“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”
Collect:
Keep your family, O Lord,
schooled always in good works,
and so comfort them with your protection here
as to lead them graciously to gifts on high.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. *
The Readings
Jeremiah 18:18-20; Psalms 31:5-6, 14, 15-16; Matthew 20:17-28
Daily Meditation:
Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.
Jesus is telling us about his Passion, Death and Resurrection - for us.
Too often we are fighting over which of us is the greatest.
To take this journey with him, is to take a journey
that draws us to be with him in it and like him:
a servant of love for others.
“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Intercessions:
Let us give thanks to God, our Father:
through the power of the Spirit he purifies our heart and strengthens us in love. Let us humbly ask him:
Lord, give us your Holy Spirit.
Help us to receive good things from your bounty with a deep sense of gratitude;
-and to accept with patience the evil that comes to us.
Teach us to be loving not only in great and exceptional moments,
-but above all in the ordinary events of daily life.
May we abstain from what we do not really need,
-and help our brothers and sisters in distress.
May we bear the wounds of your Son,
-for through his body he gave us life.
Closing Prayer:
God of Love,
through this Lenten journey,
purify my desires to serve you.
Free me from any temptations to judge others,
to place myself above others.
Please let me surrender even my impatience with others,
that with your love and your grace,
I might be less and less absorbed with myself,
and more and more full of the desire
to follow you, in laying down my life
according to your example.
May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.