“Lent comes providentially to reawaken us.
To shake us from our lethargy.
—Pope Francis
Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!
From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!
and his glory above the heavens!
Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,
who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
The hard earth is pregnant with new life—dust & dirt doing their holy work.
Just as Holy Spirit awakened the bellies of Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, Elizabeth, Mary….
His life-infusing breath fills the space.
Oh yes! He has done great things!
The birds feel it, the trees feel it, the dirt feels it, WE FEEL IT.
March—a bridge connecting the barrenness of Winter with the hope of Spring. A blessed union.
Today the Gift of Grace is to Rise Up.
Open the Grace {Day 2} 40 Gifts for 40 Days
Out of the ash heap…
blood & bone
heart & flesh
Both feet planted, holding our bodies in place.
Where we are keenly aware of our frailty and awakened to Your glorious plan!
Open the Grace …
Winter had it’s way.
God, You’ll have Your Way too!
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:4-10
A Lenten journey…
Jewish tradition reveals that the Passover meal ended with a hymn. Matthew & Mark wrote that the disciples sang with Jesus before He left the table, just hours before His crucifixion & resurrection. They had no idea what the future held, but Jesus did…
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. John 13:3-4a
The book of Psalms contains three collections titled Hallel, with Psalms 113-118 known as the Egyptian Hallel, mainly because of their connection with Passover celebrations, commemorating Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. The psalms of the Egyptian Hallel were sung as part of the Passover ceremony, with 113-114 sung before the meal and 115-118 after the meal. (Taken from https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/psalm-113/)
THE PEARL COMMUNITY 