Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Lenten Prayer as CtK #follow #lent2015

Prayer: (From Evangelical Lutheran Worship)
The Death of Rutilio Grande, Revised by Matthew Wettlauffer
O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thought:
What does it mean to follow. I think that when humans decide to follow something, it is often because it leads them on the easiest way, on the path of least resistance. The mission of Christ, was not a new mission, rather it was a calling to follow the path of God, which as it turns out was full of resistance by sinful human beings. In following Christ, we meet the same resistance, whether it is in the obstruction of others, or most often, by the obstacles of our own disordered desires and knowledge. To follow God, to follow Christ, we must walk the path of truth, no matter these obstacles, there is no easy way to follow Christ, there is only the way.

35 years ago, Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador was shot and killed while conducting a mass. The Bishop was killed by an assassin, for his opposition to the deep oppression of the people of El Salvador. What called him to follow such a path? It wasn't his position, or his spiritual convictions that ultimately sent him on this journey of faith, it was a transfiguring moment that called him to follow the light in it's confrontation with evil. This moment is depicted in the picture above, it is the death of his friend and fellow priest, Rutilio Grande, who was murdered for his justice work among the poor in El Salvador. At this moment, Romero heard the call he was to follow, saying later, "When I looked at Ruilio lying there dead I thought, 'If they have killed him for doing what he did, then I, too, have to walk the same path."

We do not know where the hand of God will lead us, but we know that Christ, and all his saints, will be there with us.

About Lenten Prayer as CtK:
During Lent, I am inviting all of you at Christ the King, and anyone who would be willing to join us, to engage in praying together, seeking to hear God and be guided by Christ's life in our life together. To guide these prayers, I will be posting pictures centered around a word for the day. This comes from the facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/LENTPHOTOADAY. Please feel free to join me in posting pictures and thoughts to your social media accounts or to the comments of this blog.





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