Good Friday invites us into the great paradox of the Christian faith: death is the path that leads to life.

Though centuries of familiarity have numbed and distanced us, the cross was originally envisioned as a universal symbol of shame, meant to dehumanize anyone hanging from its beams. Yet as Hebrews reminds us, Christ takes a symbol of disrespect and “disregards its shame” (Heb 12:2). Through the shame and scandal of the cross, Jesus Christ restores humanity to its true glory.

Walking the way of the cross is not for the faint of heart. It requires an unshakable belief that death can give way to life. That the sickness within our hearts and in our world is healed when it is revealed for what it truly is, and then transformed through the renewing power of God.

In today’s reflective passage, St. Paul reminds us that we are “crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20). To be crucified is to have your brokenness and shame laid bare, and this is exactly what the Lord asks of each of us. We must be willing to open our lives fully to the Lord, not shying away from our sin, but believing in the power of God to make us by grace what Christ is by nature.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for Good Friday

Key Passage for the Day

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NIV)

Where charity and love are, there is God.

So begins the ninth-century hymn, Ubi caritas, a song that is likely unknown to most of us, yet finds an enduring home in the life of the church on this day of the year. Maundy Thursday, drawing its name from the word mandatum, Latin for mandate or command, reminds us of the new commandment given by our Lord Jesus: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).

With these words, Jesus places love at the center of our relationship with him, and perhaps more difficultly, at the center of our relationship with others. So you must love one another.

We cannot allow our Lord to wash our feet and fail to wash those of others in response.

While we rightly focus our attention during Holy Week on the self-giving love of God shown in Christ, his words in John 13 remind us that the love we receive is also meant to shape and animate the lives we live. 

If we long to be close to the Lord, to be in the place where God dwells, then our lives must be defined by a radical commitment to charity and love. We must daily cultivate a habit of looking to Jesus, and allowing his example to inform and reform our own understanding of love.


Love is not the fulfillment of your every desire, neither is it the filling in of parts of you that feel empty or hollow. No, love is the active and intentional choice to let go of your personal preferences and desires for the sake of someone else. Love says no to self in order to create room to genuinely say yes to others.

And so today, with our Lord’s example in the Upper Room on our hearts and minds, we join our voices with this ancient hymn and say:

Where charity and love are, there is God.
The love of Christ has gathered us together.
Let us rejoice in him and be glad.
Let us fear and love the living God
and love one another with a sincere heart.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for Maundy Thursday

Key Passage for the Day

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35 (ESV)

Do you believe Jesus is powerful?

So often we refer to Christ as a “servant king,” yet I believe we struggle to feel the full weight of these paradoxical words. In fact, general familiarity with this phrase removes from us the inherent tension and contradiction contained within. We may understand the nature of servanthood, as well as a ruling power, yet what do the two have in common? 

What king triumphantly enters a city on a colt, only to then willingly walk the way of shame and embrace the scandal of the cross?

For most of human history, humility was not seen as a virtue but a vice to be avoided at all costs. The humble were weak and easily exploited or dominated. To serve was to live subordinated to someone else’s agenda and vision of the good life, or at least their good life. 

Perhaps, then, the problem lies less with service and is more closely tied to the one being served?

Power is the ability to enact the choices you make. People in power see a certain outcome, and bring that vision into being. If their heart is darkened by sin and ordered towards self, power is used to a disastrous end. Yet if we believe God to be the fountain of all that is good and true, his power is profoundly good news, working to bring about a perfect end.

Jesus has the power to bring into being the most radical of ideas: humility allows us to see God and our neighbor, weakness is the way of strength, death is the way of life.

Hosanna is the deepest longing of the heart for deliverance and rescue. As we enter Holy Week, we are reminded of the ways in which our Lord uses his power to save us from every force of destruction and disorder, and perhaps most notably, to save from ourselves. He acts decisively for our good by showing us the true nature of power. He is the servant king who embodies the virtuous and redemptive nature of humility. 

Jesus envisions a world in which we are free from self-love and liberated to give ourselves away in service and sacrificial love, and he has the power to bring that world into being.

