Go to https://westchurch.org/news/gratitude-inventory/, which is a website dedicated to encouraging folks to take a gratitude inventory in the Spirit of Psalm 107
SONG OF THE SEASON – Gratitude (Chosen Performance) – Brandon Lake