The lectionary readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent (Year C) tell us very plainly that God is “doing something new!” What a refreshing thing to hear from sacred scripture- perhaps our music for the Fifth Sunday of Lent can pickup that theme.
So what is the new thing? Mercy, apparently. Jesus does not condemn the adulterous woman, but rather admonishes her to sin no more. Obviously, the adulterous woman is us- we who are unfaithful to the covenant God has made with us. Like the animals in the Abrahamic ritual a few weeks ago, we ought to be torn in two for our infidelity. But God, in Christ Jesus, reaches out to us in forgiveness and mercy.
And Paul makes sure we understand something else- while we are admonished to “sin no longer,” it is not our own self-improvement that is our salvation from the wages of our own sin, but rather our “sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death.” That is, when we participate in his death through baptism (we’ll hear all about this from Paul at the Easter Vigil), we take hold of the righteousness of the resurrection.
But it doesn’t end there for Paul, nor should it for us. We are not simply absolved of our duty to “sin no longer.” Baptism may be a one time event, but conformity to the sufferings of Christ, is a lifelong process- even for someone with as miraculously spectacular a conversion experience as Paul.
Music Suggestions for
Fifth Sunday of Lent
Gathering Song:
Behold, I Make All Things New
I make all things new
Beginning with you
and starting from today.
Preparation of the Gifts Song:
We Will Rise Again
for our God will be our strength,
And we will fly like the eagle,
We will rise again.
Communion Song:
Let Us Break Bread Together
Let us break bread together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.
Song for Sending Forth:
Jerusalem, My Destiny
Jerusalem, my destiny!
Additional Notes for
Fifth Sunday of Lent
"Behold, I Make All Things New" comes from the Iona Community, and is intended to be sung a cappella. All Catholic church musicians think their congregations won't sing without accompaniment. Until they try it, and find out that not only do they sing- they sing better. Catholic music is deeply rooted in a cappella singing (Gregorian chant, sacred polyphony... even all that ethnic folk music that has influenced contemporary song-writing). Lent is a perfect time to try it out if you never have.
"We Will Rise Again" from David Haas is one of my childhood favorites, and I was distressed to not find it in the latest edition of Gather Comprehensive. Lucky for me, I have an eleven year old copy of OCP's disposable Breaking Bread (don't tell anyone!). I don't actually know if it's in the current edition. The song picks up Paul's aspirational conclusion to today's epistle.
"Let Us Break Bread Together," a much-underused African-American Spiritual, combines clear Eucharistic reinforcement to our intense need for mercy. Remember, though, "have mercy" is more than just a plea for help. In the African American tradition, "Lord, have mercy!" (or, in the case of my grandmother, "Lawdamussy!") is shout of praise and thanksgiving for the mercy and grace God has already lavished on us. Remember that before you set your tempo.
And here ends our singing of "Jerusalem, My Destiny." Next week is Palm Sunday, where Jesus, and all of us, will enter Jerusalem in triumph: the false triumph of human praise, and then the true and everlasting triumph of the cross.
God be praised! (and Lord have mercy!)