March 3/First Tuesday of Lent Glorify the LORD with me, let us together extol his name. ~ Ps 34.4 A friendly “hello” to visitors after Mass. A weekly church supper that draws seniors, neighbors, and students from the nearby college campus. A colorful banner hoisted on the church portico welcoming visitors to the religious services within. These are but a…
Category: Songs for Lent
Song 5: Addressing the Lord
March 2/First Monday of Lent Let the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. ~ Ps 19.15 What does it mean for “the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart” to “find favor” before God? To put it another way, what is the…
Song 4: User Manual
February 29/Saturday after Ash Wednesday Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you.Be gracious to me, O LORD, for to you do I cry all day long.Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I…
Song 3: Me Do It!
February 28/Friday after Ash Wednesday Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. ~ Ps 51.3-4 Pulling the orange and yellow polka-dotted shirt and the red and blue and pink plaid shorts out of the drawer, the…
Song 2: It’s the Journey
February 27/Thursday after Ash Wednesday Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked,Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent;But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. ~ Ps 1.1-2 “Are we there yet?” Before the omnipresence of those personal screens that…
Song 1: Owning It
February 26/Ash Wednesday For I acknowledge my offense, and my sin is before me always: Against you only have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight.” ~ Ps 51.5-6 Ever since that fateful evening in the garden of Eden when Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent, we humans have shown ourselves incredibly adept at pointing…
Songs for Lent 2020: Coming Soon
Dear Friends,Beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 26, I will again be offering Songs for Lent, brief reflections on the psalm verse or verses in the daily lectionary. The reflections will arrive in your inbox every morning except for Sundays, which are feast days and not technically part of Lent. They will end on April 11, Holy Saturday. As per usual,…
Song 40: Limbo
April 20/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: Handing Off
April 19/Good Friday Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O faithful God. ~ Ps 31.6 To put our bodies into the skilled hands of a surgeon or a physical therapist is an act of trust, and an admission that we do not possess the knowledge, the experience, the power to heal ourselves on our own. …
Song 38: My Cup Runneth Over
April 18/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 painful, shameful death upon the cross, we are invited, paradoxically, to lift up the cup of salvation. Given the events that will unfold this night — the Last Supper with the disciples’…