D.S. al Coda: Go to the Sign of the Cross, Then proceed to the End

This Sunday the LBC Choir is singing a hymn of the Church that is partly ancient and partly brand new.   The hymn is "Of the Father's Love Begotten".  I wrote an accapella arrangement of this hymn that begins with a text that was a Latin poem by the Roman poet Aurelius Prudentius, born in the year 348 AD.  250 years ago it was translated in English and set to a plainchant melody called Divinum Mysterium which first appeared in print in 1582.  It is one of the most beautiful melodies ever sung in worship of our God, and it actually first appeared in a manuscript form as early as the 10th century.   Here is where the brand new part comes in.   I re-wrote the 2nd and 3rd verses.  Prudentius' first verse is about the origin of the love of God which existed before the creation of this world!  He states that God is the beginning and the end.  And in his words, penned about 1,635 years ago, Prudentius spoke how all the things that are, have ever been, or would be seen by f

The LBC Choir is singing this Kirk Franklin song: You don't have to worry, and don't you be afraid.  Joy comes in the morning, troubles they don't last always.  For there's a friend named Jesus who will wipe your tears away, And if your heart is broken just lift your hands and say, "Oh, I know that I can make it!  With Him I know I can stand!  No matter what may come my way, my life is in your hands!" When I was a kid I loved Mad Magazine's Alfred E. Newman with his, "What, me worry?" silly grin on his freckled face. If you are under 30 you might need a reminder: I have always said that there are only 2 things in life you can worry about: a) Things you can do something about, and b) Things you can do nothing about.  The simple logic followed that if you can do something about it, then do it!  And if you can't do anything about it, why worry?--There's nothing you can do about it! Then reality sets in.  Life is full of thi

Have you ever celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles ?  Most of us do not even know what that is.  A tabernacle is a temporary dwelling place.  In Hebrew it is called a "sukkah", and so this Festival is also called "Sukkot".  The sukkah is intended to remind us of the type of fragile dwellings in which the Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of travel in the desert after the Exodus from slavery in Egypt.  This eight-day Festival also depicts the wonderful world tomorrow that will be established when Jesus Christ returns to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords and Tabernacle among us once again during His Millenial reign here on earth. Here is where we are commanded to keep this Divine Appointment wthYHWH: Leviticus 23:33-43 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 34 Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord ... on the first day there shall be a sabbath- r