The more we have denied ourselves during the day, the nearer we are each evening to the heart of our Lord.
– St. Madeleine Sophie Barat

Isaiah 58: 9 – 14
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
13 “If you turn back your foot from the sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Psalms 86: 1 – 6
1 Incline thy ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my life, for I am godly; save thy servant who trusts in thee. Thou art my God;
3 be gracious to me, O Lord, for to thee do I cry all the day.
4 Gladden the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For thou, O Lord, art good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on thee.
6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; hearken to my cry of supplication.

Luke 5: 27 – 32
27 After this he went out, and saw a tax collector, named Levi, sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, “Follow me.”
28 And he left everything, and rose and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house; and there was a large company of tax collectors and others sitting at table with them.
30 And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick;
32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

It is true that God’s power triumphs over everything, but humble and suffering prayer prevails over God Himself.
–St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

Isaiah 58:1-9
1″Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. 3`Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 4Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. 5Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? 6″Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 8Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 9Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

Psalm 51:3-6, 18-19
3For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment. 5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
18Do good to Zion in thy good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, 19then wilt thou delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on thy altar.

Matthew 9:14-15
14Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

We attended a beautiful Ash Wednesday service last night at a church downtown. I grew up attending Lutheran services and I remember being reminded every week that we worshiped a holy God. I was reminded of this last night as I sat and contemplated my sinfulness and my failures in my attempts to be holy. God is holy and he calls us to be holy but he does this for us through Christ – for it is in Christ alone that we can stand before God.

This Lent season I am reminded of the filth that covers my heart, my desperation for Christ, and my longing to be with the Father.

When death comes, and we stand before God, no king can command Him, no authority can restrain Him, no riches can hire Him to wait past his appointed time even one monent of an hour. Therefore let us speak what we are bound to speak and do the deeds we are called to do. No empty time is allowed to any of us.

- St. Thomas More

Readings for the Thursday after Ash Wednesday:

Deuteronomy 30: 15 – 20
15 “See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil.
16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.
17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,
18 I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live,
20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Psalms 1: 1 – 4, 6
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff which the wind drives away.
6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Luke 9: 22 – 25
22 saying, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”
23 And he said to all, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
24 For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.
25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

[image source]

As most good Baptists, Lent has never really been party of my spiritual process. Yet I am a traditional person. God is never louder to me than in a simple service with quiet time for reflection.  I respond to rituals that cause me to ponder (as Mary and others did) the works of God.  This season, Frank and I have decided to practice Lent with daily readings and quotes from this website.

Readings for Ash Wednesday, February 25th:

It is impossible for a person who prays regularly to remain in serious sin; because the two are incompatible, one or the other will have to be given up.– St. Teresa of Avila

Joel 2:12-18

Return to the LORD
12″Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. 14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; 16gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. 17 Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”

The LORD Had Pity
18 Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.

Psalm 51:3-6, 12-14, 17

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

12Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

2 Corinthians 5:20, 6:2

20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

2For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Giving to the Needy
1″Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

The Lord’s Prayer
5″And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Fasting
16″And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Every morning, I take a nice toasty shower. I love it. As very few homes in Nicaragua have hot water heaters, I think this is what I will miss the most.

I came across these pictures while organizing our files. They were taken at a worship service we attended at a men’s recovery center.