Irreverently Reverend

  Fourth Sunday of Lent How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven, those whose sin is covered! 2  How blessed those to whom Adonai imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no deceit! 3  When I kept silent, my bones wasted away because of my groaning all day long; 4  day and night your hand was heavy on me; the sap in me dried up as in a summer drought. (Selah) 5  When I acknowledged my sin to you, when I stopped concealing my guilt, and said, “I will confess my offenses to Adonai”; then you, you forgave the guilt of my sin . (Selah) 6  This is what everyone faithful should pray at a time when you can be found. Then, when the floodwaters are raging, they will not reach to him. 7  You are a hiding-place for me, you will keep me from distress; you will surround me with songs of deliverance. (Selah) 8  “I will instruct and teach you in this way that you are to go; I will give you counsel; my eyes will be watching you.” 9  Don’t be like a horse or mule that

  Second Sunday of Lent The Lord is my light and my salvation;     whom shall I fear? / The Lord is the stronghold of my life;     of whom shall I be afraid? 2  When evildoers assail me     to devour my flesh— / my adversaries and foes—     they shall stumble and fall. 3  Though an army encamp against me,     my heart shall not fear; / though war rise up against me,     yet I will be confident. 4  One thing I asked of the Lord,     that will I seek after: / to live in the house of the Lord     all the days of my life, / to behold the beauty of the Lord,     and to inquire in his temple. 5  For he will hide me in his shelter     in the day of trouble; / he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;     he will set me high on a rock. 6  Now my head is lifted up     above my enemies all around me, / and I will offer in his tent     sacrifices with shouts of joy; / I will sing and make melody to the Lord. 7  Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,     be gracious to me

  First Sunday in Lent Living in the Most High’s shelter,     camping in the Almighty’s shade, 2  I say to the Lord, “You are my refuge, my stronghold!     You are my God—the one I trust!” 3  God will save you from the hunter’s trap     and from deadly sickness. 4  God will protect you with his pinions;     you’ll find refuge under his wings.     His faithfulness is a protective shield. 5  Don’t be afraid of terrors at night,     arrows that fly in daylight, 6      or sickness that prowls in the dark,     destruction that ravages at noontime. 7  Even if one thousand people fall dead next to you,     ten thousand right beside you—     it won’t happen to you. 8  Just look with your eyes,     and you will see the wicked punished. 9  Because you’ve made the Lord my refuge,     the Most High, your place of residence— 10          no evil will happen to you;         no disease will come close to your tent. 11  Because he will order his messengers to help you,     to pr

  Ash Wednesday             Shout out, do not hold back!   Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Today is Ash Wednesday, a day of remembering mortality, of talking about sins and penitence.   It is a gray day when the snow keeps coming and there are so many uncertainties about Ukraine and my voice is just not loud enough when the newscasters never stop talking. Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. This feels more like church—more like what we’ve made church into, at least.   We come to services to feel the ash drift down onto our eyebrows and be reminded that we are broken, we mortals who keep trying so hard, we humans who want to be loved. 2  Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;   What if we were a nation that practiced righteousness?   What a slap in the face must it have been to Israel, returning with uncertain step