The birthday boy

Johann Sebastian Bach was born 327 years ago today.

Why not visit James Kibbie's complete recording of Bach's organ music?  Go on, treat yourself!

Music for the Fourth Sunday in Lent (year B)

Readings for the week (including Roman variations) can be found here.  The points of difference between the Common Lectionary and its Revised cousin are the first reading and the Psalm.

If you follow the Revised Common Lectionary, the sequence of readings emphasizes the connections between the brazen serpent being put on a pole in the desert, and Jesus's crucifixion.  This is all highly unified, and offers some easy choices.

If you use the Common Lectionary (see the full readings here), the first reading and the psalm are connected up with the exile in Babylon.

Both tracks of readings develop a broader theme for this stage of the Lenten journey, with a strong message about God's mercy following on from last week's turning over of the tables in the temple.

And -- not to forget -- it's also the middle of Lent, which means you will be looking at lightening the fast for a week, or trying to mark Mothering Sunday in some way.

Psalm Setting

Psalm settings for this week have to take account of the two options available.  Settings for both can be found in Together in Song.

• For the RCL, a responsorial setting of Psalm 107 by Jenny O'Brien can be found at number 67.  This lilts along in 6/8, with a through-composed melody for the verses to which the words are fitted.
• For the CL, a metrical version of Psalm 137 is provided at number 85.  Most of the tune is a series of melodic sequences, which would be picked up fairly quickly by a congregation used to singing conventional hymn tunes.  If you prefer a responsorial setting, then Richard Rice's version is probably the most user-friendly item in this week's selections from the Chabanel Psalm Project.

It's a pity Together in Song doesn't provide gospel acclamations for Lent.  If you dig around in a good hymn book you'll find something, or you can always compose something for yourself.  Respond & Acclaim provides an acclamation for each week if you're looking for something simple.

Selecting hymns

All suggestions here come from Together in Song.  Some hymns might work better with alternative tunes, depending on the sense of adventure among your singers and congregants.

Introit
We give immortal praise [118]
Lift high the cross [351]
God of mercy, God of grace [452]

Before the Gospel
O the deep, deep love of Jesus [232, alternative tune: Blaenwern 590]  
So God loved the people of the world [241 -- metre highly irregular, this is the only possible tune!]
There is a green hill far away [350]

Offertory
What shall I do my God to love [122]
Salvation now to us has come [195]
Dear Christians, one and all, rejoice [196]

My song is love unknown [341]
Father of mercy, God of consolation [472]

Communion
To Christ, the Prince of Peace [335]
Christ is the heavenly food that gives [522]
Forth in your name, O Lord, I go [571]

Other possibilities

A spendthrift lover is the Lord [676, alternative tune Arbridge 35, which has to be played twice per verse]
He became poor that we may be rich [721, used as a repeating chant]

Mothering Sunday
Fold to your heart your sister and your brother [587, although you may prefer to use the unaltered version in the Australian Hymn Book, 503] 


Instrumental/Choral music
God so loved the world from The Crucifixion -- Sir John Stainer
An Wasserflussen Babylon [BWV 653 or 653b] -- J.S. Bach
Jesusu Christus, unser Heiland [BWV 665] -- Bach

A slight change of focus

This is a different effort to my usual Wednesday musings, sharing hymns and other music for the coming Sunday. I've been considering my position at the Anglican Parish of Jika Jika recently, and the time has come to move on to other things.  The manner of my departing hasn't been the one I would have chosen, and events have meant that some important issues need to be resolved before the situation is completely done with.  One day it will be the stuff of a series of funny stories.

Still, I enjoy the weekly exercise of selecting hymns and dreaming up interesting things to do and sing on a Sunday.  There has been a fair bit of positive feedback about these Wednesday bulletins over the last couple of years, so clearly it's been helpful to some people.  I'll be starting a new series in the next couple of weeks offering ways to get the best out of Together in Song, and how to enrich it by calling on some other resources.

As it turns out

A friend who might qualify to be more of a religion and myth nerd than your humble scribe wished me a happy name day today.

Like most people bearing names that don't quite light up the pages of Butler's Lives, I've never really given name days much thought.  Of course, in some parts of the world these are like having a second birthday in the year, but being from a staunchly Anglo background, well, we're just too busy for all that.  Around Irish people I get the "with a name like that you must be alright" vibe, but having had it for a lifetime I've never really felt the need to dig deeper into my name.

Well, it turns out that I have one all the same.  Read a little bit about St Kieran of Saigir here, and some more over here.