Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today’s readings from the Prophet Joel and the Gospel according to Luke highlight the necessity of repentance. In the former reading, Joel calls us to “Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing,” while in the second, the twin images of the lost sheep and the lost coin remind us that “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Read the passages here. (Click on “Morning Prayer” at the top of the page.)

In the spirit of these lessons, I would like to share a very simple and beautiful expression of repentance, a modern rendering of part of Psalm 51, that central text of repentance, in Aramaic. The chant accompanies images from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, a place of beauty and poignance for pilgrims seeking the site of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

I have been surprised and moved by the story of the four siblings who sing in this recording. You can learn more about them here.

Yours in Christ,

—Justin