Mark 10:5: Jesus said to them, "for the hardness of your
heart [Moses] wrote you this commandment."
Hardness of heart in the Bible is resistance to God's
promises and commandments. Many of us, perhaps most,
suffer from it.
But we live, we say, in the real world where we face daily
opponents and competitors. We are sure that to deal with
such a world means we must make adjustments to the
Sermon on the Mount, and to Jesus' invitation to follow Him
to the Cross.
St. Barnabas', our community of faith, offers a training
place where we may, in some safety, try out the Gospel. God
is interested that the seed of the Word produce in us
abundantly the fruit of faith, hope, and love. Our sisters and
brothers in Christ will be our teachers in a shared learning
experience. And the realm of God which Jesus announces
will become ever more real.
Ameliorating hardness of heart requires daily application of
our hearts to wisdom. Reading Morning Prayer is one way
to begin our daily training. And Morning Prayer begins with
Psalm 95. Can we hear the Risen Christ speaking the psalm
to us with present immediacy and authority?
Oh that today you would hearken to (God's) voice!
Harden not your hearts.
Psalm 119:145-176; Exodus 7:8-24; 2 Corinthians 2:14-
3:6; Mark 10:1-16
These Lenten meditations were written by the people
of St. Barnabas' for the people of St. Barnabas' as part
of our recognition of the 50th anniversary of the founding
of this church. We hope that you will find them helpful
in your own Lenten devotions.
