Our Sacred Roots: The Priesthood of All Believers

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T he S eason of L ent

Ash Wednesday March 2, 2022

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The Lenten Season, a forty-day period starting on Ash Wednesday and ending on Holy Saturday of Holy Week, calls us to reflect on Jesus’s suffering, crucifixion, and death. As disciples of the humble Nazarene, we embrace his lowliness and humility, seeking to share the mind of himwho was obedient to death, even death on a cross.

TODAY’S THEME Have Mercy on Me, O God, Psalm 51.1-17

When Nathan the prophet exposed David’s adultery to him (after he had gone in to Bathsheba) in contrition and brokenness, David confessed his sin to God. He implored God to have mercy upon him according to his steadfast love and abundant mercy. He appealed to God for cleansing, and openly acknowledged his shameful deeds to God. David pleaded with God to remove his sin, to restore the joy of his salvation, and to renew his soul by providing him a clean heart and a right spirit. If God would not take his Holy Spirit from him and would hear his prayer, David promised to teach God’s ways to sinners, sing of his forgiveness, and praise God always. Let us now, then, set forth on this journey with the Lord, carrying our cross, and following him as he leads us. Let us offer to the Lord a broken spirit and a contrite heart. If we offer them, he will not despise them – he will accept them – and transform us.