Psalm 103 Personalized

Psalm 103 (My personalized version)

 

Bless You, Yahweh, oh my soul!

Bless Your Holy Name, all that is within me!

Bless You, Yahweh, oh my soul;

May I remember all Your kindnesses:

 

You forgive all my offenses,

You cure all my diseases,

You have redeemed my life from the Pit,

You crown me with love and tenderness,

You fill my years with prosperity,

You renew my youth like an eagle’s.

 

Yahweh, You do what is right, and just, and true;

You revealed Your intentions to Moses,

Your prowess to Your chosen, the sons of Israel.

 

Yahweh, You are tender and compassionate,

Slow to anger, most loving;

Your indignation does not last for ever,

Your resentment is fleeting;

You never treat me, never punish me,

As my guilt and sins deserve.

 

More than the height of heaven over earth

Is the greatness of Your love for us who fear him;

You take our sins farther away

Than the east is from the west.

 

As tenderly as a father treats his children,

So You, Yahweh, treat us who fear You;

You know of what You made us,

You remember we are dust.

 

My life on earth lasts no longer than grass,

No longer than a wild flower will I live here;

One gust of wind, and I am gone,

Never to be seen here again;

 

Yet Your love, Yahweh, for us who fear You

Lasts from all eternity and for ever,

Like Your goodness to our children’s children,

Your sovereignty is over all.

Bless Yahweh, all His angels,

Heroes mighty to enforce His Word,

Attentive to His Word of command.

 

Bless Yahweh, all His armies,

Servants to enforce His Will.

Bless Yahweh, all His creatures

Everywhere, from all time!

 

Bless You, Yahweh, oh my soul.

Bless You, oh my Savior!

St. Egbert’s

I went to mass at St. Egbert’s today.  It’s a lovely community with a lovely modern-style building.  They had a baptism today and everyone seemed joyous.  The music was led by a (white!) grand-piano-accompanied choir with cantor/director singing the Psalm and Alleluia.  They didn’t include the Sequence (which I thought was obligatory) for Corpus Christi.  Two of the hymns used which I hadn’t known before were “I Come With Joy” [G919] and “Come to the Banquet” [G931].  They used Creation Mass for the mass parts and Gather Hymnal for all else.  Besides having the Readings & Hymnal Numbers posted in the bulletin and on the wooden, wall-mounted number-holders, they also had a small electronic, digital sign showing the number of the current item in use.

The “modern” style of the building was expressed mostly in terms of its structure which used lots of angles and evoked many triangles; the interior decoration was minimal: lots of light wood with white brick.  The floor was all tile except the altar area had a thick and beautiful oriental-style, mostly red rug which also flowed over the steps in front of the altar, where, for at least today, they had a big basket over-flowing with grapes and two very large glass vessels of wine.  The basket of offerings was placed on a lower step in front of the basket of grapes.  It was beautifully elegant yet inviting.

At the end of the mass the priest welcomed visitors and asked us each to introduce ourselves and say where we are from.  There were many from Ohio!  A few were from Canada and some from other parts of North Carolina.  I was glad to be there.  If I come again to this area, I will gladly attend St. Egbert’s!

Here are a few notes about St. Egbert himself, taken from the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia :

St. Egbert’s own mission was made known to him by a monk, who, at Melrose, had been a disciple of St. Boisil. Appearing to this monk, St. Boisil sent him to tell Egbert that the Lord willed him instead of preaching to the heathen to go to the monasteries of St. Columba, “because their ploughs were not going straight”, in consequence of their schismatic practice in the celebration of Easter. Leaving Ireland therefore in 716, Egbert crossed over to Iona, where the last thirteen years of his life were spent. By his sweetness and humility he induced the Iona monks to relinquish their erroneous mode of computation; in 729 they celebrated Easter with the rest of the Church upon 24 April, although their old rule placed it that year upon an earlier day. On the same day, after saying Mass and joining joyfully in their celebration, the aged Egbert died. Though he is now honoured simply as a confessor, it is probable that St. Egbert was a bishop.