God Has Chosen Me

The song I played Sunday for the offering was "God Has Chosen Me" by Bernadette Farrell and performed by the St. Thomas More Group on their CD "God Beyond All Names." There are some excellent songs on this CD. My favorites are "God Has Chosen Me" (of course), "God, Beyond All Names" and "God of Abraham Litany".

When I was at St. Mary's Church, waiting for the Christmas Musicale to start, I was leafing through their hymnbooks. One they have is "Gather" which has a lot of contemporary Catholic songs, and "God Has Chosen Me" is in it, along with some other songs by Bernadette Farrell. I'm going to purchase a copy of "Gather" so we'll be able to sing "God Has Chosen Me."

Rivers of Babylon

Several people asked what song I used during the sermon last Sunday. The song is "Rivers of Babylon" by Jessica Meyer + IKAR. IKAR is a Jewish spiritual community in Los Angeles, and Sharon Brous is their rabbi. I heard the song on NPR's Speaking of Faith. The episode was "Days of Awe" about the Jewish high holy days. You can listen to the whole song on Speaking of Faith's Playlist, as well as listen to the whole program.

Priorities for December

I just received this email article by Tom Bandy. The Tom Bandy/Bill Easum/Bill Tenny-Brittian E-zine has some great content.

Bandy said that December is not the month for pastors to do more. He said, "I am not responsible for making Christmas meaningful for everybody else. I am only responsible for getting close to Jesus myself. If I can personally experience the real presence of Christ, then Christ will use me, shine through me, and bless others."

Perhaps that should be the Christmas priority for everyone, not just pastors: getting close to Jesus. And then others will be blessed through us.