Come down, O Christ, and help me! reach thy hand, /
For I am drowning in a stormier sea /
Than Simon on thy lake of Galilee: /
The wine of life is spilt upon the sand, /
My heart is as some famine-murdered land, /
Whence all good things have perished utterly, /
And well I know my soul in Hell must lie /
If I this night before God’s throne should stand.
In today’s gospel, the chief priests, scribes, and elders ask Jesus by what authority he is doing these things. Jesus says He will tell them if they will answer one question, did the baptism of John come from heaven or human origin? It is a no-win situation…
Explore the mystery of Christ’s Passion with readings, chant, and Jesus’ own prayer book, the Psalter. The Rev. Deacon Sam Tallman leads the Tenebrae service on Wednesday, April 4, at 6 p.m., which opens our observance of the three holy days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Vigil of Easter. Tenebrae is the Latin word for “darkness” or “shadows.”
My lens to the divine often focuses scripture in a way that is relevant to what I am experiencing on the day that I read it. Today, as I sit in my office at NYU Abu Dhabi, waiting for students to come for counseling sessions, I see this Gospel, filled with very human emotions. Jesus curses the fig tree, turns tables at the temple, and frets about forgiveness.