31 March 2020

Praying through Lent with
USPG (35): 31 March 2020

The walls of the Pinkas Synagogue in Prague are filled with the names and dates of birth and death of 78,000 Jews from the Czech Republic and Slovakia who were murdered in the Holocaust (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

This week is traditionally known as Passion Week or the first week of Passiontide, and we are in the last two weeks of Lent.

Throughout Lent this year, I am using the USPG Prayer Diary, Pray with the World Church, for my morning prayers and reflections. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the end of the Holocaust, so I am illustrating my reflections each morning with images that emphasise this theme.

USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is the Anglican mission agency that partners churches and communities worldwide in God’s mission to enliven faith, strengthen relationships, unlock potential, and champion justice. It was founded in 1701.

This week (29 March to 4 April 2020), the USPG Prayer Diary takes as its theme: ‘It is our duty to protect God’s Creation’ – Anglican Province of the Indian Ocean. This theme is introduced in the Prayer Diary on Sunday morning.

Tuesday 31 March 2020:

Let us pray for the Anglican Church in the Province of the Indian Ocean, and its role in mitigating the effects of climate change in the region.

Readings: Numbers 21: 4-9; Psalm 102: 1-3, 16-23; John 8: 21-30.

The Collect:

Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
Grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross,
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Lenten Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God,
you hate nothing that you have made
and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:
Create and make in us new and contrite hearts
that we, worthily lamenting our sins
and acknowledging our wretchedness,
may receive from you, the God of all mercy,
perfect remission and forgiveness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Continued tomorrow

Yesterday’s reflection

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