Podcast: 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

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

This is the first episode of Season 3 of this podcast. I have a lot of beautiful music planned out for this fall that I look forward to sharing with you.

This weekend we’re celebrating the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, cycle B. Right now we’re in the middle of several Sundays focused on Jesus as the Bread of Life.

The Psalm for today, taken from chapter 34, states:

“Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

I tried to compose a melody here that is modal and meditative – one that doesn’t distract from the words, but invites us to seriously ponder how good our Lord really is. The verses remind us of the same – God is good and answers those who cry out to Him. He provides for His people who strive to walk justly and uprightly, according to his commands.

That was my compositional interpretation of “Psalm 34: Taste and See”, for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B.

I love how the words from this psalm tie in so well to the act of communion, fitting well with the Communion Antiphon for today, taken from Psalm chapter 104, verses 13 through 15, which states:

“The earth is replete with the fruits of your work, O Lord;
you bring forth bread from the earth
and wine to cheer the heart.”

I love the last line “Wine to cheer the heart” – personally I do like wine. And I have a funny story to share.

At the church where I’m the music director – Queen of Peace in Mesa, AZ – I was in the kitchen a couple years ago looking for a can opener to open a can of something to eat (I don’t remember what). I couldn’t find a can opener, but I *did* find two wine bottle openers, and so I complained to my colleague:

“I can’t even find a can opener but we’ve got TWO wine bottle openers! That’s ridiculous!”

My colleague looked at me for a second and then said “well, we ARE Catholic”

That still makes me laugh thinking back on it today.

But what a good God we do have that gives us so many good things. Why would we ever lose our trust in Him or turn away from Him? The gospel reading for today touches on that same theme.

The Gospel Acclamation, taken from John chapter 6, verses 63 and 68, states:

“Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life;
you have the words of everlasting life.”

This is exactly what Simon Peter says to the Lord, when asked if the disciples would leave him:

“Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe
and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

… to whom shall we go?

Where else will we find eternal life? Jesus is the AUTHOR of eternal life! There is no other way. There is no other place to turn, and really live…

As I was planning out the podcast this summer, I struggled to find a song that communicates this concept well –

“to whom shall we go?”

I didn’t find any song that really hit the mark, so with the help of the Holy Spirit, I composed my own, attempting to achieve a simple and timeless melody. Here is “O Lord, to Whom Shall We Go?”

That was my original composition “O Lord, to Whom Shall We Go?” – written and recorded just this summer, specifically for this Sunday and for this Podcast. There is also a Spanish version of the same.

You can find links to the sheet music and recordings of each individual song from this podcast in the show notes, or on TheModernPsalmist.com.

Thanks for joining me for the beginning of Season 3! See you next week for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. God Bless you.