It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Daily Prayer, Holy Thursday, April 5, 2012

O Lord, You have heard my voice and my supplications.
You have inclined your ear to me,
therefore I will call on you as long as I live. (adapted from Psalm 116:1-2)

Morning
Invitatory Psalm 38
O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,
  or discipline me in your wrath.
For your arrows have sunk into me,
  and your hand has come down on me.
....I am utterly spent and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
O Lord, all my longing is known to you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
...
But it is for you, O Lord, that I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
For I pray, “Only do not let them rejoice over me,
  those who boast against me when my foot slips.”
For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
....Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, do not be far from me;
make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.

Psalm 39
I said, “I will guard my ways
   that I may not sin with my tongue;
....
“And now, O Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.
Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool.
I am silent;
I do not open my mouth,
   for it is you who have done it.
....
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry;
do not hold your peace at my tears.
For I am your passing guest, an alien, like all my forebears.
Turn your gaze away from me,
  that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more.”

Psalm 40
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
....You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
   your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you.
Were I to proclaim and tell of them,
   they would be more than can be counted.
Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
   but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
....
I have told the glad news of deliverance
   in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.
I have not hidden your saving help within my heart,
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love
   and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
Do not, O Lord, withhold your mercy from me;
let your steadfast love and your faithfulness
   keep me safe forever.
For evils have encompassed me without number;
my iniquities have overtaken me, until I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
O Lord, make haste to help me.
….

Daily Lectionary, First Reading, Exodus 12:1-14


The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month will be the first month; it will be the first month of the year for you. (r) 3 Tell the whole Israelite community: On the tenth day of this month they must take a lamb for each household, a lamb per house. 4 If a household is too small for a lamb, it should share one with a neighbor nearby. You should divide the lamb in proportion to the number of people who will be eating it. 5 Your lamb should be a flawless year-old male. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You should keep close watch over it until the fourteenth day of this month. At twilight on that day, the whole assembled Israelite community should slaughter their lambs. 7 They should take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and on the beam over the door of the houses in which they are eating. 8 That same night they should eat the meat roasted over the fire. They should eat it along with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Don’t eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted over fire with its head, legs, and internal organs. 10 Don’t let any of it remain until morning, and burn any of it left over in the morning. 11 This is how you should eat it. You should be dressed, with your sandals on your feet and your walking stick in your hand. You should eat the meal in a hurry. It is the Passover of the LORD. 12 I’ll pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I’ll strike down every oldest child in the land of Egypt, both humans and animals. I’ll impose judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. 13 The blood will be your sign on the houses where you live. Whenever I see the blood, I’ll pass over (s) you. No plague will destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

14 “This day will be a day of remembering for you. You will observe it as a festival to the LORD. You will observe it in every generation as a regulation for all time.
_________________________________________________ r March–April; cf Exod 13:4 s Heb verb of the noun Passover
[Common English Bible]

Daily Lectionary, Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
I love the LORD because he hears my requests for mercy.
2 I’ll call out to him as long as I live, because he listens closely to me.
12 What can I give back to the LORD for all the good things he has done for me?
13 I’ll lift up the cup of salvation.I’ll call on the LORD’s name.
14 I’ll keep the promises I made to the LORD in the presence of all God’s people.
15 The death of the LORD’s faithful is a costly loss in his eyes.
16 Oh yes, LORD, I am definitely your servant!
I am your servant and the son of your female servant—you’ve freed me from my chains.
17 So I’ll offer a sacrificeof thanksgiving to you, and I’ll call on the LORD ’s name.
18 I’ll keep the promises I made to the LORD in the presence of all God’s people,
19 in the courtyards of the LORD ’s house, which is in the center of Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD ! [Common English Bible]


Morning Prayer: We have cried out to you. You have responded to our need. You have shown us the way; yet, we have sought out our own way. When we were in trouble, again we cried out to you. Again you responded to our need. We offer you thanks for what you have given us. Strengthen us now to keep our promises to be obedient to your will for us. Amen.


Midday Psalm 119:68-77
You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.
The arrogant smear me with lies,
   but with my whole heart I keep your precepts.
Their hearts are fat and gross,
   but I delight in your law.
It is good for me that I was humbled,
   so that I might learn your statutes.
The law of your mouth is better to me
   than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Your hands have made and fashioned me;
give me understanding
   that I may learn your commandments.
Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,
   because I have hoped in your word.

I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right,
   and that in faithfulness you have humbled me.
Let your steadfast love become my comfort
   according to your promise to your servant.
Let your mercy come to me, that I may live;
   for your law is my delight.

Evening
Psalm 69
Save me, O God,
   for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
   and the flood sweeps over me.
I am weary with my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
….
O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame
   because of me, O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored
   because of me, O God of Israel.
….
Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
Do not hide your face from your servant,
   for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.
Draw near to me, redeem me,
   set me free because of my enemies.
….
O God, protect me.
I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the Lord more than
   an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.
....



Daily Lectionary, Second Reading, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
23 I received a tradition from the Lord, which I also handed on to you: on the night on which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread. 24 After giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me.” 25 He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me.” 26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you broadcast the death of the Lord until he comes. [Common English Bible]


Daily Lectionary, Gospel Reading, John 13:1-17, 31b-35

Before the Festival of Passover, Jesus knew that his time had come to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them fully.


2 Jesus and his disciples were sharing the evening meal. The devil had already provoked Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew the Father had given everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So he got up from the table and took off his robes. Picking up a linen towel, he tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he was wearing. 6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “ Lord, are you going to wash my feet? ”


7 Jesus replied, “ You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but you will understand later. ”


8 “ No! ” Peter said. “ You will never wash my feet! ”


Jesus replied, “ Unless I wash you, you won’t have a place with me. ”


9 Simon Peter said, “ Lord, not only my feet but also my hands and my head! ”


10 Jesus responded, “ Those who have bathed need only to have their feet washed, because they are completely clean. You disciples are clean, but not every one of you. ” 11 He knew who would betray him. That’s why he said, “ Not every one of you is clean. ”


12 After he washed the disciples’ feet, he put on his robes and returned to his place at the table. He said to them, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you speak correctly, because I am. 14 If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example: just as I have done, you also must do. 16 I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them. 17 Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them. 


31b Jesus said, “Now the Human One (t) has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify the Human One (u) in himself and will glorify him immediately. 33 Little children, I’m with you for a little while longer. You will look for me—but, just as I told the Jewish leaders, I also tell you now—‘Where I’m going, you can’t come.’



34 “ I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. 35 This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other. ”
_________________________________________________
t  Or Son of Man
u  Or Son of Man
[Common English Bible]


Evening Prayer: O God, by the example of your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ you taught us the greatness of true humility, and call us to watch with him in his passion. Give us grace to serve one another in all lowliness, and to enter into the fellowship of his suffering; in his name and for his sake. Amen. (UMBOW 349)

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