Podcast: 1st Sunday of Lent, Year C

Hi and welcome to the Modern Psalmist Podcast. I’m Rebecca De La Torre.

Today we celebrate the 1st Sunday of Lent, Year C. The antiphons and responses for today are paired very nicely, with the responsorial psalm and entrance antiphon both coming from Psalm 91, and the Communion Antiphon and gospel acclamation both from Matthew 4:4.

The Entrance Antiphon for today is from verses 15 & 16 of Psalm 91:

“When he calls on me, I will answer him;
I will deliver him and give him glory,
I will grant him length of days.”

It’s a reminder that, during this season of repentance and reflection, the Lord will hear our petitions and answer us.

In the responsorial psalm for today, also taken from Psalm 91, we are pleading for the Lord’s help in times of trouble:

“Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.”

I don’t usually repeat refrains when I compose psalms, but I just felt that this one needed to be repeated. It serves to emphasize the pleading tone present throughout this psalm.

That was my musical interpretation “Psalm 91: Be with Me, Lord” for the 1st Sunday of Lent, Year C.

Just as the entrance antiphon and responsorial psalm are taken from the same scripture in Psalm 91, the gospel acclamation and communion antiphon are both from Matthew chapter 4 verse 4:

“One does not live on bread alone,
but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”

This is apropos of the gospel reading from Luke today where Jesus goes out into the desert to fast, and at the end of 40 days, is tempted by Satan. After 40 days of eating nothing, Jesus *had* to be very hungry.

Luke Chapter 4, verses 3 & 4 reads:

The devil said to him,
“If you are the Son of God,
command this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered him,
“It is written, One does not live on bread alone.”

That’s from the gospel reading for today, whereas the communion antiphon and Gospel acclamation verse both from the same story as told my Matthew, where we get the full response from Jesus:

“One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”

We’re just a few days into our 40-day Lenten journey, so I want to take a moment to reflect on wheat this means to us as Catholics and Christians. The United States Council of Catholic Bishops says that:

Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday.

So it’s appropriate that the gospel for today shares the temptations that Jesus faced and overcame after his own 40-day period of fasting in the desert. We are called as disciples of Christ and therefore we follow his example of fasting – although most of us don’t follow as strict of a fast, we still should abstain from luxuries and truly take time to prepare our hearts and minds for the Feast of the Resurrection at Easter.

Therefore I chose a rather ancient song to feature today titled “Forty Days and Forty Nights” written by John Daye in 1584. I invite you to listen closely to the verses in the song as they so poetically communicate the message from today’s gospel, and in turn, encourage us to follow the example of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

That was “Forty Days and Forty Nights” for this 1st Sunday of Lent, cycle C. Links to all the song recordings and sheet music from this episode can be found in the show notes or on TheModernPsalmist.com.

I hope you are enjoying this lenten series. Tune in again in one week for the 2nd Sunday of Lent. And as always, if you find this podcast enriching, please share it with others who also can benefit from it.

Until next week, may God bless you abundantly!