March 24/Fifth Tuesday of Lent O LORD, hear my prayer, and let me cry come to you. 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 102.2-3 When the road gets rough, or life goes awry — or as the psalmist puts…
Author: Betsy Cahill
Song 29: Stay With Me
March 23/Fifth Monday of Lent The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are…
Song 28: Deep Down
March 21/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 7.8-9 Through the years, various children I know (and may be related…
Song 27: Comfort Ye, My People
March 20/Fourth Friday of Lent The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. ~ Ps 34.19 Everywhere we look, we see the broken-hearted and the crushed in spirit; we ourselves are among them. There is the quotidian suffering that afflicts our lives — the loss of someone we love, the pain of…
Song 26: Showing Up
March 19/Fourth Thursday 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 Joseph of Nazareth, whom we commemorate today, did not achieve anything extraordinary by the world’s standards – he did not amass great power or wealth, accomplish feats of daring, or become…
Song 25: Sketching It Out
March 18/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 Among the untold riches of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you may come across Salvator Mundi, an unfinished painting of Christ by…
Song 24: Peace Like a River
March 17/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 is a scarce commodity in our lives, especially now. Economic instability, political upheaval, religious turmoil,…
Song 23: Greeting the Dawn
March 16/Fourth Monday of Lent Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. ~ Ps 30.5, 11 Nightfall sometimes seems to be on an endless loop, and mourning the order of the day. As we look around our…
Song 22: Scrubbing Bubbles
March 14/Third Saturday of Lent Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me. ~ Ps 51.4 In a lecture some years ago, the spiritual writer Kathleen Norris observed of laundry, “I might characterize it as approaching the moral realm; there are days when it seems a miracle to be able to make dirty things clean.” For…
Song 21: Stranger Danger
March 13/Third Friday of Lent There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. ~ Ps 81.9 One of the first lessons we learn as we grow up, and a lesson we certainly impart to our children, is this: Don’t talk to strangers (including ones online). Don’t answer the door if you…