February 22/Ash Wednesday Have mercy on me, God, according to your steadfast love;according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. ~ Ps 51.3 If there is any doubt that today we cross the threshold from Ordinary Time to the season of penitence, the opening verse of Psalm 51 from the Ash Wednesday liturgy puts it to rest. “Have mercy,”…
Category: Songs for Lent
Songs for Lent: Daily Reflections on the Psalms
Ash Wednesday, which begins the penitential season of Lent, is on Wednesday, February 22. For the 10th year, I will be offering “Songs for Lent,” daily reflections on a psalm verse or verses from the daily lectionary, enhanced with images and music, a link to the readings, and a prayer. This year, the reflections will explore what the Psalms can…
Song 40: A Gracious Plenty
April 16/Holy SaturdayEaster Vigil You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills, By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches. From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work. LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have…
Song 39: Broken
April 15/Good Friday I am forgotten like the unremembered dead; I am like a dish that is broken. ~ Ps 31.12-13 I’ve always been enchanted by mosaics. The process of taking irregular and broken pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic and out of them creating a pattern, a portrait, or a picture seems almost miraculous to me. The interplay…
Song 38: Curse and Blessing
April 14/Holy Thursday How shall I make a return to the LORD for all the good he has done for me? ~ Ps 116.12 Today, on this holy Thursday, let us reflect on all the good the Lord has done for each of us. We might enumerate small and mundane blessings, like the morning cup of coffee or the spring…
Song 37: Making Space
April 13/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. I will praise the name of God in song, and I will glorify him with thanksgiving. ~ Ps 69.21, 31 Even though we may be through the worst of the COVID-19 days, life…
Song 36: Our Help, Our Hope
April 12/Tuesday of Holy Week For you are my hope, O LORD; my trust, O God, from my youth.On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength. ~ Ps 71.5-6 The other day I heard the mother of a young boy apologize for her son’s behavior by explaining, “he finds transitions difficult.” Who among us…
Song 35: Waiting It Out
April 11/Monday of Holy Week Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! ~ Ps 27.14 Have you ever thought about how much time you spend waiting? Biding time in a TSA or grocery store line, checking the status of a college or job application, awaiting the MRI report or the baby’s…
Song 34: Guarding the Sheep
April 9/Fifth Saturday of Lent He who scattered Israel, now gathers them together, he guards them as a shepherd his flock. ~ Jer 31.10 Gathering scattered sheep, guarding the flock — for most of us, attuned only to the highways and byways of modern urban or suburban life, this sounds picturesque, even effortless. We have an image of Jesus the…
Song 32: Promises to Keep
April 7/Fifth Thursday of Lent He remembers forever his covenant which he made binding for a thousand generations – Which he entered into with Abraham and by his oath to Isaac. ~ Ps 105.8-9 As luck (and the liturgical calendar) would have it, today’s psalm verse about keeping covenant falls on my parents’ sixty-fourth wedding anniversary. Their binding commitment to each…