So a few Sundays ago while at church, the priest said a sermon that I then meditated on. One of the reading for the day was about the prodigal son that had left home with all his inheritance and had gone to seek his fortune in the city only to fail and end up with nothing to show for it all. At which point he was faced with the decision to go back home in his rags empty handed. The priest, an Indian, whom I was listening to for the first time: I think he was recently appointed to our church, he highlighted this part of the story saying that the prodigal son was in the dirt, in the filth of sin, but he was also in an ocean of despair for he had lost everything and there was nothing left for him. So at the bottom of it all he gathered up some courage and went back to his father's house, where he was received by his father with cheers of joy and celebration. The priest was teaching us about God's love for us. He wanted us to find it in ourselves, like the son did, to repent and return to a life with God.
Another Sunday service not long after that one, the preist preached about Easter and its meaning to us. He told us about a friend of his that lost his life while protecting their brother. A very noble act, trying to save the life of someone you love even if at the expense of your own. The priest said that this is what Jesus did for us, he literally save our lives. The priest talked about compassion in the passion of Christ and I'm not sure what that means but what he said that day sounded something like that. A lot of what I recall about these sermons is the priest and what he said and how glad I was that I understood.
I want my Easter Prayer this year to resonate with the lessons learned from these two sermons. They came at a time when I had decided to return to God and ask for his compassion. I seem to be forgetting a key lesson but I simply cannot recall from where I heard it. I am almost certain it was from the same priest; but as it goes, a man told God "I am sorry, please give me another chance, I will not disappoint you." These three lines are simply a summary of my understanding of the lesson for they are what I went away with. Afterwards I did the same thing by asking God for a second chance.
My Easter this year has been all about repentance and returning to God, searching for and trying to get back on the path of righteousness, in the process appealing to God's compassion, appealing to the compassion that Jesus taught us about, so as I bow my head to pray in the name of Jesus Christ my lord and savior, the only son of God, I ask for the following:
I ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with the holy spirit for now and forever and ever,
Amen