Opening Prayer
Self-Emptying God! You created us to give Yourself to us! You are awesome beyond our imagining! We see you reflected in the self-emptying generosity of the widow of Zarephath to Elijah. We experience Your goodness and holiness in the self-emptying of Jesus who embraced our humanity and then offered it all to You in absolute surrender. We glimpse your self-emptying generosity in the widow giving her meager resources. What seems small in human eyes is great in Your eyes. Save us from the duplicity of external prayers, piety, rituals and gestures, which do not come from a heart of generous compassion like Yours. Save us from grandiose gestures that only reflect our need for human admiration and not from a self-emptying heart that seeks no recognition. Teach us again, Jesus, not just the talk of faith, piety, and spirituality, but the walk of compassion, justice, and self-emptying surrender. It is hard, because our culture tells us that self-fulfillment is everything. InSpirit us to be like You!
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