O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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For the sake of brevity and space, below is the scripture references to trace Jesus' footsteps on this, the third day in Holy Week -
Mark 11:20 - 13:37
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As we continue to make our journey to the cross, let us absorb ourselves into this Holy Week.
The weather outside is foreboding of this Friday to come. It is dark - desolate - not a star in the sky. Only the blackness of unforgiving clouds that seem to push the black space above this earthly sphere into eternity. Our warm days of the earlier weekend have been replaced with below freezing temperatures and the winds howl with the force of a Cape Horn gale - freezing up the soul. It puts new meaning to the words that Paul penned to the Romans so many years ago, "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
And it is almost fitting. For as the collect alludes to - we, along with all of God's creation knows what must occur on Friday before we can rejoice on Sunday.
Shame.
Torture.
Betrayal.
Denial.
Death.
And tonight, creation is groaning and howling in horrifying anxiousness at what is to come.
We must be ready.
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