Morning Devotion for the Season of Lent

March 20, 2024

Cuthbert

The Invitatory

Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord you God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: Psalm 30: 2-5

2 If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, *

O Lord, who could stand?

3 For there is forgiveness with you; *

therefore you shall be feared.

4 I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; *

in his word is my hope.

5 My soul waits for the Lord,

more than watchmen for the morning, *

more than watchmen for the morning

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

Cuthbert was a seventh century Celtic priest and, later Bishop, who lived in Northumbria, a region of Great Britain. Christianity was one of many faiths at that time. Cuthbert was one of many and diverse religious thinkings and practices. Nonetheless, Cuthbert found his strength through the mercy and love of God through Jesus Christ. This sustained him throughout his ministry. Even when his world was deeply shaken by disease or warfare, Cuthbert found himself comforted by Jesus Christ.

We, too, live during a time of varied beliefs. We now witness how deeply divisive our beliefs have become, how strident, sometimes even threatening and violent their expressions have become. All this caused me to ponder "If God does so note what is done amiss, O Lord, who could stand?” As I listened to the news this morning of the impending new attack in Gaza, the imminent threat to many of starvation, I wondered, “O Lord, who could stand?” I thought back to the early stories of the children of Israel returning to the Promised Land and the many battles waged for them to gain their homeland promised to them by God. “O, Lord, who could stand?”

And I feel within myself a strong sense of wondering and yet I am hoping for and expecting that God does hear. And God’s response? What of that? Is this not the test of our faith? For God is not absent to us and to his creation. He is not absent from any context or person. What the psalmist testifies to and I hold is the conviction that the promises that God makes will be kept and I must wait for their fulfillment. I must say that even with all the difficulties in my life that I thought might not resolve positively have resolved and in ways that I never even considered. In retrospect this is confirmation of God’s redemption. And I might say of his imagination! No, all is not accomplished immediately. Given life’s complexities this would be unrealistic and, more importantly, would render my belief in God as one who is a magician. As I have lived my life forward I do so with even greater certainty of God’s attention and care.

What is demonstrated attests to, above all, God’s character. not ours, God is not the kind of God under whose judgment diminishes us. It is God’s forgiveness, the bedrock of God’s character, that remains faithful to us even in the worst of our situations. God’s unchanging love is the essence of who God is, and God’s power is precisely the power to redeem. It is his alone.

Prayer for Protection

Assist us mercifully, O Lord, in these our supplications and prayers, and dispose the way of your servants towards that attainment of everlasting salvation; that among all the changes and chances of this mortal life, they may ever be defended by your gracious and ready help; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

View as Webpage