For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Do you roll your eyes in frustration, Lord, when I pay no attention to you, to your truth, – not even to common sense?
Do you want to dope slap me, Lord, when I miss the better, right choice to make – staring me right in the face?
Do you ever turn and walk away when I, for the thousandth time, make the same foolish, stupid mistake?
No, Lord, you don’t…
Instead, you show me time and again the things I’ve failed to see, you look with compassion and mercy on me and all my folly, you always, freely, pardon my sins and grant me a new beginning… Patient, kind and compassionate Lord, be gracious to me today – as you always are – and help me grow in your grace…
Amen.
Fr. Austin Fleming, Roman Catholic Priest in Massachusetts
But all they gave him was lip service; they lied to him with their tongues. Their hearts were not loyal to him. They did not keep his covenant. Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins and did not destroy them all. Many times he held back his anger and did not unleash his fury! For he remembered that they were merely mortal, gone like a breath of wind that never returns.
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
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.
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.
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.
prayer & verse 
