by Marilyn Baldwin+

For Marilyn's devotional, please click here. 

by Emma Friend

The Old Testament reading encourages us to fearlessly stand against our “adversaries” and those who do wrong. It urges us to find strength in God to defy those committing sins and injustices in our world, to never shy away from their attacks and instead to have the “tongue of a teacher” to speak our truths of goodness.

It is no secret that the world is rife with these adversaries, those who commit injustices in the world. Social inequality affects a countless amount of people around the world every day. Lives are lost, families separated, homes and ecosystems are destroyed, rights are restricted, people go hungry, all at the hands of people who thrive under oppression of others. These people cannot be allowed to go unopposed.

This is not the easy path, but the path that is necessary. It is the one that has the potential to end wars and save lives. The one that will undoubtedly cause strife and conflict, but will bend toward justice, as Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said.

Love thy neighbor as thyself, one of the most important lessons in the Bible. But love is not just a passive action. Let your love be heard in how you seek out opportunities to fight for peace and justice for all people. Let your love be heard in how you engage with your adversaries to speak messages and lessons of goodness that will lead to harmony between people.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. In dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways, he will lift some bruised and beaten brother to a higher and more noble life.” -Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

by an Anonymous Member of the St. Christopher's Community

Lord God,

The message of the cross is difficult.
How can death give way to life?
How can weakness be strength?
Yet your word says that Jesus, being God, 
Took on human flesh
And suffered a horrible death.
How can this be?

This message is indeed difficult to take.
But your foolishness is wiser than our wisdom.
Your weakness is greater than our strength.
Help us to know that none of us can boast before you.

It is only in Christ Jesus that we can boast.
In his name, we ask you to help us to understand.
Help us learn to love you, and walk in the way Jesus taught us.

In his name,

Amen.

by Jean Crow

Prayer is very important to me and each Lent I try to focus on improving my prayer life. I do believe prayer is both actions and words. Here is a prayer that I say before bed as I think about people in my life.

Watch, now dear Lord,
With those who wake or watch or weep tonight,
And give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ,
Rest your weary ones,
Bless your dying ones, soothe your suffering ones,
Pity your afflicted ones, shield your joyous ones,
And all for your love’s sake.

Amen

​- St. Augustine

by Ann Trapnell

If you read the March 5th Lenten Devotional, you know I’ve been trying to give up worrying for Lent. Matthew 6:27 is the bible verse that inspired my original decision; Romans 12:12 helps me on my journey. You see, the way I’ve been trying to eliminate worry is to “give it up to God”; I pray.

Attempting to be constant in prayer, I discovered worrying occupies more energy than prayer. Prayer is meditational and hopeful, worrying is a downward spiral. As I turn to prayer more often, I find I have more energy to connect and discover.

​Sacrificing worry, and replacing it with prayer, has given me more energy to embrace those things that help me be present in life – present for my friends and family, my community, myself and my faith. And so, I plan to continue on my journey to “give it up to God”, or, to be constant in prayer, long after this Lenten season concludes. Will you join me?

by St. C's Youth
​
Jesus,
​
you have known us from the beginning of time,
you have known us in the depths of our dreams and in the darkness of our shortcomings,
you know us as your beloved.

Help us to own that core identity more and more in this season of self-awareness and mercy.
Give us the rock-solid assurance of your unwavering faith in us
as we seek the same in you.

Amen.

by Fr. Randy+

On Giving Up and Giving
​
I had the great joy of growing up as a kid in Columbia Heights, just a stone’s throw from Northeast Minneapolis. It was a terrific place to live in the late 1960’s and 1970’s—in a very tight community of mostly Polish and very Roman Catholic families. Everyone in the neighborhood knew each other and watched out for each other. If you got a bit out of line, there was a great number of neighbors who would without hesitation straighten you out, then let you folks know what happened so you could get “tuned up” a second time once you got home!

Most kids I hung out with had a last name that ended with “ski.” Wasleski… Schmigenoski…Levendoski… Wasnewski…Witkowski…you get the drill. It seemed I was the lone Scandinavian/Swede, with a last name that ended in “son.” My friends mainly attended church at The Church of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Columbia Heights—a beautifully grand and sacred building with lovely paintings, colorful stained glass windows, and solemn statuary.

