Our mid-week worship services are held at the Community Missions Chapel in our Crisis Housing program. The services held from 11:15-11:45 each Wednesday. As we have begun to offer these as in-person opportunities again, we are occasionally pointing HopeForNiagara.org readers to alternative online resources. Today we suggest the Morning Prayer at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. from this past Saturday, April 1.

Main Text: John 11:45-  (New Revised version)

Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰ You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” ⁵¹ He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. ⁵³ So from that day on they planned to put him to death.

Questions For Reflection:

The summary given on the YouTube for the video says this:  “During this journey in Lent we are called for self-reflection. I invite you to consider this morning, what in your life needs to die? What do you need to leave behind in the tomb of Lazarus so that you, too, may experience what Jesus and God intend for each one of us: new life in Christ, full, whole, beloved.”

What do we need to leave behind in order live more fully, and love more completely?

There are lot of ways to think about this question.

• What holds you back from a leading a more joyful life?
• What are the ways that you put speed-bumps in your own path?
• How do you choose to deal with the unexpected and sometimes difficult moments in life? Do you complain? Do you give up? Do you get angry? Do you get sad? Do your choices about how to deal with the speed-bumps hurt or help you?
• What negative emotions would you like to leave behind if you could?