Friday 11 April 2025

Today is Friday the 11th of April in the 5th week of Lent.

The Choir of the King’s Consort sing Henry Purcell’s Hear My Prayer, O Lord: “Hear My Prayer, O Lord, and let my crying come unto thee.” As I listen, I too bring my prayer, my needs and my longings, the deepest feelings of my heart, before the Lord.

Today’s reading is from the Prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 20:10-13

For I hear many whispering:
‘Terror is all around!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’
All my close friends
are watching for me to stumble.
‘Perhaps he can be enticed,
and we can prevail against him,
and take our revenge on him.’
But the Lord is with me like a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not prevail.
They will be greatly shamed,
for they will not succeed.
Their eternal dishonour
will never be forgotten.
O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous,
you see the heart and the mind;
let me see your retribution upon them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hands of evildoers.

Sit with the emotion in today’s passage. Is there a word or phrase that stands out for you? You might be feeling just like Jeremiah.

How do you react when someone pours out their heart to you, blurts out their pain?

You might have a sense of how God feels when we cry out in pain.

Consider the anguish in the world around you today.

As you hear the passage again, let the anguish touch you from all angles : your own pain, that of a loved one, the pain in the world around you, and finally God’s pain.

As Holy Week approaches, you might ask to notice the pain of others, the anguish of Christ Himself, in a new and helpful way.

You have given all to me
To you, Lord, I return it
Everything is Yours
Do with it what You will
Give me only Your love and Your grace
That is enough for me
Amen