Liturgy of Lent: Penitence
Day Two
call
God who provides, come and drape over our body the lavish garment of your love, so that we might remember and dwell in the goodness for which we were created.
meditation
I saw that [our Lord] is to us everything which is good and comforting for our help. He is our clothing, who wraps and enfolds us for love, embraces us and shelters us, surrounds us for his love, which is so tender that he may never desert us. And so in this sight I saw that he is everything which is good, as I understand.
Julian of Norwich
reading
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:36-50
prayer
Provider God, you have created us for goodness, dignity, and joy, and each day we live we will inevitably fall short of that purpose. And yet when we offer our penitence, too often we are still thinking of ourselves-we are still thinking of our own deficits rather than your love and your invitation to be rejoined to a good creation and a Good Creator. To be penitent is to understand ourselves as loved, enfolded in the goodness of Christ, formed to be part of a good creation, repentant of the ways we have rejected that purpose. Let our penitence be expressed not in self-loathing, but in acceptance of your love. Let our penitence be expressed not in shame, but in gratitude, pouring out our most valued treasure at your feet just for the joy of it. You have given us a garment of great beauty, warming us and sheltering us in folds of goodness, kindness, and provision. Help us to live in that garment. Help our penitence be an act of acceptance and gratitude. We are deserving because you have decided to clothe us, and we will not reject your gift.
confession
God who provides, sometimes we forget how sweeping your love for us is; sometimes we still put our own ideas about ourselves above your intention for us. We recognize the ways in which we reject our good purpose, and we then behave in a way that is intended to hide the shame we feel. We confess to making our penitence about ourselves rather than about your love.
benediction
Today, go and clothe yourself in the goodness and kindness of God, accepting the richness of the gifts we are offered. Let our penitence be expressed in acts of extravagant gratitude.