38th Day of Lent: VIGILANCE

We enter the Triduum today, which means three days, beginning today with Holy Thursday and ending Holy Saturday night. 

The events of these three days, the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, forever change the trajectory of the universe.

Everything is now being redeemed and restored back to God through Christ (Col 1).

The cosmic events of these three days happen fast and furious now, too numerous and wondrous, miraculous and ponderous to write about in this tiny bit of space.

Silence and solitude calls and beckons us now more than ever to meditate upon what God has done for us in these three days.

It's far bigger than, and yet far more personal too,  what God is doing in both the universe and in each of our lives to redeem and restore all of creation - 

SO please share and add your own meditation, prayer, pondering, music, musings over the next three days..

It is sure to bless us all, adding to the splendor and glory and remembrance and gratitude of what God has done for us, and continues to redeem.

VIGILANCE is what the Holy Spirit is bringing to my attention today in the silence and solitude  of Holy Thursday:

Stay alert and don't fall asleep!

Pay attention and remember!

Today is the Day where we are all invited to the Table to feast after having our feet washed by Jesus!  

The day in which the very best gift of all is offered to us- God Himself... through the communion of bread and wine at the Passover meal. 

So that now too we may all passover.  

Jesus is the Lamb who will be slain and we are welcomed to feast with Him at His table, each of us, as His chosen people-

On this day, He promises to give us His peace,  

He promises us the Holy Spirit

And then the hour has come.

Jesus shows us how as humans to bring our sufferings before the FAther and yield his soul to HIs Father's will.  

In prayer.

In the Garden.

Only the moon silently watches as Jesus prays.

But Soon the silence will be shattered by the clamor of swords and soldiers, humiliation, denial, confusion, violence, and grief.

The very worst in humanity will be met with humility and surrender to the FAther's will, and will teach us how to love, forgive, be just, have mercy and be overcomers who grow into our souls.

But Father,  why is the world so slow to accept and receive these free gifts?

And then I am drawn to Jesus' disciples who sleep while He is praying.

Jesus asks them, "Could you not stay awake one hour with me?"

In his greatest moments of human suffering, his friends slept.

It seems to point us to the intractability of the world to receive God's gifts.

How are we to accept and receive God's gifts if we are asleep?  

How often do we not stay alert and awake to the work of the Holy Spirit within us and among us?

How often do we fall asleep to the purposes for which God has created each of us because we are too sated/distracted by the pleasures of the world and the enemies of God?  

All the while Jesus is calling us to stay awake, come be with him in the hours of need, and pray with him so that we do not fall into temptation.

Let us remain awake and be alert

Let us wake and repent the way that Peter and Paul did-

Both denied Jesus, but both became wholly awakened and restored, without shame and guilt, and were sent into the world to change and redeem it.

Let's be Awake to the very best truth of today that The very worst that we have ever done is never beyond healing and restoration.

But we need to stay awake and pray with Jesus to receive it so that we don't fall into the temptations of the world and enemies of God.

What has the Holy Spirit prompted you to receive from Him this Holy Thursday?

Whatever you share is sure to bless us all, and help us to stay awake and alert!

Prayer:  Jesus, We stir, we awaken we repent for falling asleep so often and falling into temptations and sin. We rise and watch with You during the silent hours of this night; let your sufferings and grief pierce our souls to experience the depths of redemption you wrought for each of us and for the universe- and to stay awake and pray with you through our sufferings and grief, knowing that you will lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil and restore us unto you.  Amen 🙏🏻

From Lyn Woodruff

River Prayer Reflections texting group