The Rights of the Destitute: Lent Daybook 22
Take a few deep breaths, settle your body, mind, and heart into a quiet space, and let’s begin with prayer.
Opening prayer: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus and more like the true self you’ve created as I savor your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions by your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Look: Bertha (from the 1990 series Nomads), Andrew Serrano - Source
You might also appreciate this October 2021 article from Ekstasis Magazine: Ghosts in Los Angeles
by Arthur Aghajanian
Listen: Skuggor (Shadows), Luchs - Spotify | YouTube
Read: Psalm 119:97-120; Psalm 81-82; Genesis 45:16-28; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 6:13-29
Excerpts:
“God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?
Selah
Give justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
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Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt.
I hear a voice I had not known: “I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
Selah
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So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. And they told him, “Joseph is still alive! He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt.” He was stunned; he could not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.”
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How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.
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Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.
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Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me! There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
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They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.” But others said, “It is Elijah.” And others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”
For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him.
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They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk around in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
I say, “You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, and fall like any prince.”
Rise up, O God, judge the earth; for all the nations belong to you!”
Pray: On Wednesdays, we'll pray the Confession and Litany of Penitence from the Ash Wednesday service in the Book of Common Prayer. Include the specific names of people and places that come to mind as you pray. If you are able to pray this with someone else, one of you can pray the unbolded words and then pray the bolded words together.
If possible, offer this prayer while kneeling.
Let us humbly confess our sins to Almighty God.
Silence
Most holy and merciful Father, we confess to you, and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinned, through our own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven. We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For all our unfaithfulness and disobedience; for the pride, vanity, and hypocrisy of our lives; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our self-pity and impatience, and our envy of those we think more fortunate than ourselves; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our unrighteous anger, bitterness, and resentment; for all lies, gossip, and slander against our neighbors; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our sexual impurity, our exploitation of other people, and our failure to give of ourselves in love; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our intemperate pursuit of worldly goods and comforts; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our dishonesty in daily life and work, our ingratitude for your gifts, and our failure to heed your call. Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our wastefulness and misuse of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you
For all false judgments, for prejudice and contempt of others, and for all uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our negligence in prayer and worship; for our presumption and abuse of your means of grace; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For seeking the praise of others rather than the approval of God; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our failure to commend the faith that is in us; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
Show favor to your people, O Lord, who turn to you in weeping, fasting, and prayer. For you are a merciful God, full of compassion, long-suffering, and abounding in steadfast love. You spare when we deserve punishment, and in your wrath you remember mercy. Spare your people, good Lord, spare us; in the multitude of your mercies, look upon us and forgive us; through the merits and mediation of your blessed Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Silence
Stand for the remainder of the prayer, you might consider holding open your hands as a gesture of receiving God’s forgiveness.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who in his great mercy has promised forgiveness of sins to all those who sincerely repent and with true faith turn to him, have mercy upon you, pardon and deliver you from all your sins, confirm and strengthen you in all goodness, and bring you to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hear the Word of God to all who truly turn to him: If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)
The Peace of the Lord be always with you. And also with you.
Share God's peace with someone else as you return to your day.
Do: On Wednesdays through Lent, consider fasting from spending money, and feast on giving alms instead.
Almsgiving is a traditional Lenten practice. This week pray that the Lord would show you his face in the most distressing of your neighbors, and lead you to ways that you can show compassionate mercy.
Let each necessary purchase remind you of the reality of our complete poverty and helplessness before God and without the work of Christ.
You might also find helpful: Lenten Disciplines: Almsgiving
*Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year C of the Book of Common Prayer 2019 (Anglican Church of North America). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 2).