As is often the case, my heart is hard by the time Lent rolls around. I need help to soften and to turn it, so I can recognize my sin: the ways I’ve missed the mark or turned good to my own ends or put my own will before God’s. Or my needs before those […]
CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART: Psalm 51
“You’re the man!” According to the Urban Dictionary, that’s a cool way of saying “you rock!” You’re comparing the person to someone everyone knows is awesome, like Jesus (or Allah, or Buddah, or even Chuck Norris, according to that source!) Somehow I don’t think that’s what the prophet Nathan meant in 2 Samuel 12 when […]
40 DAYS IN THE WORD: 3 Ways to Add Scripture to Your Lenten “Diet”
How about doing something for Lent this year, instead of simply giving up sweets? In this year’s Lenten message, Pope Francis has an interesting comment on the parable of the rich man who ignored Lazarus, the poor beggar who lay dying at his gate (Luke 16:19-31). He says that the root of the rich man’s problem was not his wealth […]
TWO WAYS TO LIVE LENT “INTENSELY” IN THIS JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY
Pope Francis has asked us to live Lent more intensely this year, the Jubilee Year of Mercy. How can we do that? According to the Holy Father, two things in particular can help us experience and celebrate God’s Mercy first hand: (1) prayerful listening to God’s word, repeating his word until we make it our […]
LOOKING FORWARD TO LENT: Praying with the Penitential Psalms
It’s always bittersweet to take down the Christmas decorations and pack them up. The living room looks cold and bare without the twinkling tree and I miss the crèche above the mantel. “God is with us”! it seemed to say whenever I passed by. Today I hear a different voice: “Come.” Come to me, Return […]
PRAYING THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS: Last Friday of Lent – Psalm 143
The final penitential psalm, Psalm 143, takes us to the foot of the cross on Good Friday. The psalmist — perhaps David, on the run from his own son Absolom — has reached the end of his rope. His “spirit faints,” his heart is “appalled” (vs 4). He feels trapped and abandoned even by God, […]
PRAYING THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS: 6th Friday of Lent – Psalm 130
One of my enduring memories of 9/11 is the odd yet absolute right-ness of the packed church that night. Nobody was told to come, there was no mass, no scheduled prayer service – the people just came. We came together in our grief, our fear, our incomprehension. We huddled in silent prayer and wept. Instinctively, […]
PRAYING THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS: 5th Friday of Lent – Psalm 102
The beginning of the end of my Grandmother’s life came early one morning. I knew she had cancer; but to my young and hopeful mind she would survive. What signaled the change I do not know, but I woke to hushed whispers and frantic activity. A blood cot to the brain, they said. I loved […]
PRAYING THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS: 4th Friday of Lent – Psalm 51
When I was nine, I stole a big, fat, sugary Boston cream pie from the refrigerator and ate the entire thing behind the trees in the backyard. It wasn’t mine to take. We didn’t have the open-frig, eat-when-you-want policy that children have today—and we never had desserts that looked like that. But even worse, I […]
PRAYING THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS: 3nd Friday of Lent – Psalm 38
It’s popular today to deny the concept of sin. There are only bad choices, mistakes to move on from, and other people to blame. Behind that dislike of calling things “sin” is outrage that God would pass judgment on me and my actions. How dare he! To that person, God is a tyrant. What a […]
