Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
I am the first and I am the last; Besides me there is no god.
Who is like me? Let them proclaim it, let them declare and set it before me.
Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be.
Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it?
You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one.
Isaiah 44: 6-8
In Revelation, Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” The first two verses of the Gospel of John state, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” Our faith is clear, but should be repeated in our hearts over and over again. As Christians, we believe in the Holy Trinity, one God in three Persons. Lent is a good time to meditate on our foundation, to “declare it” by sharing it with others, especially those closest to us who struggle to comprehend this truth. This is the foundation of our faith, the faith our ancestors lived and died for.
Let us pray with St. Gregory:
We confess him as God, doer of good and Lord of all
who judges all the earth with justice on the great day,
who himself is the beginning and himself is the end, the first and the last,
who rules with his undiminished wholeness in light too bright to approach.
We praise with the Father and the Son, the Lord Holy Spirit,
which springs inseparably forth from them sharing their glory.
He himself is the anointing of God made man,
forever equally worshipped with the Father
for the honor of greatness of the Son
with boundless glory praised forever.
Amen
Prayer 75 E, F
