Lent Day 18 | 40 to Life

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

Tuesday in the Third Week of Lent

O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom you have given a fervent desire to pray, may, by your mighty aid, be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Life is hard, full of threats to mind, body, and spirit, full of adversity and loss, full of betrayal and failure. The psalmists voice that. Over and over the prayer is that God will protect, defend, save, deliver. Over and over the psalmists cry out for help and comfort. They cry out for God.

We, too, cry out. In the midst of pandemic, on the brink of war, as storm or fire threaten, we cry out: Be near us to save, defend and deliver, Lord God! And God ever faithful to God’s people is ready for that. Present in our need defending us from every evil, that we who are never at our best when beset by fear, may walk as Jesus did with an undefended heart, an offering of God’s love to this broken and sinful world.

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.