Jesus

to share in your triumph

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment

painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, via Wikimedia Commons

 
O Christ, the brightness of God’s glory
    and express image of his person,
  whom death could not conquer,
    nor the tomb imprison;
as you have shared our mortal frailty in the flesh,
    help us to share your immortal triumph in the spirit.
Let no shadow of the grave affright us
    and no fear of darkness turn our hearts from you.
Reveal yourself to us as the first and the last,
    that Living One, 
    our immortal Savior and Lord.
Amen.
 
Henry Van Dyke, 1852 – 1933, American diplomat and Presbyterian clergyman
________________________
 
 
But our citizenship is in heaven. 
And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
    who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, 
    will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

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believing in the resurrection of Jesus

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image, by William Hole, via Wikimedia Commons
 
 
Almighty God,
Who through the death of your Son 
    has destroyed sin and death,
And by his resurrection 
    has restored innocence and everlasting life,
That we may be delivered from the dominion of the devil,
    and our mortal bodies raised up from the dead:
Grant that we may confidently and whole-heartedly 
    believe this,
And, finally, with your saints, 
    share in the joyful resurrection of the just;
through the same Jesus Christ,
    your Son, our Lord.

Martin Luther, 1483-1546, German Reformer
 
_______________________________
 
 
But these are written that you may believe 
    that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, 
and that by believing 
    you may have life in his name.
 

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Easter Prayer of Pope Gregory the Great

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
source by Luca Giordano via Wikipedia
 
It is only right, with all the powers of our heart and mind, 
    to praise You Father and Your Only-Begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear Father, by Your wondrous condescension of Loving-Kindness
    toward us, Your servants, You gave up Your Son.
Dear Jesus You paid the debt of Adam for us to the Eternal Father 
    by Your Blood poured forth in Loving-Kindness.
You cleared away the darkness of sin 
    by Your magnificent and radiant Resurrection.
You broke the bonds of death and rose from the grave as a Conqueror.
You reconciled Heaven and earth.
Our life had no hope of Eternal Happiness before You redeemed us.
Your Resurrection has washed away our sins, 
    restored our innocence and brought us joy.
How inestimable is the tenderness of Your Love!

We pray You, Lord, to preserve Your servants 
    in the peaceful enjoyment of this Easter happiness.
We ask this through Jesus Christ Our Lord, 
    Who lives and reigns with God The Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 
    forever and ever.

Pope Gregory the Great (c. 540 – 604) of Rome, Patron Saint of Teachers
_________________________
 
 
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 
According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again 
to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

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waiting prayer for Holy Saturday

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment
Holy Saturday by Roxolana Luczakowsky via Facebook
 
 
This is the hardest time to pray:
after the drama and catastrophe,
before the angels and the big reveal.
The passion, the agony, the desperate grief
have given way to numbness
and absence
in this time in between.

God seems to be offstage,
preparing for the final scene,
taking care of ancient souls in other worlds
or clothing the hidden, broken body
in resurrection glory.

So let our prayer this day be plain
and to the point:

May God be with us in the waiting,
and may we wait with hope,
today
and every time in between.

Amen.

 
Kerry Greenhill, Methodist Deacon and Minister
 
____________________________
 
 
As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, 
    who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. 
Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.
Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 
    and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. 
He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. 
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.

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the last step of love

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Cristo crucificado, Titian via Wikimedia Commons
 
 
A few hours more,
A few minutes more,
A few instants more,
For thirty-three years it has been going on.
For thirty-three years you have lived fully minute after minute.
You can no longer escape, now; you are there, 
    at the end of your life, at the end of your road.
You are at the last extremity, at the edge of a precipice.
You must take the last step,
The last step of love,
The last step of life that ends in death.
 
You hesitate.
Three hours are long, three hours of agony;
Longer than three years of life,
Longer than thirty years of life.
 
You must decide, Lord, all is ready around you.
You are there, motionless, on your Cross.
You have renounced all activity other than embracing these 
    crossed planks for which you were made.
And yet, there is still life in your nailed body.
Let mortal flesh die, and make way for eternity.
Now, life slips from each limb, one by one, finding refuge in his 
    still beating heart.
Immeasurable heart,
Overflowing heart.
Heart heavy as the world, the world of sins and miseries that it bears.
 
Lord, one more effort.
Mankind is there, waiting unknowingly for the cry of its Saviour.
You brothers are there; they need you.
Your Father bends over you, already holding out his arms.
Lord, save us,
Save us.
 
See.
He has taken his heavy heart,
And,
Slowly,
Laboriously,
Alone between heaven and earth,
In the awesome night,
With passionate love,
He has gathered his life,
He has gathered the sin of the world,
And in a cry,
He has given all.
‘Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.’
 
