Lent daybook, 17 & 18: Dead will come alive
A Lent daybook for these 40 days of prayer. Join me, won't you? (see previous Lent daybook 2017 posts here)
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Listen to all of the Lent Daybook 2017 songs at this playlist on Spotify: Lent 2017
Readings for today: Psalm 71, Jeremiah 4:9-10, 19-28, Romans 2:12-24, John 5:19-29
“But you haven’t seen the half of it yet, for in the same way that the Father raises the dead and creates life, so does the Son. The Son gives life to anyone he chooses. Neither he nor the Father shuts anyone out. The Father handed all authority to judge over to the Son so that the Son will be honored equally with the Father. Anyone who dishonors the Son, dishonors the Father, for it was the Father’s decision to put the Son in the place of honor.
It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.
It’s urgent that you get this right: The time has arrived—I mean right now!—when dead men and women will hear the voice of the Son of God and, hearing, will come alive. Just as the Father has life in himself, he has conferred on the Son life in himself. And he has given him the authority, simply because he is the Son of Man, to decide and carry out matters of Judgment.’”
Prayer for today: Pray Psalm 71 as a personal petition to God, and close with the following.
“Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.”
Spiritual practice for Friday & Saturday:
Read through and pray the entirety of Saint Patrick's Breastplate.
Watch The Secret of the Kells: a gorgeous animated film that mixes Celtic mythology with historical accounts of the monks who illuminated the Scriptures and then saved them during the Viking invasion. Great for all ages!
Read How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe by Thomas Cahill: "The perfect St. Patrick's Day gift, and a book in the best tradition of popular history -- the untold story of Ireland's role in maintaining Western culture while the Dark Ages settled on Europe." Brian and I read this while we were in Ireland last summer. Fascinating and encouraging!
(see all Lent daybook posts from 2016 here)