23 March 2020

Praying through Lent with
USPG (27): 23 March 2020

The Holocaust Memorial in La Scuola Greca on Solomou Square, the only surviving synagogue in Corfu in Greece, commemorating the 2,000 Jews from Corfu who perished in the concentration camps in Auschwitz and Birkenau in June 1944 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

During 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 (22-28 March 2020), the USPG Prayer Diary is focussing on Pakistan, human rights, slavery and the churches in Myanmar and Morocco. These themes were introduced in the Prayer Diary yesterday by Bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz Peters, Bishop of Peshawar Diocese and President Bishop, Church of Pakistan.

Monday 23 March 2020 (Pakistan Day):

Heavenly Father, we pray that you bless Pakistan. May the Church in Pakistan continue to be a source of healing, contentment, joy and blessing to all.

Readings: Isaiah 65: 17-21; Psalm 30: 1-5, 8, 11-12; John 4: 43-54.

The Collect of the Day:

Lord God
whose blessed Son our Saviour
gave his back to the smiters
and did not hide his face from shame:
Give us grace to endure the sufferings of this present time
with sure confidence in the glory that shall be revealed;
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