Christ has just died for us.
 
Michel Quoist, 1918 – 1997, French Catholic priest and writer 
 
_____________________________
 
 
It was now about the sixth hour,
    and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 
    while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 
Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, 
    “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” 
And having said this he breathed his last.

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Jesus, touch our eyes

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Andrey Mironov, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 
Lord Jesus, touch our eyes,
    as you did those of the blind;
then we shall see
    in things that are visible
    those things which are invisible.

Lord Jesus, open our ears,
     heal our wounds and purify our lives,
     as you did those who came to you;
then we shall hear and perceive what is true
     amidst the sounds of the world,
     and find wholeness in ourselves.

after Origen, 185—254, Alexandrian Theologian
 
_______________________________
 
 
They came to Bethsaida, 
    and some people brought a blind man 
    and begged Jesus to touch him. 
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. 
When he had spit on the man’s eyes 
    and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, 
    “Do you see anything?”
He looked up and said, 
    “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”
Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. 
Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, 
    and he saw everything clearly.
 

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Have mercy on my darkness, my ashes

/ Eric Mathews / 2 Comments
photo by Elvis Bekmanis on Unsplash

 
Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on my darkness, my weakness, my confusion.
Have mercy on my infidelity, my cowardice, my turning about in circles,
    my wandering, my evasions.
I do not ask anything but such mercy, always, in everything, mercy.
My life here at Gethsemani – a little solidity and very much ashes.
 
Almost everything is ashes.
What I have prized most is ashes.
What I have attended to least is, perhaps, a little solid.
 
Lord have mercy.
Guide me, make me want again to be holy,
    to be a man of God even though in desperateness and confusion.
I do not necessarily ask for clarity, a plain way,
    but only to go according to Your love,
    to follow your mercy, to trust in Your mercy.
 
Thomas Merton, 1915 – 1968, American Catholic writer and Trappist monk
 
_______________________
 
 
To you, Lord, I called;
    to the Lord I cried for mercy:
“What is gained if I am silenced,
    if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
    Lord, be my help.”

You turned my wailing into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
 

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for simplicity

/ Eric Mathews / 1 Comment
photo by Maheima Kapur on Unsplash
 
 
Jesus, my life feels cluttered.
Not just with material things, 
    but with my own distracted thoughts and desires.
I wish that things were simpler – not just my lifestyle,
    but the inner attitude of my heart.
I know it’s time to return to simplicity 
    when I stop being thankful and start feeling entitled;
    when I begin grasping for everything in sight 
         rather than trusting you to provide;
    when I hold on desperately to what I own
        instead of sharing it with those around me.
Jesus, help me to be thankful –
    viewing every possession and good occurrence 
    as a gift from you
  so I get to the place where I expect nothing 
    but am delighted with everything.
Help me to trust that my life is ultimately under your care.
Free me from feeling as if I have to own everything,
    because the truth is, all things belong to you.
Help me to be generous – willing to share all I have with others
    as an expression of your generosity to me.
Restore in me a thankful, trusting, generous spirit 
    so I can live simply.
 
Ronald Beers, Chief Publishing Officer for Tyndale
_______________________
 
 
Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 
After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, 
    and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 
So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

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have mercy and cleanse me

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
photo by Zeynep Yilmaz via pexels
 
 
Have mercy on me, O life-giver, through your goodness.
In your great tenderness soothe away my faults.
Cleanse me of my guilt,
    do not hold my failures against me.
For I have come to see that I fail you,
    when I have not acknowledged with my whole being
    that I am made truly in your image;
    in not walking in your ways I have sinned against you.
You are love and truth itself
    and seek sincerity of heart;
  teach me the secrets of wisdom.
Cleanse me from all that prevents me
    from listening to your word.
 
Ianthe Pratt, organizer of Catholic women’s activities in London
____________________________
 
 
Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

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answering our askings

/ Eric Mathews / 2 Comments
 
Lord God, 
  grant us to see that 
      even as the Word must become flesh,
      the prayer must become physical:
  grant our prayers 
      eyes to see the invisible,
      ears to hear the inaudible,
      lips to voice the unspeakable,
      hands to clutch the intangible.
Then to complete the body of yearning,
  equip our prayers with 
      legs to step out on faith,
      legs to progress one step at a time,
      legs to walk with our Savior
  in answering our very own askings.
In the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
 
Cecil L. Murray, 1929 – , African American Pastor and Ethicist
 
__________________________
 
 
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, 
    to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 
And awe came upon every soul, 
    and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.  
And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  
And they were selling their possessions and belongings 
    and distributing the proceeds to all, 
    as any had need.

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