The holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, begins at sundown tonight. (You can read God’s prescribed order for the day here.) On the tenth day of the seventh month, the high priest would disappear behind the curtain leading into the Holy of Holies to intercede for his people. Only on this day each year could the priest come before God on behalf of a repentant people to seek absolution of the previous year’s sins against Him and one another.
I remember the shock I felt this first time I read this. Please join me in praying that others of my people will hear the sound of the torn curtain as they seek God this Yom Kippur.
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While Jesus has indeed torn the curtain, I think it's very easy to take that for granted. Just as God's mercies are new every morning, so our repentence ought to be expressed afresh each day–not just once a year. but we could learn a bit about contrition from our Jewish brothers and sisters. Thanks for the reminder.
We attend an Anglican church, and one of my favorite parts of the liturgy is the corporate confession. It excavates repentance in me every time I say it:
Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
Thanks for writing, Keri!