I wrote this song in the 1990s about an athetoid cerebral palsy student who came into my class at the age of 14. He had no control of his limbs save some control of his head and was unable to speak. 
He needed total care. He seemed to have normal intelligence. This was confirmed when we got him a computer with a program that enabled him to select words and sentences using his head to control a switch. He had a wonderful family who were devout Catholics.

I had some wonderful conversations with him about his condition in relation to his faith in the good Lord and about heaven where the  Lord will give us a new glorified body like his own. Between the loving care he received from his mom, dad, and brother and the gift of Faith, he was grateful to be alive and prayed for us all. I was truly blessed to know him and his family.

Responsorial Psalm 30(31):2,6,12-13,15-17,25 for Good Friday

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

In you, O Lord, I take refuge.
Let me never be put to shame.
In your justice, set me free,
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
It is you who will redeem me, Lord.

Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.

Hi! As we celebrated St. Joseph this week, I wanted to make this week some experiments with AI, using Suno. The results are below, and they do not sound that bad... What do you think of it?

The Church leads us to follow Christ in his suffering, death, and Resurrection, in a focused way, during the liturgical days it calls the Triduum.  Following Christ helps us through our own small or sometimes heavy experiences of various kinds of suffering and “death(s)” that we can offer up in union with Christ for the salvation of others. The Church has experienced this in her history as in the case of the protestant reformation in England, when the church underwent great persecution, martyrdom, and seeming death. We will all experience a final suffering and physical death and by God’s grace our resurrection. The Church teaches us that there will be a final suffering, death, and, resurrection of the Church at the end time. How or when it happens is not specified.

Responsorial Psalm 21(22):8-9,17-20,23-24 for Palm Sunday

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

All who see me deride me.
They curl their lips, they toss their heads.
‘He trusted in the Lord, let him save him;
let him release him if this is his friend.’

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Many dogs have surrounded me,

Free downloads of sheet music and audio demos for Salmos Responoriales for 10 seasonal liturgies at insong.org/salmos-responsoriales-y-aclamaciones

The links below include Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday), el Triduo (the Triduum), and Domingo de Pascua de la Resurrección del Señor (Easter Sunday).

• Domingo de Ramos ABC - Salmo 21 - Dios mío, ¿por qué me has abandonado?
• Jueves Santo: Misa vespertina de la Cena del Señor ABC - Salmo 115 - Gracias, Señor, por tu sangre que nos lava
• Viernes Santo de la Pasión del Señor - Salmo 30 - Padre, en tus manos encomiendo mi espíritu
• Vigilia Pascual en la Noche Santa - Salmo 15 - Protégeme, Dios mío, porque me refugio en ti
• Vigilia Pascual en la Noche Santa - Salmo 103 - Bendice al Señor, alma mía
• Vigilia Pascual en la Noche Santa - Éxodo 15 - Alabemos al Señor por su victoria
• Vigilia Pascual en la Noche Santa - Isaías 12 - Sacarán agua con gozo de la fuente de la salvación
• Vigilia Pascual en la Noche Santa - Salmo 18 - Tú tienes, Señor, palabras de vida eterna
• Vigilia Pascual en la Noche Santa - Salmo 41 - Estoy sediento del Dios que de la vida
• Domingo de Pascua - Salmo 117 - Éste es el día del triunfo del Señor. Aleluya.

Originally published April 5, 2022

Psalm 91 speaks of the right to the ultimate and unlimited trust in God if you follow God’s will.  In spite of all the terrible things that can happen to you, some of which the psalm addresses, you know that God is your final and unfailing refuge. Even when no human being can or will help you, You can trust in God who is almighty, and love itself. This does not mean we can tempt God to protect or help us if we are acting outside of his will, as Satan tempted Jesus(in his human nature) when atop the parapet 
of the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus rebuked him by quoting Deut. 6: 16. - “Thow shall not tempt the Lord your God".  We can easily fall into this temptation.  

LYRICS:
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High *

Responsorial Psalm 88(89):2-5,27,29 for St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary

His dynasty shall last for ever.

I will sing for ever of Your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim Your truth.
Of this I am sure, that Your love lasts for ever,
that Your truth is firmly established as the heavens.

His dynasty shall last for ever.

