Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 2. Again this year I will be offering “Songs for Lent,” daily reflections on a verse or verses from the lectionary, embellished with images and music, a link to the readings, and a prayer. In Lent, these meditations will focus on the responsorial psalm, since the psalms lend themselves so beautifully to prayer, indeed, can…
Song 40: Thresholds
April 4/Holy Saturday I set the LORD ever before me; with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices, my body, too, abides in confidence.You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever. ~ Ps 16. 8, 9,…
Song 39: Words to Live By
April 3/Good Friday Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. ~ Ps 31.6 “Into your hands I commend my spirit.” Is there a more compelling and powerful expression of trust in the entire Bible? As we stand at the foot of the Cross this dark and holy day, we hear Jesus…
Song 38: My Cup Runneth Over
April 2/Holy Thursday I will lift up the cup of salvation, and will call on the name of the LORD. ~ Ps 116.13 On the eve of Christ’s gruesome, awful death upon the cross, we are invited, paradoxically, to lift up the cup of salvation. Given the events that unfold this night — the Last Supper with the disciples’ uncertainty…
Song 37: The Saving Turn
April 1/Wednesday of Holy Week Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak, I looked for sympathy, but there was none;for consolers, not one could I find. But I am lowly and in pain; let your salvation, O God, protect me.I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. ~ Ps 69.21, 29,…
Song 36: Our Help in Ages Past, Our Hope for Years to Come
March 31/Tuesday of Holy Week For you are my hope, O LORD; my trust, O God, from my youth.On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength. ~ Ps 71.5-6 Flux and motion seem to be the prevailing modes of existence these days, exacerbated by the rapid pace of news transmission on social media, the…
Song 35: Lead, Kindly Light
March 30/Monday of Holy Week The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? ~ Ps 27.1 It is Monday morning. The hullabaloo of Jesus’ seemingly triumphant entry into Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday is over. The donkey has been returned to its…
Song 34: Weal and Woe
March 28/Fifth Saturday of Lent They shall come and sing aloud for joy on the height of Zion,and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,over the grain, the wine, and the oil, the young of the flock and the herd;their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. ~ Jer. 31.12 When…
Song 33: A Bulwark Never Failing
March 27/Fifth Friday of Lent I love you, O LORD, my strength, O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold! ~ Ps 18.2-3 Rock, fortress, and stronghold. Such rugged metaphors befit a psalm that is said to be an expression of gratitude to God after a…
Song 32: Following the Leader
March 26/Fifth Thursday of Lent He remembers forever his covenant which he made binding for a thousand generations – Which he entered into with Abraham and by his oath to Isaac. ~ Ps 105.8-9 Today let us slip our feet into the worn sandals of Abram, seventy-five years old and a long-time resident of Haran (probably in present-day Turkey). One…
Song 31: Open Ears, Open Hearts
March 25/Fifth Wednesday of LentSolemnity of the Annunciation Sacrifice and offering you do not delight in, but you have dug out my ears.To do your will, O God, I delight in; your teaching is within my belly [lit. transl]. ~ Ps 40.7, 9 There is something in our human nature that almost reflexively resists rules and limits. We bristle at…