St. Nicolai Notes

Lenten Prayer - Day 34 - Sixth Saturday (March 27, 2021)
Gospel Reading: Mark 13:28-37

     Jesus, we know how to read some of the signs in the creation around us. We have learned the significance of some patterns of human interaction. But we are not very good at interpreting the signs of your return, signs of the full consummation of God's reign among us. We keep identifying signs of danger and doom that seem to imperil all of creation, but your people have consistently misinterpreted those signs to mean that You were returning in the very near future. 

     Some of us refuse to take responsibility for our part in despoiling creation and inflating the threats that we perceive. Some of us believe that pushing the earth toward annihilation will hasten your return. Some of us barely think of your presence because our lives are fully enmeshed in other concerns, and in devotion to other gods, that we neither think about nor desire the fullness of God's reign among us.

     Enable us to trust in your enduring word. Enable us to hear and act! Let us be alert for your presence and live with conscious commitment to God's reign among us. Help us to be good stewards of the various resources You have given to us, so that we may be considered good servants in the day of judgment, whenever that may arrive.

     Give us the energy and endurance we need for intentional, daily fidelity. Amen.