Friday, March 22, 2013

 

Luke 19:28-40; Is. 50:4-9a; Ps. 31:9-16;Phil. 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56

Commemoration: Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

 

Philippians 2:5 "Let this same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave…"

 

            In order for something new to come into being, something has to exit or change. The word associated with this in the Christian tradition is kenosis, or "emptying", whose verb form is used in the Greek of the Philippians text we just read. Emptying is a part of the becoming of the universe, a step in the creative process, a necessary part of gestation and birth. It has been a part of our journey through Lent. The wilderness can be a metaphor for that empty place where there is now room for the divine energies of God. The motto of the Carmelite Order is Vacare Deo, roughly, "vacate yourself, or, empty yourself for God." Any Lenten disciplines we have taken on during these weeks have not been to show how faithful, how pious, how righteous we are, but to help us to let go of those things - belongings, attitudes, habits, values, beliefs - that prevent us from being the living abode of God.

 

O God, our springtime, blessed are you for the promise of newness. Create in us clean hearts, O God, and renew right spirits within us. Amen

           

• Eat no meat or oil today.