Songs for Lent

Song 6: The Welcome Mat

February 20/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…

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Songs for Lent

Song 5: Glory Be

February 19/First Monday of Lent The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. . .The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple. ~ Ps 19.1, 7 To those who have eyes to see, God can be found everywhere – in a…

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Songs for Lent

Song 4: Speak Up

February 17/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. ~ Ps. 86.1-2 Underlying the penances of Lent and the rules and regulations of our faith is the salient reality of God’s love.  It is where…

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Songs for Lent

Song 3: Washing Up

February 16/Friday after Ash Wednesday  Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. ~ Ps 51.3-4 My father, a veteran sailor, told us when we were young that the dishwashing policy on board was “if it looks clean, it is clean” (my mother grimaced, without fail).  Appropriate for an extended sailing trip, perhaps, when thorough cleaning…

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Songs for Lent

Song 2: It’s the Journey

February 15/Thursday after Ash Wednesday Blessed are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. ~ Ps 1.1-2 “When will we get there?”  On the annual summer…

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Songs for Lent

Song 1: True Love

February 14/Ash Wednesday Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;in the greatness of your compassion, wipe out my offenses. ~ Ps 51.3 It is February 14: Valentine’s Day.  It is February 14: Ash Wednesday.  A day for love, certainly, but not the kind expressed by winged cupids, red roses, and sugary candy hearts that say “LUV YA” and “U…

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Songs for Lent

Song 40: Thresholds

April 8/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,…

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Songs for Lent

Song 39: Words to Live By

April 7/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. …

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Songs for Lent

Song 38: My Cup Runneth Over

April 6/Holy Thursday I will take 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 will unfold this night — the Last Supper with the disciples’…

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Songs for Lent

Song 37: Crying It Out

April 5/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,…

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