As you prepare for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (March 13 & 14, 2010)...

Read  Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 607.  Read the text aloud several times, giving meaning to each word.  Notice how you speak it--to which words do you give the emphasis?  Whisper it and see what syllables are stressed.  Now chant this text on a single tone in natural speech rhythm--but not too fast--paying close attention to the emphases you just discovered!

The verses of this responsorial psalm move back and forth between first-person declaration ("I will bless"; "I sought the Lord...") and direct address ""Glorify the Lord..."; "Look to him...").  This grammatical sctructure implicates us directly in the psalm and the readings.  We are the ones who have tasted the goodness of the Lord and now call upon the lowly to cry for help and be saved.  We are the Israelites once enslaved in Egypt who, having survived the terrible desert journey, now feast in the land of God's deliverance (Joshua 5:9a, 10-12).  We are the prodigal son once distant and dissipated who, having crossed the terrain of regret and repentance, now feast at our father's table (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32).  We are the ones who, having become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-21), are now ambassadors of the message:  repent, come home, the feast is ready and--oh, so good--it is God.

As you cantor this psalm you call those who have abandoned God or sinned in any way.  When in your own life have you repented, come home, and tasted God's goodness?

Prayer:  Father of love and mercy, you long for our return whenever we stray from you.  Help us to "come to our senses," hurry home, and sit down to your feast of forgiveness.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.