Lent Day 29 | 40 to Life

The below reflection was provided by the Diocese of Southern Virginia:

Monday in the Fifth Week of Lent

Be gracious to your people, we entreat you, O Lord, that they, repenting day by day of the things that displease you, may be more and more filled with love of you and of your commandments; and, being supported by your grace in this life, may come to the full enjoyment of eternal life in your everlasting kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

What do you buy for the person who has everyone or, perhaps, wants nothing in particular? And what do you get for the God who has everything? What gift could be appropriate?

You may have noticed that at the start of the Eucharist the officiant doesn’t say: Lift up your wallets to the Lord. Rather, the officiant says: Lift up your hearts. In the Scriptures, the heart symbolizes all that you are, and it is the one thing that God doesn’t have, until you yield it.

Sadly our hearts don’t like to yield: We are stubborn and selfish, and the heart (as Jeremiah 17 says) is deceitful above all else. That’s why we’re called to repent, as today’s Collect says, “day by day.”

Repentance is neither confession nor contrition. Confession is admission that we’ve done wrong. Contrition is feeling sad about our wrongdoing. Repentance is the decision to go in a new direction–toward Jesus. And repentance is not something we can accomplish on our own. It happens, “supported by grace” – and the end result? “Enjoyment of eternal life” – So on this Monday morning, repent my friends, and turn toward Jesus. Give him your heart.

The Diocesan Lenten Reflections come from clergy and laity in each of our nine convocations. The reflections are based on the collect appointed for each day in Lent. Today's collect and the associated daily readings can be found HERE.