Collect for the second Sunday in Lent

Prayer Book and Breviary

ALMIGHTY God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Reflection

The trouble is that human beings are so tiny. Between body and soul, there seems to be nothing much of us. We exist with Free-Will and yet are unable to free ourselves from the mire of sin. We can desire to be free of our sin, but without God we cannot in act be free of our sin. We find salvation only in the arms of Christ.

Our salvation is never complete before we die. Yeshua - the Hebrew form of Jesus - means "God is saving." It is a present and continuous tense, meaning that, all the time we are in time, we are being saved through that one perfect sacrifice with its promise of atonement. Thus we are still beset with adversity from the outside and evil thoughts from within which can still threaten to drag us away from that Salvation, if we allow this to happen.

Our recourse is simple. We need to keep in conversation with God, just as one who is being pulled out of the mire keeps conversation with his saviours to ensure that he is en route to safety. As we purify our intentions during Lent, so shall we find that conversation becoming clearer as our ears are opened from the mirey clogs of sin and Death.