1. PRAYER
As I rise from my sleep and step into this new day, I am reminded of the wisdom You have shared with us in Proverbs 3:5–6:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Lord, today I place my trust in You with all my heart. I acknowledge that my understanding is limited, and I lean on You for guidance and wisdom in all I do.
Help me to rely not on my own understanding but on Your infinite knowledge and love.
As I prepare to face the challenges and blessings of this day, I submit myself to Your will.
I surrender my plans, desires, and ambitions to You, knowing that Your ways are higher and wiser than mine.
I ask for the humility and strength to align my actions and decisions with Your divine purpose.
Lord, please make my paths straight. Remove any obstacles that may lead me astray from Your righteous and loving path.
Grant me the clarity to discern Your will and the courage to follow it, even when it may seem unclear or difficult.
In every moment of this day, I seek Your guidance and presence. Whether in times of joy or trial, help me to remember Proverbs 3:5–6, and may these verses be a constant reminder of Your steadfast love and faithfulness.
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the assurance that as I trust in You, submit to Your ways, and seek Your guidance, You will lead me on a straight and purposeful path.
With gratitude and love, I commit this day to You, trusting that You are always by my side.
In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
Originally published at http://4foldlove.wordpress.com on October 3, 2023.
2. Meditation
3. SONG
4. NARRATIVE
Palm Sunday
Jesus’ state was divine, yet he did not cling to equality with God, but he emptied himself.
—Philippians 2:6–7
Father Richard Rohr reflects on Jesus’ surrender to God through a path of descent:
In the overflow of rich themes on Palm Sunday, I am going to direct us toward the great parabolic movement described in Philippians 2. Most New Testament scholars consider that this was originally a hymn sung in the early Christian community. To give us an honest entranceway, let me offer a life-changing quote from C. G. Jung (1875–1961):
In the secret hour of life’s midday the parabola is reversed, death is born. The second half of life does not signify ascent, unfolding, increase, exuberance, but death, since the end is its goal. The negation of life’s fulfilment is synonymous with the refusal to accept its ending. Both mean not wanting to live, and not wanting to live is identical with not wanting to die. Waxing and waning make one curve. [1]
The hymn from Philippians artistically, honestly, yet boldly describes that “secret hour” Jung refers to, when God in Christ reversed the parabola, when the waxing became waning. It starts with the great self-emptying or kenosis that we call the incarnation and ends with the crucifixion. It brilliantly connects the two mysteries as one movement, down, down, down into the enfleshment of creation, into humanity’s depths and sadness, and into a final identification with those at the very bottom (“took the form of a slave,” Philippians 2:7). Jesus represents God’s total solidarity with, and even love of, the human situation, as if to say, “nothing human is abhorrent to me.”
God, if Jesus is right, has chosen to descend—in almost total counterpoint with our humanity that is always trying to climb, achieve, perform, and prove itself. This hymn says that Jesus leaves the ascent to God, in God’s way, and in God’s time. Most of us understandably start the journey assuming that God is “up there,” and our job is to transcend this world to find God. We spend so much time trying to get “up there,” we miss that God’s big leap in Jesus was to come “down here.” What freedom! And it ends up better than any could have expected. “Because of this, God lifted him up” (Philippians 2:9). We call the “lifting up” resurrection or ascension. Jesus is set as the human blueprint, the oh-so-hopeful pattern of divine transformation.
Trust the down, and God will take care of the up. This leaves humanity in solidarity with the life cycle, and also with one another, with no need to create success stories for ourselves or to create failure stories for others. Humanity in Jesus is free to be human and soulful instead of any false climbing into “Spirit.” This was supposed to change everything, and I trust it still will.
References:
[1] C. G. Jung, Psychological Reflections: A New Anthology of His Writings, 1905–1961, ed. Jolande Jacobi (Princeton University Press, 1970), 323.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2011), 122–124.
5. Meditation
6. SHARING
7. PRAYER AND INTENTIONS
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:4-6
God, help me to delight in YOU and in your word. Line up my heart with yours so that I desire the things that you desire. Help me to trust you more; in the big things and the little things. Help me to believe that you are working on my behalf.
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