March 15/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?To him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.” ~ Ps 50.16-17, 23 The other day while I was chatting with a friend, her husband heard me commenting…
Author: Betsy Cahill
Song 11: Age to Age
March 14/Second Monday of Lent Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors . . . Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power preserve those doomed to die.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 79.8a,…
Song 10: All In
March 12/First Saturday of Lent Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart. ~ Ps 119.2 How many of us can honestly say that we seek God with our whole hearts? Do we make a genuine effort to carve out time each day for prayer and reflection — or do we let the press…
Song 9: The Judgment Seat
March 11/First Friday of Lent If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered. ~ Ps 130.3-4 As our society has succumbed to the increasing dominance of social media as our preferred mode of communication, we have become breathtakingly judgmental of the perceived flaws and errors of others —…
Song 8: Giving a Hand
March 10/First Thursday of Lent Your right hand saves me. Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands. ~ Psalm 138.7-8 As I re-accustom myself to social graces that have fallen into disuse over the past couple of years, I find myself often uncertain about whether to shake someone’s hand. Like the germophobic detective Adrian…
Song 7: Making It Right
March 9/First Wednesday of Lent A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. ~ Ps 51.10 Acknowledging our mistakes, iniquities, transgressions, errors, sins — call them what you will — is hard work. To admit fault goes against the grain for many of us who think of ourselves as generally well-intentioned people, and…
Song 6: Near, and Dear
March 8/First Tuesday of Lent The righteous cry, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.Near is the LORD to the brokenhearted, and the crushed in spirit he saves. ~ Ps 34.19 We have soldiered on amid the pandemic’s uncertainties and challenges, waiting for a better day. Then — an unexpected death, a sudden job loss, a…
Song 5: Addressing the Lord
March 7/First Monday of Lent Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heartbe acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. ~ Ps 19.15 What does it mean for “the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart” to “be acceptable” to the Lord? Does the psalmist mean that there is a…
Song 4: Dependence Day
March 5/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 It isn’t easy to come right out and call ourselves poor and needy, is it? From an early age, we have been schooled by…
Song 3: To Tell the Truth
March 4/Friday after 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 There was once a nine-year-old boy, his teeth newly in braces, whose mother suspected that he was chewing bubble gum — against the orthodontist’s orders. Under gentle…