Thursday, March 2, 2017

 Thursday, March 2, 2017

Commemoration of John Wesley and Charles Wesley

Reading: Isaiah 58:1-12

“Is this not the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke? … Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the homeless poor into your house?”

                                                             (Isaiah 58:6a, 7a)

Earlier this week, we took the palms from the previous Palm Sunday, burned them, mixed them with olive oil, and anointed ourselves with the humility and compassion of Christ. As Lent begins, we mark ourselves with a cross as people moving toward Easter. And, so that we can create an empty space where newness can take root, we begin with confession and forgiveness, emptying ourselves of life-draining guilt, bitterness and regret. God wants to do a new thing, but a full cup does not have room for newness. And so we speak aloud to God our failures and wrongs, we let go of those things that in silence are causing us to waste away. And, open and emptied, we step into the wilderness path with Christ at our side.

Plant in our hearts, O God, the sure trust in your forgiveness and mercy. Amen

• Make an altar, a place for prayer.