St. Nicolai Notes

Lenten Prayer - Day 11 - Second Monday (March 1, 2021)
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:38-48

     Jesus help us - individually and communally - to resist our natural inclination to take vengeance on others. Enable us to follow your example by not returning insult for insult or injury for injury. Let us respond with generosity toward those who make demands on our resources, including our time and energy. Let us give generously to those who ask for help or request a loan. Give us discernment, in each situation, of the response that most clearly follows your example and reflects the glory of God.

     Enable us to practice love even toward those we think of as enemies. Help us to remember the downpour of sunshine and rain that God has sent, into our lives, in order to fill them and make them fruitful. Help us remember that God loved us even when we made ourselves God's enemies. Enable us to emulate God and follow You by loving others who have become our enemies. Let our responses fulfill the purpose for which we have been created, redeemed, and renewed. We follow You and pray that any whom we consider enemies, or who consider us their enemies, may be drawn into the circle of your love, so that we may trust and praise You together. Amen.