Saturday, March 17, 2007
From AscensionNYC
Saturday in the Third Week of Lent
Psalm 51:15-20
Hosea 6:1-6
Luke 18:9-14
Whenever I'm asked to engage in an activity like writing a Lenten reflection, I read the Propers and then allow the texts to "percolate" for awhile before putting pen to paper. I pray about, reflect on and ponder the texts in an effort to discern how they are speaking to me and what relevance they might have in today's fast-paced world. Having now followed this process with today's Propers for several days, I have to admit that I've drawn a blank. There's no doubt that I could write about the virtues of the tax collector, a man who was undoubtedly an outcast since he represented the interests of an unwelcome, oppressive, foreign power that was holding the citizens of ancient Palestine captive in their own land. I believe I could even make a case on behalf of the Pharisee. Who knows? Maybe he was merely the Donald Trump of his day!
I think the reason that I haven't come up with a series of thoughts that are more insightful then these is that March 17, St. Patrick's Day, has significant personal meaning for me. You see, it's the anniversary of my father's untimely death some thirty years ago.
Parts of that day flash before my eyes as if they happened yesterday. I remember that I began the day like many other workdays, preparing a mental "to do" list while I drove to the office of one of KPMG's clients in suburbanSt. Louis San Francisco
While those memories bubble to the surface every St. Patrick's Day, for the most part, they have been supplanted by the memories of the significant and the insignificant life events my father and I shared – the summer trips to various parts of theUnited States Scotland San Francisco
But isn't this the premise that undergirds our Christian faith? After all, the crucifixion is not the end of the story! O Lord, open thou my lips and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
Hosea 6:1-6
Luke 18:9-14
Whenever I'm asked to engage in an activity like writing a Lenten reflection, I read the Propers and then allow the texts to "percolate" for awhile before putting pen to paper. I pray about, reflect on and ponder the texts in an effort to discern how they are speaking to me and what relevance they might have in today's fast-paced world. Having now followed this process with today's Propers for several days, I have to admit that I've drawn a blank. There's no doubt that I could write about the virtues of the tax collector, a man who was undoubtedly an outcast since he represented the interests of an unwelcome, oppressive, foreign power that was holding the citizens of ancient Palestine captive in their own land. I believe I could even make a case on behalf of the Pharisee. Who knows? Maybe he was merely the Donald Trump of his day!
I think the reason that I haven't come up with a series of thoughts that are more insightful then these is that March 17, St. Patrick's Day, has significant personal meaning for me. You see, it's the anniversary of my father's untimely death some thirty years ago.
Parts of that day flash before my eyes as if they happened yesterday. I remember that I began the day like many other workdays, preparing a mental "to do" list while I drove to the office of one of KPMG's clients in suburban
While those memories bubble to the surface every St. Patrick's Day, for the most part, they have been supplanted by the memories of the significant and the insignificant life events my father and I shared – the summer trips to various parts of the
But isn't this the premise that undergirds our Christian faith? After all, the crucifixion is not the end of the story! O Lord, open thou my lips and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
Michael Macdonald
