St Philip's Anglican Church, O'Connor: Lent 2016 : 22 March

Day Thirty Six — Tuesday in Holy Week — 22 March

Hear our voice, O Lord, according to your faithful love.

Lectionary readings (Click the links to see the readings):
Isaiah 49.1-17 | Psalm 71.1-14 | 1 Corinthians 1.18-31 | John 12.20-36

Cleansing the Temple

Come to your Temple here with liberation
And overturn these tables of exchange,
Restore in me my lost imagination,
Begin in me for good the pure change.
Come as you came, an infant with your mother,
That innocence may cleanse and claim this ground.
Come as you came, a boy who sought his father
With questions asked and certain answers found.
Come as you came this day, a man in anger,
Unleash the lash that drives a pathway through,
Face down for me the fear, the shame, the danger,
Teach me again to whom my love is due.
Break down in me the barricades of death
And tear the veil in two with your last breath. —Malcolm Guite. Sounding the Seasons. Norwich: Canterbury, 2012, p. 34.

Douglas Blanchard. Jesus Drives Out the Money Changers

J.S. Bach: St Matthew Passion, BWV 244. Choral: O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß.
The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists, dir. John Eliot Gardiner.

O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß,
Darum Christus seins Vaters Schoß
Äußert und kam auf Erden;
Von einer Jungfrau rein und zart
Für uns er hie geboren ward,
Er wollt der Mittler werden,
Den Toten er das Leben gab
Und legt darbei all Krankheit ab,
Bis sich die Zeit herdrange,
Dass er für uns geopfert würd,
Trüg unsrer Sünden schwere Bürd
Wohl an dem Kreuze lange.

Oh man, bewail your great sin,
For this Christ from his father's bosom
Went forth and came to earth
Of a virgin pure and gentle
He was born here for us,
He was willing to become the mediator
To the dead he gave life
And in this way put aside all illness
Until it came to the time
That he would be sacrificed for us,
bear the heavy burden of our sins
For a long time indeed on the cross.

May God our Redeemer show us compassion and love. Amen.