Let us pray to our God of mercy who fills our lives with love and joy: God, we no longer look for Jesus among the dead, for he is alive and has become the Lord of life. From the waters of death, you raise us with him and renew your gift of life within us. Increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with Christ. May we grow as your people toward the fullness of eternal life with you, through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(Book of Common Worship)
Let us pray that we follow Jesus on his road of service: God our Father, in Jesus your Son you have shown us that the road that leads to victory is the way of loving service and willingness to pay the price of sacrifice for faithful, unswerving love. Give us the mentality and attitude of Jesus, so that we learn to serve with him. May we thus become victorious with him who eternally dwells with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.
Amen
(Claretian Publications)
Paul the Apostle chose to share in the sufferings of Christ (Philippians 3:4-12). “Sharing in the sufferings of Christ” is not remaining in an abusive relationship where one’s vulnerabilities and weaknesses are exploited and taken advantage of. Rather, “sharing the sufferings of Christ” is like this: “We suffer in likeness with Christ when we suffer ill at the hands of others because we desire and strive after the Good. As a matter of face, we can avoid suffering by ceasing to do the Good” (Soren Kierkegaard). How many times have we not suffered because we chose not to do the good and right thing?
We share in the sufferings of Christ when we extend mercy to those caught in sin; when we extend mercy to our enemies; when we speak up for the poor and dispossessed and do something about it; when we extend our friendship; when we help someone wrongly convicted; when we refuse to lash out in anger; when we refuse to cheat and lie to get ahead; when we refuse to operate from malicious motives. May we, within our abilities, share in the sufferings for Christ.
Let us ask our Father that we imitate his mercy: God of life, Jesus, your Son reveals to us that love is stronger than death, and you wish the sinner to live and to become new. May we no longer live in the past of sin but make us free for life and love. Give us hearts as merciful to one another as you have been lenient and loving to us. Amen.
(Claretian Publications)
Let us pray to our God of mercy who fills our lives with love and joy: God, we no longer look for Jesus among the dead, for he is alive and has become the Lord of life. From the waters of death, you raise us with him and renew your gift of life within us. Increase in our minds and hearts the risen life we share with Christ. May we grow as your people toward the fullness of eternal life with you, through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
(Book of Common Worship)
Our sins may leave us in such a slumber that we are too groggy to rise up and take action. We may become so riled up about the sins and failures of others that we do not hear Jesus speaking to us directly: “Unless you repent, you too will perish.”
Nevertheless, God takes deliberate steps to enable us to repentance and fruitfulness, but there is a limit (Luke 13:1-9).
When we fail to take responsibility for our sins and failures, we bring misery to us and others, and once we have done something it cannot be undone. We cannot change the past, but we can make the present and future better! God nourishes us with opportunities for spiritual growth in love, kindness, and mercy. God has given us time in the hope that we will bear fruit. God works with us to wake us out of our slumber so that we rise up and take action that leads to repentance.
Let us pray that God give us the courage to repent and turn to him and to people in love: Patient God, we are reluctant and slow to make the change of heart we need. Give us the time to understand the extent of your mercy and your love which your Son Jesus showed us in its fullness in his suffering and death. Recognize your own Son in us and accept us in our poverty. Raise us up and change us so that we proclaim your persistent love through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Claretian Publications)
Let us pray to our seemingly invisible Father in heaven: Invisible God, with the incarnation of your Son, Jesus Christ, we see a reflection of you in your Son. You also give us the Holy Spirit who enables us in prayer and in the search for your truth. In our worship strengthen us to know your purpose for us and the world. Amen.
(Prayers for the Seasons of Gods People, alt)
Jesus compares God to a hen that desires to gather us under the divine wings of nurture, and care (Luke 13:31-35). Yet, when we shun the leading of God’s Spirit, we throw ourselves to the foxes of life that devour us and tear us down. We all have the capability to imitate the fox, but through the Holy Spirit, God gives us the ability to imitate the hen. The Holy Spirit hovers over us and develops us from spiritual chicks to spiritual adults who imitate God as revealed in Jesus Christ.
Having been created in the image of God, we embody the potential to reflect God’s glory to the world (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). We are changed through the Spirit into the likeness of the Christ whom we behold. “The Holy Spirit infuses God’s beauty into our lives and the lives around us (Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible).” The Holy Spirit empowers us to reach our potential in Jesus Christ to reflect Christ to the world.
Although we bear the image of Adam in death and sin, we also bear the image of Christ in the future resurrection and current living (1 Corinthians 15:45-49). Our reading from Luke could be thought of as contrasting the physical person, Adam, with the spiritual person, Christ (Luke 6:27-38). The physical reaction is to curse those who curse us. The spiritual reaction is to bless those who curse us. The physical reaction is to love only those who love us. The spiritual reaction is to love our enemies. The physical reaction is to fight back with violence. The spiritual reaction is to offer love, mercy, and forgiveness.
These instructions of Jesus are not a warrant for allowing others to abuse us and manipulate us; rather, these instructions speak of a resistance that does not employ violence to injure and harm another. It is about making things right through love, mercy, and forgiveness. May our behavior be governed by God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness as displayed in Jesus of Nazareth. May we bear the image of the person of heaven, Jesus Christ.
