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BY YOUR GRACE

Opening Prayer

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou, unto ages of ages. Amen. — Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem

TEXT

Hosea 14:1-7 NRSV

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Take words with you and return to the Lord;
say to him, “Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
and we will offer the fruit of our lips.

Assyria shall not save us;
We will not ride upon horses;
We will say no more, ‘Our God,’
To the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.”

I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely,
For my anger has turned from them.

I will be like the dew to Israel;
He shall blossom like the lily,
He shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.

His shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive tree,
And his fragrance like that of Lebanon.

They shall again live beneath my shadow,
They shall flourish as a garden;
They shall blossom like the vine,
Their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

John 7:53-8:11 TNIV

Then they all went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Prayer of Response

Almighty, eternal and merciful god, Grant us in our misery [the grace] to do for you alone what we know you want us to do, and always to desire what pleases you. Thus, inwardly cleansed, interiorly enlightened, and inflamed by the fire of the Holy Spirit, may we be able to follow in the footsteps of your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And, by your grace alone, may we make our way to you, most High, who live and rule in perfect Trinity and simple Unity, and are glorified God all-powerful forever and ever. Amen.

— St. Francis of Assisi

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WHAT IS THIS? Wake-Up Call is a daily encouragement to shake off the slumber of our busy lives and turn our eyes toward Jesus. Each morning our community gathers around a Scripture, a reflection, a prayer, and a few short questions, inviting us to reorient our lives around the love of Jesus that transforms our hearts, homes, churches, and cities.

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