Christ Church Rockville Lenten Devotion
LAM. 3:1-9, 19-33
1 PET. 1:10-20
JOHN 13:36-38**; JOHN 19:38-42***
** Intended for use in the morning
***Intended for use in the evening
The Apostle Peter wrote his epistle, which instructs us on the calling of a Christian, during his exile in Babylon. He was carrying out the work that the Lord had entrusted to him—“to tend my sheep.” (John 
21:17) Peter’s epistle is directed toward us, the believers, the chosen ones. You and I take part in the message.
Remember that our faith rests on the foundation of the three persons of the divinity—God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ, the Savior. God sets his chosen people apart in light of the special witness that He has called them to follow. The Holy Spirit blesses the souls of believers with holiness and the spirit. And God calls us to his own glory, purifying Christians from their sins through the sacrifice of the blood of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 25:27)
The Apostle Peter exhorts us to holiness, greater awareness, and love. He urges us to achieve holiness through a personal, ongoing relationship with God that can be attained by strengthening and purifying our thoughts, which ultimately become the source of all conduct, good and bad.
This Period of Devotion is a moment for profound intercession with the saints and with a strong spiritual power. It is a time when Christians should become more aware by identifying closely with God’s true divine nature—the same holiness to which we join our liturgical prayers.
Like the Apostle Peter, we can carry out our own apostolate of enlightenment, charity, purity, and virtue by using the courage that we find in obeying God and following the message that Christ has revealed to us.
So, let us be aware of God’s intentions for us. Let us understand that a believer’s life, both personally and communally, is in all its forms and appearances truly the work of a divine power, the Holy Spirit.
A life led truly in the Christian faith cannot accept the decadence that mankind has created in the world. Instead, we must reject corruption in the world by embracing God’s new life for us and receiving the spiritual energy that He has promised to all his saints.
