Lenten Meditation
Scripture Readings
Micah 4:1–5
Peace and Security through Obedience
In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,
and many nations shall come and say:
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.’
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more;
but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
and no one shall make them afraid;
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
For all the peoples walk,
each in the name of its god,
but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God
for ever and ever.
Psalm 118:1–2, 19–29
A Song of Victory
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever!
Let Israel say,
‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God,
and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
Romans 8:18–25
Future Glory
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
St. John 12:12–19
Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
‘Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—
the King of Israel!’
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:
‘Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!’
His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him. So the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify. It was also because they heard that he had performed this sign that the crowd went to meet him. The Pharisees then said to one another, ‘You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!’
Prayers
Opening Prayer
Almighty, ever–living God, You have given us Jesus Christ as our Saviour, a model of humility. He fulfilled Your will by becoming a man and giving His life on the Cross. Fill our hearts with the joy of Hosanna of the triumphal entry of Your only Son and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ showing the example of humility by riding a donkey. Help us to bear witness to You by following His example of suffering, and make us worthy of sharing the glory of His resurrection. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. As it was in the beginning, is now and always forever will be, world without end. Amen.
Great Thanksgiving Prayer
Eternal God, the Creator of the whole universe, in Your Great love for mankind, You sent Your begotten Son on to this earth. Denying all glory, He became man – fulfilled the Father’s will and became an example for us. Thank you for giving us the precious privilege of participating in the Holy Body and Holy Blood through His eternal sacrifice on the cross and reconciling us to You by the Holy Spirit and through Your begotten Son Jesus Christ. He is the Lord of Lords, King of kings, the Alpha and the Omega. On this Palm Sunday and during the Lent and all the days of our life with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven we proclaim: They shout and say.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
heaven and earth are full of His glory,
hosanna in the highest;
blessed is He who has come,
and is to come
in the name of the Lord,
hosanna in the highest.
Post Communion Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, You humbled Yourself, in taking the form of a servant, and in obedience You died on the Cross for our salvation. Give us the mind to follow You and to proclaim You as Lord and King, to the glory of God the Father. Faithful God, may we, Your people, always glory in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ who is our salvation, who is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and the One that reigns forever. Amen.
Prayer Focus
For the month of March GFA World’s prayer focus is clean water. Please join us in praying for clean water.
“He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and dry land into watersprings.”—Psalm 107:35
So often in the Holy Scriptures, God uses water to illustrate who He is and what He does for us. He compares His blessing to streams for dry ground, describes His Spirit as water for a thirsty man and calls Himself the “fountain of living waters” (Isaiah 44:3; Jeremiah 2:13).
Just as God blesses, satisfies and gives us life, water has the power to bring fruitfulness to our communities, refreshment to our thirst and life to our bodies.
Yet, in many places throughout Africa and Asia, precious people are living in “dry lands” and have yet to experience the gift of abundant, clean water. Their knowledge of the Living Water—and the wholeness He brings—is even more limited.
This month, will you join us in asking God to bring water and hope to those still waiting in a “dry land”?
Source for Scripture Passages: Scripture texts are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Source for Prayers: Believers Eastern Church Liturgy Copyright © 2018 Believers Eastern Church. Used by permission.
Source for Art: Limbourg, Jean de, approximately 1385-approximately 1416. Entry into Jerusalem, Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, from Art in the Christian Tradition a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55430 [retrieved March 20, 2018]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Folio_173v_-_The_Entry_into_Jerusalem.jpg.