Lectio for Lent- Ash Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022
How to use Lectio for Lent
Lectio for Lent is a 7-Week Christian devotional resource to help you engage the Easter story using Lectio Divina, an ancient way of contemplatively praying the Scripture..
Each Week
You can access a new devotional on Ash Wednesday and the following Monday mornings until Easter. Make space in your schedule to pray through the 10 minute devotional every day except Sundays.
Lectio Divina emphasizes spiritual formation not information. You are invited to meditate on the same passages for five consecutive days.
Saturate your heart and mind with scripture in the presence of God.
At the end of the week, you are invited to write down your reflections and share them with someone.
Read or Listen
Lectio for Lent is presented in both text and audio formats. We suggest you find a quiet space, light a candle, and listen prayerfully to the audio.
The audio recording will guide you through the Lectio Divina experience.
Ash Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022
Theme: Serve in Secret
Readings: Psalm 51:1,2 Matthew 6:1-4
Today is Ash Wednesday, March 2nd, the beginning of the Lenten season. Ash Wednesday starts Lent by focusing on repentance and confession both individually and corporately.
CLICK THE ARROW BELOW TO PLAY THE AUDIO FILE
Prayer of Stillness
Oh Lord, as we enter prayer now, we pause to be still (Pause & Pray)
To be silent (Pause)
To gather our scattered senses and thoughts (Pause)
To re-center our attention on the presence of God (Pause)
To breath in deeply the love of God (Pause)
God is here with us. He desires and loves to be with us.
He delights in us. He delights when we come together in a community of prayer.
Prayer of Gathering
O Lord, we ask that you would gather us as one vessel to receive and hold whatever you would pour into us so that it might overflow from our hearts into our community, and the world. Fill us with your Holy Spirit.
Amen
We join with the universal body of God’s people in reading the words of Psalm 51.
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love;
According to your abundant mercy
Blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin!”
Psalm 51:1,2
Lectio Divina
Lectio– First reading: Matthew 6:1-4
Let the text wash over you, noticing words or phrases that grab your attention.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-4 ESV
(Pause & Pray)
Meditatio– Second reading: Matthew 6:1-4 From The Message Version
Put yourself in the story, notice what images or sensations, or feelings that stand out.
“Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.
“When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—play actors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get.
When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.”
Matthew 6:1-4 The Message
(Pause & Pray)
Oratio– Third reading: Matthew 6:1-4
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Matthew 6:1-4 ESV
Respond to God with a prayer of what you’ve just seen and heard.
(Pause & Pray)
Closing Prayer
Loving God, you fill all things with your presence and hope that we can never comprehend. Thank you for being here with us as we gather together as one community for the sake of the world.
Awaken me more into the realm of faith that I might feel your power working through me as a vessel of divine healing.
Let me be the conduit of your healing touch. Give me the courage at that moment to forget myself and simply remember you.
Please add your prayers for a need in your community or the world that needs a healing touch...
Good God, you are hearing us better than we can put into words, we offer these prayers.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen
