Liturgy 019: Fourth Monday of Lent
🙏 Poisonous Snakes, Aubrey Drizzy Drake Graham, and Eternal Life
🙏 Prayer for Lent and Gentleness
O Lord, this holy season of Lent is passing quickly,
I entered into it with fear, but also with great expectations.
I hoped for a great breakthrough, a powerful conversion, a real change of heart;
I wanted Easter to be a day so full of light that not even a trace
of darkness would be left in my soul.
But I know that you do not come to your people with thunder and lightning.
Even St. Paul and St. Francis journeyed through much darkness
before they could see your light.
Let me be thankful for your gentle way.
I know you are at work.
I know you will not leave me alone,
I know you are quickening me for Easter –
but in a way fitting to my own history and my own temperament.
I pray that these last three weeks, in which you invite me to enter
more fully into the mystery of your passion,
will bring me a greater desire to follow you on the way you create for me
and to accept the cross that you give to me.
Let me die to the desire to choose my own way and select my own cross.
You do not want to make me a hero but a servant who loves you.
Be with me today and in the days to come,
and let me experience your gentle presence.
Amen.
—Prayer from Henri Nouwen
📖 Lectio Divina
Read the following words slowly.
Listen for a personal word from the Holy Spirit.
John 3:14-16
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
🖼️ Reflection
Scottish Knight, William Wallace and Canadian Rap Artist, Aubrey Drake Graham both said it: Everyone dies, not everyone lives.
John 3 is the born again passage. Jesus tells a prominent religious leader: in order to enter the Kingdom of God, you must be born again.
Us Americans, we read John 3:16, and get triggered by the words perish and eternal life. We think these words refer to a future post-mortem torment or paradise. And when it comes to avoiding something in the future, our imaginations go towards premiums and deductibles. What do I pay now to avoid something later?
But Jesus is not an anxious insurance salesman looking to meet quotas or grow the company brand. He is freely inviting us to an eternal life today.
Like the Israelites who were healed of poisonous snake bites by looking upon Moses’ staff, when we look towards the life and presence of Jesus, we are healed of old wounds and poisonous ways of life that are eating away at our souls, today.
Jesus’ way of abiding in the love of God, serving the weak, and praying for his enemies is the way of eternal life, of being born anew, in the present time.
I think Dallas Willard translates John 3:16 the best:
💡 Quote
God’s care for humanity was so great that he sent his unique Son among us, so that those who count on him might not lead a futile and failing existence, but have the undying life of God Himself.
— Dallas Willard’s translation of John 3:16, The Divine Conspiracy
Everyone dies. Not everyone lives.
— William Wallace (a Scottish knight)
and Aubrey Drake Graham (a Canadian rap artist)
🧘 Spiritual Practice
Is there a poison, eating away at your sense of love, joy, and hope today? Try this:
Center yourself in the love of God. Take a breath. Replace the need to be impressive with the affirming voice of a gracious God. You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone. You are beloved.
Then, seek to serve one person in your life today. Pay attention when they speak. Offer a small practical means of help. Get them a cup of coffee. Buy them a meal.
See what healing and eternal quality of life takes shape within you.
🕊️ Blessing
May you be born anew today and each day as you look to Jesus to heal you from the poisonous ways of life. As Lent continues on, may you truly live.
Amen.