{monday} | prayer & readings for Holy Week (2012)

For Holy Week: reading schedule/reflections + local Holy Week gatherings.
{More on the why and how of Lent here.}

prayer.

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from the liberti Lent & Easter 2012 prayerbook & the Book of Common Prayer)

readings.

psalm 118 (nlt)

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.

Let all Israel repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”
Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
“His faithful love endures forever.”

In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
and the Lord answered me and set me free.
The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
What can mere people do to me?
Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in people.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.

Though hostile nations surrounded me,
I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
They swarmed around me like bees;
they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
My enemies did their best to kill me,
but the Lord rescued me.
The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has given me victory.
Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.
The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph.
The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
I will not die; instead, I will live
to tell what the Lord has done.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not let me die.

Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,
and I will go in and thank the Lord.
These gates lead to the presence of the Lord,
and the godly enter there.
I thank you for answering my prayer
and giving me victory!

The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is wonderful to see.
This is the day the Lord has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Please, Lord, please save us.
Please, Lord, please give us success.
Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, shining upon us.
Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
You are my God, and I will praise you!
You are my God, and I will exalt you!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.

mark 14.3-9 (msg)

Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. “That’s criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year’s wages and handed out to the poor.” They swelled up in anger, nearly bursting with indignation over her.

But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with me. She did what she could when she could—she pre-anointed my body for burial. And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly.”