For those who like to read the scriptures for each day, here are the lessons for today, listed from the ELCA website:
Monday in Holy Week
March 25, 2013
Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 36:5-11 (7)
Hebrews 9:11-15
John 12:1-11
Prayer of the Day
O God, your Son chose the path that led to pain before joy and to the cross before glory. Plant his cross in our hearts, so that in its power and love we may come at last to joy and glory, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Gospel Acclamation
May I never boast of | anything
except the cross of our Lord | Jesus Christ. (Gal. 6:14)
My own reflection for today begins with a view of the dawn over the Atlantic, deeply red, purple, crimson, the horizon lined with an even deeper red. The trees in the yard are drenched in the reds and purples of dawn. Usually the red sky at morning signals a storm of some sort, and I imagine, were I to look at the news, there might be a prediction of bad weather. However, for now, the sky is exquisite, and the colors rich and deep. This week is like this sky, rich and deep with hues unimagined for the human mind; this week is colored with divine light. Yesterday in church we read together the story of Christ’s passion, each of us taking in the words and gestures recorded in our own way. I am so moved every year by our communal expression, and our communal immersion in these events, the ancient story, and the present re-tellilng. Each year some new aspect unfolds. Reading it in tandem with the Passover stories, strengthens my understanding of the arc of God’s mercy, the God who frees, delivers, redeems, takes, and brings us into a new and freer way of being. May this Holy Week journey across the boundaries of death and life bring all of us closer to each other and to God who is always doing a new thing.