March 23/Fifth Tuesday of Lent Hide not your face from me in the day of my distress. Incline your ear to me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily. ~ Ps 102 As the days of our distress have accumulated in the past year, we may well wonder, where has God been in all of this? It may…
Song 29: Laying the Table
March 22/Fifth Monday of Lent You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ~ Ps 23.5 Setting a beautiful table is a way of honoring one’s guests. Whether it is a small Ikea table laid for two with simple utensils, humble dinnerware, and a posy of wildflowers…
Song 28: Deep Down
March 20/Fourth Saturday of Lent Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the hearts and minds, O righteous God. ~ Ps 7.9 Through the years, the strategy of “Bambi eyes,” a wide-eyed look…
Song 27: Singing a New Song
March 19/Fourth Friday of LentSolemnity 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 The other night my father was reminiscing about his grandfather, a genteel agnostic who nonetheless ferried his portly Aunt Georgie to church every Sunday, waiting in the car until the service…
Song 26: Taking a Knee
March 18/Fourth Thursday of Lent Our fathers made a calf in Horeb and adored a molten image;They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. ~ Ps 106.19-20 We may not regard ourselves as susceptible to bowing down before a molten image (the literal meaning of the Hebrew word translated “adored” is an infrequently-used…
Song 25: Finishing the Hat
March 17/Fourth Wednesday of Lent The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. ~ Ps 145.9, 18 Stephen Sondheim’s song “Finishing the Hat,” from the 1984 musical Sunday in the Park with George, is a paean to the creative…
Song 24: Peace Like a River
March 16/Fourth Tuesday of Lent There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High.God is in its midst, it shall not be disturbed; God will help it at the break of dawn. ~ Ps 46.5-6` Peace has been a scarce commodity in our lives, especially in the past year. Whether it…
Song 23: Meeting the Dawn
March 15/Fourth Monday of Lent At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing. You changed my mourning into dancing. ~ Ps 30.6, 13 It has been a long nightfall, these past twelve months. The weeping has been prolonged, and the joy, hard to find. We may have been drawn so deep into the maze of worries and troubles…
Song 22: Me Do It
March 13/Third Saturday of Lent Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. ~ Ps 51.4 Anyone who has been fortunate enough to live with a two-year-old knows that the drive towards doing-it-yourself begins early in life. Pulling a mismatched shirt and shorts out of her drawer, the intransigent toddler insists on dressing herself for pre-school. …
Song 21: Hearing Aid
March 12/Third Friday of Lent “O Israel, if you would but listen to me!If only my people would hear me, and Israel walk in my ways, I would feed them with the best of wheat, and with honey from the rock I would fill them.” ~ Ps 81.14, 17 It is a longstanding joke in my family that my father began to…