Better late than never!

Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 71:1-14
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
John 12:20-36

Psalm 71: 1 - 14

LORD, I have come to you for protection; never let me be defeated!
Because you are righteous, help me and rescue me. Listen to me and save me!
Be my secure shelter and a strong fortress to protect me; you are my refuge and defense.
My God, rescue me from wicked people, from the power of cruel and evil people.
Sovereign LORD, I put my hope in you; I have trusted in you since I was young.
I have relied on you all my life; you have protected me since the day I was born. I will always praise you.
My life has been an example to many, because you have been my strong defender.
All day long I praise you and proclaim your glory.
Do not reject me now that I am old; do not abandon me now that I am feeble.
My enemies want to kill me; they talk and plot against me.
They say, "God has abandoned him; let's go after him and catch him; there is no one to rescue him."
Don't stay so far away, O God; my God, hurry to my aid!
May those who attack me be defeated and destroyed. May those who try to hurt me be shamed and disgraced.
I will always put my hope in you; I will praise you more and more.

I've picked this passage as one that's less obvious than the others as a focus.  One that, when read in the context of Holy Week and what happened to Jesus carries a deep sense of irony, anticipating as it does the prayers of Gethsemane, yet with a very different aim...

This morning I met with my C of S colleagues who are using these lectionary readings for their Holy Week services and finding them frustrating - chunks omitted, timings all over the place.  Perhaps in a perverse kind of way that's not a bad metaphor for Holy Week - things are hectic and bewildering and out of order, Jesus turns our expectations upside down over and over again.  Today has been a little crazy, so please forgive the poverty of reflection, and instead of writing a prayer I've borrowed one.

Collect prayer for Tuesday of Holy Week:

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen