March 19/Second Tuesday of Lent [God said,] “Forever I will keep my steadfast love for him, and my covenant with him will stand firm.” ~ Ps 89.29 The ease with with which we can conduct and manage our relationships electronically — “unfriending” someone on FaceBook, texting a last-minute cancellation of plans to a friend, “ghosting” a jilted lover on a variety…
Author: Betsy Cahill
Song 11: Age to Age
March 18/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. …
Song 10: Our End of the Bargain
March 16/First Saturday of Lent Blessed are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD.Blessed are they who observe his decrees, who seek him with all their heart. I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me. ~ Ps 119. 1-2, 8 Covenant, as any lawyer can attest, is simply another word for an…
Song 9: Getting Down
March 15/First Friday of Lent If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand?But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered. ~ Psalm 130.3-4 For me, forgiveness is one of the hardest imperatives of faith. I know that holding onto anger or resentment harms me more than it affects the perceived offender, and I know, too, that…
Song 8: Call and Response
March 14/First Thursday of Lent On the day I called, you answered me, you increased my strength of soul. ~ Ps 138.3 Many years ago, when I was a graduate student in a venerable British university, I would wander of an afternoon into my college’s cathedral for Evensong. With candles flickering against the damp dark of the declining day, the…
Song 7: Me Do It
March 13/First Wednesday of Lent Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. ~ Ps 51.4, 12 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…
Song 6: Going to Pieces
March 12/First Tuesday of Lent The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. ~ Ps 34.18 In Angela’s Ashes, his searing and spirited memoir of his impoverished childhood in Ireland, Frank McCourt writes vividly about his boyish fear of confessing to a priest that he had listened to a story with the word “piss” in…
Song 5: If You Build It, Will They Come?
March 11/First Monday of Lent The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the Lord are sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the Lord…
Song 4: Because
March 9/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. You are my God; Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all day long. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you,…
Song 3: Give It Up
March 8/Friday after Ash Wednesday For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. ~ Ps 51.18-19 When I was growing up, the impending arrival of Lent brought on great…