March 27/Third Thursday of Lent Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert,Where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works. ~ Ps 95.9 How quick we are to turn our backs on God in the face of challenges or setbacks. Like the Israelites wandering amid the…
Author: Betsy Cahill
Song 19: Get Up and Bar the Door
March 26/Third Wednesday of Lent For he strengthens the bars of your gates, he blesses your children within you. ~ Ps 147.13 At the start of the new year we observed “Dry January,” intended to encourage us to be mindful of our alcohol consumption; the next month, as suggested by an enterprising New York Times reporter, we celebrated “Flip Phone February,”…
Song 18: Sit. Stay. Heed.
March 25/Third Tuesday 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 Obedience — how it goes against the human grain. We no sooner construct a set of rules…
Song 17: The Seekers
March 24/Third Monday of Lent As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God.Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God? ~ Ps 42.2-3 The rise of the so-called “Nones,” who do not identify with any religious institution, has been widely reported…
Song 16: The Wideness in God’s Mercy
March 22/Second Saturday of Lent For as the heavens are high above the earth,so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us. ~ Ps 103.11-12 Forgiveness is out of fashion, seen in many quarters as a sign of weakness. Witness the…
Song 15: God in All Things
March 21/Second Friday of Lent When [God] summoned famine against the land, and broke every staff of bread,he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron;until what he had said came to pass, the word of the LORD kept testing…
Song 14: Bearing Fruit
March 20/Second Thursday of Lent He is like a tree planted near running water,That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never wither! ~ Ps 1.3 A few years ago we planted a citrus tree in our garden. It was in a sunny spot and, thanks to the faithful ministrations of the Constant Gardener, aka my husband, the…
Song 13: From Generation to Generation
March 19/Second Wednesday of Lent Solemnity of St. Joseph The steadfast love of the LORD I will sing forever;through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness. ~ Ps 89.2 One evening a few years ago, over pre-dinner libations and our favorite Harris Teeter Munchie Mix, my father told the story of his grandfather’s journey to faith. “Wee-Daddy,” as he…
Song 12: All Rise
March 18/Second Tuesday of Lent Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or do you think that I am like yourself?To him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.” ~…
Song 11: The Low Country
March 17/Second Monday of Lent Let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.Let the prisoners’ sighing come before you; with your great power free those doomed to death. Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise. ~ Ps…