Your words, O Lord, are spirit and life

Today’s song from Sing Praise is a gospel acclamation or antiphon by the Catholic composer Bernadette Farrell: “Your words, O Lord, are Spirit and life”.  Like the ones I described on 14 February and 17 April, it is used in some churches before and/or after the reading of the Gospel.    The congregational response is “Alleluia! your words, O Lord, are spirit and life. Alleluia, open our hearts to your word”. This is sung twice before the chant (if it’s unfamiliar to the congregation this might be once by a soloist, then everyone joining in), and once afterwards as a response.  Depending on local custom it might also be repeated after the reading.

Three chants are given, but they are for different seasons of the year and it’s not intended that all three would be used on any one occasion. The chant for Easter is “Rejoice and sing, all the earth, for the night is gone. Our God has raised us up from death in Christ Jesus the Son”. There are also chants for Advent and Christmas seasons.

The intention behind all acclamations of this kind is, I would suggest, threefold: to make sure the congregation is fully alert to hear what is often considered the most important of the readings from the Bible (standing and singing is a great way to shake off any drowsiness); to remind us that the Gospels are all about Jesus who is still alive (in one way or another, these chants are all addressed to him); and to stir up a sense of excitement (they are all set to a lively tune in a major key).  Hearing the Bible read should always leave us with a sense of having encountered God in some way, however small, but with this preparation it’s easier to approach the Gospel with a sense of expectancy.