Lord you gave and give us everything 2 our life, your word and new psalms to sing 3 you showed us and show  us now 4 in your saints how in joy to live
1 Dear Father you created us 2 in your gracious divine Love 3 in your image and likeness 4 to know and love you as your children
Dear God Father and Son 2 You send us your Holy Spirit 3 to give us 
A new birth 2 in your divine life of love
Dear God HolySpirit  2 you confirm us as we mature 2 and endow us with your gifts and fruits  4 to purify and make us Holy 
1 In our weakness you intercede for us 2 when we don’t know what to pray for. 3 You inspire the good, true, and beautiful 4 You move us to sing  5 And pine for heaven

Responsorial Psalm 50(51):3-4,12-15 for the 5th Sunday in Lent, Year B

A pure heart create for me, O God.

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

A pure heart create for me, O God.

A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.

Our Lord wept as he looked at Jerusalem just before Holy Week: 
 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
LYRICS:

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/JQi7uRHv_s8

Salmo Responsorial para Domingo 5 de Cuaresma - Ciclo B - Salmo 50 - Crea en mí, Señor, un corazón puro. Leccionario: 35. Descarga gratuita de partituras en el siguiente enlace. Todos los versos del salmo están disponibles. / Responsorial psalm in Spanish for the 5th Sunday of Lent, Cycle B. Free download of sheet music at the following link. All the psalm verses are available.

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/1NDkr_2a_PY

Salmo Responsorial para Domingo 4 de Cuaresma - Ciclo B - Salmo 136 - Tu recuerdo, Señor, es mi alegría. Leccionario: 32. Descarga gratuita de partituras en el siguiente enlace. Todos los versos del salmo están disponibles. / Responsorial psalm in Spanish for the 4th Sunday of Lent, Cycle B. Free download of sheet music at the following link. All the psalm verses are available.

Responsorial Psalm 136(137):1-6 for the 4th Sunday of Lent, Year B

O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat and wept,
remembering Zion;
on the poplars that grew there
we hung up our harps.

O let my tongue cleave to my mouth if I remember you not!

For it was there that they asked us,
our captors, for songs,

LYRICS:
1 We come before you Our Mother and Queen 2 Full of grace help us
Now 3in this time of rising distress
We your children cry out to you 2 who shares uniquely in your Son’s divinity 3 He chose you to be his human mother 4 and closest friend and collaborator
1 You shared intimately in his work of redemption 2 you shared in In his joys and sorrows, 3 his passion and death and now in his glory
1God who is trinitarian love 2 made you our most loving mother
3 Like your son meek and humble of heart 4 He raised you both as King and Queen
1 Like your son king of martyrs 2 you su ered and o ered yourself up completely 3 for our salvation 4 as queen of martyrs
1 as virgin, mother, and wife, 2 you did God’s will perfectly

LYRICS
1 Behold we’re in a fullness of time -2 of testing and being refined 3 Of dark deception leaving many blind
4 To God’s love more real than sunshine
1 evil seems to deepen globally 2 and portrayed triumphantly 3 and sows self-righteous judgments
4 discord, fear, and animosity
1 some turn to love of money 2 some to a religious ideology 3 some blind in their sophistry 4 some hope in utopia earthly
1 for some all hope is in politics 2 or playing the stock market 3National debts rise exponentially 4 The global south crumbles Economic and politically
1 more see you O Lord as mythology 2 more are subdued in the dictatorship of relativity 3 all these lies and fear are engendered by 4 the evil one behind the scene

As part of my series on Catholic hymns, I have chosen a hymn that was written by a Redemptorist Priest. He was a missionary in England, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, and was affectionately known by his fellow companions as the grand old chief.

He compiled the first Australian Catholic Hymn Book which served the Catholic Church for many years. 

Please take a few moments to read about this wonderful hymn asking for God’s mercy and compassion. Please visit my website Mother of Mercy Catholic Hymns and click on HYMN OF THE MONTH.

https://www.motherofmercycatholichymns.com/god-of-mercy-and-compassion/

Responsorial Psalm 18(19):8-11 for the 3rd Sunday in Lent, Yr B

You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
it revives the soul.
The rule of the Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom to the simple.

You, Lord, have the message of eternal life.

The precepts of the Lord are right,
they gladden the heart.

LYRICS:
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are
clothed in majesty and glory.
wrapped in light as in a robe!
How many are your works, O Lord! † In wisdom, you have made them all. The earth is full of your riches.
There is the sea, vast and wide, †
with its moving swarms past counting, living things great and small.
The ships are moving there *
and the monsters you made to play with.
All of these look to you
to give them their food in due season. You give it, they gather it up:
you open your hand, they have their fill.

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/9rHRMLssL5g