Prayer book
ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility; Mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Breviary (Sarum)
Almighty and everlasting God, who hast sent our
Saviour to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death
upon the cross, that mankind should follow the example
of his humility ; mercifully grant, that we may both follow
the example of his patience, and also be made partakers
of his resurrection. Through etc.
Reflection
Archbishop Cranmer wants to emphasise the love that Our Lord has for us. The deliberate choice of the Son of God to be incarnate was, above all, an act of love. Love seeks to close the gap as we saw in last week's reflection, and clearly Our Lord wishes to show beyond all shadow of a doubt that no-one is exempt from this. This is how God can indeed be humble.
Humility is a painstaking honesty, an acknowledgement about what is true. Pride emphasises difference and is always based on a false premise, usually that "I am better than you." God is Love and no-one is better than Love. If pain and suffering are needed in order to close the gap, then Love will embrace that pain and suffering. That does not mean that temptation is never an issue, for Love will be tempted to shrink back. However, shrinking back is precisely a dishonesty about Love's own being and, with a human struggle, Love prevails showing that we human beings have the capacity to overcome temptation if only we will be humble and embrace Love. This is what Holy Week is all about.
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