“Be merciful O Lord, for we have sinned.” So much of this season of Lent is acknowledging how true this – that we stand before each other as sinners. This cry attempts to express something of our need for God – to be healed. By myself, I cannot do this; but with the grace and compassion of God, I can achieve the impossible – a life of holiness with God.
This response to the Psalm today in this Ash Wednesday marks the necessity of the invitation that every Christian receives today to return to the Lord, the God of mercy. We are invited into a way of life that acknowledges our own poverty – a poverty that the Lord himself knows about because he experienced it in his own life.
We are invited into the more during this season of Lent. So often we accept a vision that is too small, rather than the richness of his life – a life of holiness and purpose.
Recorded at St Paul’s, 9am (05’19”)