Friday 26/02/2021 First Week of Lent
Remember Ezekiel 18:21-28
Thus says the Lord:
‘If the wicked man renounces all the sins
he has committed,
respects my laws and is law-abiding and honest,
he will certainly live; he will not die.
All the sins he committed will be
forgotten from then on;
he shall live because of the integrity he has practised.’
‘Am I likely to take pleasure in the
death of a wicked man
and not prefer to see him renounce
his wickedness and live?’
Reflection
There is a darkness that we humans sometimes fall into by our stupidity, selfishness, obsessions and blindness.
The Irish Church and State still must walk the painful road of repentance
to make up for it’s painful historical institutional neglect
and clerical abuse,
We all must remember our many hurt Irish parents, children, siblings, infants,
and the survivors of all effected families.
Bad actions can cry out to us over the years and even centuries
to die to our old ways,
and to demand we make acts of admission, repentance and redress.
Our dark days demands frank honesty, humility, reform,
surrender, apologies and restitution,
a letting go, a forgiveness even reconciliation.
The latter three particularly will not be easy
but neither was the crucifixion for Jesus, our elder brother.
It is only by humbly walking through our darkness
that we will be in a position to receive God’s light and compassion,
our people’s forgiveness and our own.
Prayer Give up your ol’ sins
Lord,
may Ezikiel’s call resound in our hearts,
open our eyes to our own blind sinfulness
and recall us of repentance and forgiveness,
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others theirs
We ask this in Jesus name. Amen
Hymn
Were you there
when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there
when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to
tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they
crucified my Lord?
Were you there
when they nailed Him to the tree?
Were you there
when they nailed Him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to
tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they
nailed Him to the tree?
Were you there when…
(composed by enslaved African-Americans in the 19th century)