Prayer of the Week

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday

Key Passage for the Week

The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in God’s name! Yes! The King of Israel! Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it: No fear, Daughter Zion: See how your king comes, riding a donkey’s colt. John 12:12-15 (MSG)

The end of our Lenten journey is in sight.

Having travelled through the depths of the wilderness, we begin our slow but certain ascent towards Jerusalem, where we will walk with our Lord through the events of Holy Week, beginning next week with Palm Sunday.

If you’re anything like me, your experience of Lent has likely been a mixed bag. Lofty goals may have quickly given way to sober realism, with “maybe next year” becoming a reoccurring refrain frequently found upon your lips!

At the same time, you may have experienced real victory over sin and freedom from habits that deform and dehumanize you. Yet even then, we are painfully aware of our frailty and need, reminded again that some patterns of malformed living are harder to break than we would like to believe!

Remember, Lent is rarely, if ever, all victory or all defeat. It is a season in which we are simultaneously aware of both the grace of God, and our own capacity for sin and evil.

Success in Lent is therefore not measured by your ability to break every habit or transform every pattern of being within the six-week window. In fact, the only way we fail in Lent is if we miss the invitation before us to encounter the life of God in and through the struggle.

The good news of the gospel is that you and I can participate in the grace of God in the midst of our broken and fallen state. And so, we press on towards the goal of Easter Sunday, hopeful, yet ever aware of our need for the Lord to see us through to the end.

Prayer of the Week

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Prayer for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

Key Passage for the Week

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:24-25 (NRSV)

Most of the time, we approach Lent from a highly personal, even private, perspective.

We see it as a season of renewal and spiritual reawakening, a six-week boot camp of sorts. Our hope is to emerge from this season of preparation with deeper devotion to Christ, more consistent habits of prayer, and a better rein on our desires and passions. And while all of this is right and good, if it is the whole of our vision for this season, we may have failed to grasp one of its foundational purposes.

If Lent doesn’t deepen in us a greater love for God and our neighbor, we have entirely missed the point.

If we want to grow in our life with Christ, we must learn to love what he loves. When we serve others, we are close to the heart of Jesus. We are invited to follow his example of service and turn outwards, away from self-interest and towards a world in need.

Christian service takes many forms, including care for the poor, opening your table or home to someone in need of a bed or a meal, or offering a listening ear and compassionate heart to a troubled soul. Yet whatever form it may take, love must be our guiding light.

To love is to will the good of another. Service is love in action, concretely applying our belief in Christ to the decisions we make and ways we spend our time, money, and relationships. In the name of Christ, may we love others as we have been loved (John 13:34).

Prayer of the Week

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Prayer for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

Key Passage for the Week

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:14-15 (NKJV)

If you’re honest, fasting likely isn’t something that gets you excited.

A single day of fasting is hard enough, but a six-week period of self-denial? No thanks! Perhaps this is one of the biggest hurdles for you to get over when it comes to embracing the Lenten season.

Hard as it may be, we must begin to see fasting as a foundational part of the Christian life. Without a rhythm of saying no, we will indiscriminately say yes to everything. Fasting teaches us the gift of limitations, the freedom that is found within healthy borders.

In fact, if we don’t fast, we’ll never learn to truly feast.

Culturally and materially, we live in a world of excess. We have more entertainment, food, and recreation than we know what to do with. As such, we often do our best to maximize our calendars and credit cards in pursuit of these various forms of pleasure. And while many of them may be harmless enough, and even life-giving, they fill us up to the brim, leaving no room for anyone, or anything else.

Fasting is therefore less about what you give up and more about what is gained when you create room for others. Limiting your food intake puts more money in your wallet that can be used to bless a friend or neighbor. Fasting from social media reminds you of the need for deep and embodied relationships. Simplifying your calendar creates space for you to silence the noise and distraction, so you can hear afresh from the Lord.

Fasting may be challenging at first, but press in and allow it to awaken you to the good life of God’s kingdom!

Prayer of the Week

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Prayer for the Third Sunday in Lent

Key Passage for the Week

The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one’s life; the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise. The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad; the command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up. Psalm 19:7-8 (CSB)