Christ has died...
... and He is Risen!
Let us listen
to the last words of Jesus
on the Cross
with a heart that knows
that the crucified
has risen from the dead.

"Father, forgive them;
they do not know
what they are doing."

Lord Jesus
you looked down from the cross
at those who had beaten you, laughed at you,
cursed you,
and you saw the terrible eyes of your enemies
watching, waiting for you to die.

Yet
Beyond the hatred, beyond the violence,
of those desperate men
you saw your Father's love
for them.

And you responded in love and said:
"Father, forgive them;
they do not know what they are doing."

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other as well…. Love your enemies and do good to them… then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
Luke 6: 27-36

Lord Jesus
when my enemies
are watching, waiting for me to fall
let me not be blinded by pain and anger
so much that I can no longer
love them.

Give me resurrection eyes
that I might see
even my enemies
as our merciful Father sees them.

"Indeed, I promise you,
today you will be with me in paradise."

Lord Jesus
Those you loved
wished to crush all hope
from you
leaving you hanging
between despair and desolation.
And yet
it is hope that you offered
to the one crucified beside you.

'Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,
naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me,
in prison and you visited me.'
Matthew 25: 34-36

"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom"
your kingdom of peace amid the storms
of life beyond all deaths.
Remember me Jesus
and give me a resurrection hope
a hope beyond all hope
so that I may share it with those
who are filled with despair.

"Woman, this is your son
...this is your mother."

Lord Jesus
you were brought out of the city
a dangerous enemy they said
You are not one of us
You do not belong here
be crucified!

and you answered them
"this is your son...
this is your mother"
be a family
be a gift to each other
my mother... my brother
be one as the Father and I are one

"I pray not only for them,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me.
I wish that where I am they also may be with me,
that they may see my glory that you gave me,
because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

John 17: 20-24

Jesus
let me welcome others as your gift to me
Remove all fears from my heart
and make it a home
for all those who have no home
Turn all those I fear and push away
into brothers, sisters, mothers
Give me a resurrection heart that I may love
as you love

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?
...My God, my God,
why have You deserted Me?

Jesus
Your Father's love
was your only reason for living, for loving
As life poured out of you
you felt abandoned by that love
only silence where once a voice had said
"You are my beloved son..."

And yet you prayed
you offered all that was left to you
the emptiness that had gripped your heart

What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
As it is written: "For your sake we are being slain all the day; we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8: 35-39

Lord Jesus,
let my life be grounded so deeply
in love
that it will not be uprooted
by the violent storms that assail me
nor destroyed by the cold emptiness of my winters

Lord Jesus
let your light dispel the darkness
Give me a resurrection faith
that no powers of the night can overcome

I am thirsty

Jesus
you thirst
to give me your love
and for my love in return

I stretch out my hands to you; I thirst for you like a parched land.
Hasten to answer me, LORD; for my spirit fails me. Do not hide your face from me, lest I become like those descending to the pit. -
Psalm 143:6-7

Jesus stood up and exclaimed, "Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: 'Rivers of living water will flow from within him.'" - John 7: 37-38

"I was thirsty and you gave me to drink" - Matthew 25:35

Lord Jesus
let me enter more deeply into your love
Let me understand
that I cannot give without receiving
nor receive without giving
Quench my thirst for your love O Lord
by sending me those who need to be loved
and give me a resurrection love
that I may love them as you do.

It is Accomplished

Jesus
not for you the ways of the powerful
who crush

In weakness
you were lifted up
by the Father's love
drawing all things to you
so that all may have life eternal

And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

-- John 3: 14-17

Lord Jesus
let me approach others with gentleness
Give me resurrection hands
that my touch may always
bring healing and life

Into your hands
I commend my spirit.

Jesus
all that you did
was a gift of love
a gift of your life
to us
to your Father

For I will take you away from among the nations, gather you from all the foreign lands, and bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees. You shall live in the land I gave your fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Ezechiel 36: 24-29

All that am
all that I have
All of my thoughts and dreams
I place into your hands O Lord
Give me your Spirit
that I may live
a resurrection life.