Besides the different sounding last names, we had a different set of Christian denomination traditions and practices. While I was a Baptist/Evangelical, my friends were from strong Roman Catholic traditions. When it came to Lent, I really did not understand it—it was not something we really dwelled upon in our Evangelical tradition. Yes, we had Palm Sunday and Easter, but none of the Ash Wednesday, Lenten, and Holy Week traditions I have since learned to lean upon in my current walk with Jesus. I was always curious about the tradition of “giving up something for Lent.” My friends gave up stuff like chocolate candy, or Coca Cola, or dancing, or movies—things that would help them better understand the sacrifice Jesus made in the season that led up to Holy Week. 
I was not quite sure how to feel about the whole “giving up” thing. I recognized that they were giving up something that they may have taken for granted in life, or something that was pleasurable, but now removed from their reach. Each time they wanted to partake in this activity or thing, they would think of what Jesus gave up in giving his life for us on the cross. I could appreciate this connection, but in reality I thought it seemed like a rather shallow response to such a tragic, yet holy event. On the other hand, I deeply appreciated the Roman Catholic emphasis upon the 40 days of Lent leading up to Holy Week and Easter—a season focused upon a penitent response to the Passion of Christ, as well as to reflect and pray upon the immense impact of this truth leading to the glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Today we are given the Lectionary reading from St. Luke (1:26-38), widely known as The Annunciation. Please take a few minutes look it up in your Bible—it is an amazing account of God’s sending of the angel Gabriel to Mary in the tiny, backwater town of Nazareth in Galilee—to announce the conceiving of the Christ Child through the work of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High. Jesus’ coming into this world is revealed to young Mary, and he is announced as the Son of God! No small announcement by any piece of imagination! 

And my mind is going to a place today that is very distant from the memories of my childhood friends, in which they thought of ways to “give up” something for Lent. I suppose we could consider that Mary “gave up” much of her own life—potentially even her life itself, at a time in history in which being an unwed mother of a child not belonging to her betrothed husband, she could be stoned to death. She would be “giving up” all that a woman dreams of doing in lifetime--in carrying an unborn child to birth, then the many years of caring for, nurturing, and raising a child to adulthood. It is a selfless act of uncompromising love. 

But today my mind draws me to the final statement made by Mary in response to Gabriel’s words--“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” This to me is not at all what I would consider words of “giving up” something. My heart and mind interpret it much more as a “giving in” to God’s will and word. This is what I believe is the truer nature of Mary—a woman of great courage, hope, and love. A woman who discerned and digested the words of the angel Gabriel, who was open to the moving of the Holy Spirit, and was singularly faithful in her response to the Most High. A woman we all can revere with awe and honor. Truly “giving in.”

Giving Up or Giving In? With the faith, hope, and love engendered in the person and heart of Mary, we, too, should be free to “give in”--as we know and believe that the words of Gabriel ring true for each of us--“For nothing will be impossible with God.” Amen.

by Becky Lucas

Dear God renew our spirits this day and help us to grow today.

​Increase in us our faith in you and your loving kindness, build up our hope for good times ahead for all your people and increase our understanding that you love all people.

As we reflect on this field of cotton remind us of all we can do to care for ourselves in our daily lives.

That we may use the natural gifts of the earth to meet our self-care needs.

As we are renewed today and in the days ahead prepare us to serve others in your love.

Please bless the self-care items St. Christopher’s is collecting today to share with those in our community who are in need.

May we always remember to love and care for others as we love and care for ourselves.

by Chad O'Leary

Yesterday, I turned the big 4-1. I was told many times this week that I "wear it well" but after having lost so many people in my life early in their own lives, it can be a bit hard to feel if 41 is old...young...neither...or both? So I'm just choosing to going with young but wiser. 

At any rate, my birthday has always fallen during Lent. I've heard that Easter *could* fall on March 22, but it won't happen during my lifetime. On two occasions it fell during Holy Week and in 2035 & 2046 it will again (better start eating my veggies to make sure I get there).

In 1996, on my 16th birthday, I was given the cross pendant that I still wear around my neck from my grandmother. Along with it was this Lenten prayer (and a McFish sandwich from McDonalds because it was Friday night and we were devoutly Roman!).

This project gives me the chance to share it with all of you:

Our steps are slow,
Our breathing ragged,
Our burdens heavy.

This walk to the cross,
It is not easy,
Yet Christ walked it for us.

For the joy that was set before him,
He despised the shame,
He bore our blame,
And share our pain,
Now let us build on the rock
That is Christ.

Let us walk the way of the cross together,
Moving forward without fear,
Into God's eternal purposes.
For Christ himself is with us
Every step of the way.

Let us trust in God alone,
And find the joy that Christ did
Relationship with our living God. 

by Mary Rowe+

For my contribution, I want to share something that my daughter Sarah wrote. You will find a recording if it HERE.