Exploring the depth of our prayers
Holy week begins today. The most holy time of our entire year.
When I think about Jesus’ passion, the crown of thorns seems to be unbelievably cruel. The whole event is unfathomable, of course, but this hits my heart in a special way.
I think it came from portrayals I’ve seen in movies and plays. Can you imagine the pain involved with penetrating the skin on your head? I’ve whacked my head many times during my lifetime, and I see stars.
When we talk about the Trinity, we have a customary order. Father first. Son second. Holy Spirit third.
I’m wondering if there’s a deeper reason for this.
I’ve heard that it might have something to do with the Son proceeding from the Father, while the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Maybe just me, but that doesn’t seem like a compelling reason. I might use that logic to reverse the order, as I did in the first sentence of this paragraph.
We’re asking our Father forgiveness – for our trespasses, our sins. But then we ask this is as we forgive those who trespass against us.
This means a lot of things.
We’re asking forgiveness to the same degree as we forgive others. Maybe we should think that there’s some kind of accounting: if I haven’t forgiven five times today, then maybe I’m not worthy to receive God’s grace the five times I need it.
I have to get to forgiving!
My understanding of what happened in the Garden on Holy Thursday is … so limited.
Sure, I know the story, and I even see images in my mind. We read it every year.
But still, there are so many more layers to the story.
I’ve been confused about this for decades. Why do we declare: as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end?
First, we believe that our world will come to an end. At the Second Coming.
Second, that phrase doesn’t exist in the Latin version. Et in saecula saeculorum means something like for a really really long time. We have a perfectly good phrase for it in English: forever and ever.
God doesn’t make it easy.
I’d like to think that if I’m a good person, and I obey all the commandments, then I’m good to go. Got my golden ticket into heaven and all that.
But the fact is that we don’t know the future, and we don’t even know the present.