Sing a New Song: The Psalms in the Sunday Lectionary

Irene Nowell

Jan 1993 · Liturgical Press

About this ebook

The Hebrew Scriptures relate many instances of the people of God breaking into song when they experience the presence of God in their lives. Where is that song of praise in the Christian's life today?

The responsorial psalm of the Sunday liturgy both summarizes the Word of God for the day and invites the community to join, mind and spirit, in affirming their part in that Word. Many books have examined the readings of the Sunday Lectionary. Sing a New Song focuses on the psalms (1991 NAB translation), grouping them by genre, then considering each in its relationship to the set of readings it accompanies.

While the insights of scholarship are used, the intent of the work is to inspire more insightful and imaginative celebration of God's Word. It will therefore be of service to those who preach the Word, those who plan the liturgy and provide music, and most of all to everyone who prays and is nourished by the Sunday readings.

About the author

Irene Nowell, OSB, is a Benedictine of Mount St. Scholastica in Atchison, Kansas, where she has lived for almost sixty years. An accomplished theologian and biblical scholar, Nowell is a past president of the Catholic Biblical Association and the author of Numbers (of the New Collegeville Bible Commentary); Sing a New Song: The Psalms in the Sunday Lectionary; Women in the Old Testament; and Pleading, Cursing, Praising; all published by Liturgical Press. She is also a member of the editorial board of Give Us This Day (Liturgical Press).