Monday of Holy Week - For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light

PSALM  36:5-11⁵   Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. ⁶   Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your judgments are like the great deep; you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.⁷   How precious is your steadfast love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. ⁸   They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. ⁹   For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.¹⁰  O continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your salvation to the upright of heart! ¹¹  Do not let the foot of the arrogant tread on me, or the hand of the wicked drive me away.

• Light a candle to remember Christ's presence with you.
• Sit five to fifteen minutes in silent meditation paying close attention to the deep breath.
• The journey to the cross is the story of God's steadfast love.
• As you sit in meditation today, focus on God's steadfast love.
• Love for you.
• Love for creation.
• Love for your neighbor.
• Love for the world.
• How is God providing refuge for you in the shadow of God's wings?
• How are you fed in abundance?
• How are you being quenched by the river of delight?
• What light is revealed to you in God's steadfast love?
• Remember the path to God's wings, to the table, to the fountain as you enter your day.  Draw on God's strength when you are weak.  Be fed by God's love when you are hungry.  Be quenched by God's love when you are thirsty.
• As you journey to the cross, follow God's steadfast love.
• Give thanks to God for this time in prayer and for any new insights you have received.
• Share as you feel led in the reply box below.

ISAIAH 42:1-9¹   Here is my servant, whom I uphold,my chosen, in whom my soul delights;I have put my spirit upon him;he will bring forth justice to the nations.²   He will not cry or lift up his voice,or make it heard in the street;³   a bruised reed he will not break,and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;he will faithfully bring forth justice.⁴   He will not grow faint or be crusheduntil he has established justice in the earth;and the coastlands wait for his teaching.⁵   Thus says God, the LORD,who created the heavens and stretched them out,who spread out the earth and what comes from it,who gives breath to the people upon itand spirit to those who walk in it:⁶   I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,I have taken you by the hand and kept you;I have given you as a covenant to the people,a light to the nations,⁷        to open the eyes that are blind,to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,from the prison those who sit in darkness.⁸   I am the LORD, that is my name;my glory I give to no other,nor my praise to idols.⁹   See, the former things have come to pass,and new things I now declare;before they spring forth,I tell you of them.HEBREWS 9:11-15

¹¹But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), ¹²he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. ¹³For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, ¹⁴how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!¹⁵For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.

GOSPEL JOHN 12:1-11

¹Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ²There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.³Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, ⁵“Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” ⁶(He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) ⁷Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. ⁸You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”⁹When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well,¹¹since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for Monday, April 2, 2012, the Monday of Holy Week Year BIsaiah 42:1-9Psalm 36:5-11Hebrews 9:11-15John 12:1-11If you use these prayers in other groups, please give credit to author. Permission to use in not-for-profit settings The Rev. Lil Smith, M.Div., DASD