L.O.V.E.

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

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This month has marked the first time that I was welcomed as a guest liturgical musician at a parish since March 2020! Our local Catholic community in Arizona invited me to sing at all of the weekend Masses, to give a brief announcement toward the end of each liturgy, and to offer books and CD’s for sale afterward.

Back in 2020, it was pouring rain on my final weekend of ministry. I was on tour in Portland, Oregon, then, where it often rains a lot. This month, when I resumed liturgical ministry, it was likewise pouring rain—in the desert! More rare. To have my family present for the first weekend back was incredible, too. 

The streets were flooded! I wasn’t sure whether we could make it over to the church in our minivan. But between singing for liturgies, I returned home and picked up David and our three daughters (our 10-year-old son Jamal stayed with me all day)! We drove cautiously through massive puddles, and then attended the Spanish-language Mass.

The word “amor,” stood out to me. (That’s “love,” in Spanish.)

After singing at 5 Masses, selling a lot of books and albums, and meeting many new people, we came home from church. I lit a candle, listened to jazz music, and reflected on the week. It was the culmination of my first week of touring since 2020. Nat King Cole, arguably my favorite artist, came on the Pandora radio station.

“L, is for the way you look at me.
O, is for the only one I see.
V, is very, very, extraordinary.
E, is even more than anyone that you adore...”

That song stayed with me through the week. Over the past few weeks since then, I’ve been to New York City (to give a concert in Manhattan), to Grand Rapids (to write, and to visit family), and there’ll be concerts in South Bend and Kansas City before the end of the month. All the while, I feel a called into a heightened awareness of God’s love.

It’s tempting to look back on all that has happened since March of 2020 and to simply think, “What the heck?!” It’s alluring to listen to the terror on all sides of what might befall the world now. But like romantic jazz music, the Lord is singing to me of His love. I feel compelled to hold on to the childlike faith that carried us through the pandemic this far.

In what ways are you being called to trust in God’s love today?

I recently watched an episode of The Chosen in which Jesus meets Nathanael. Jesus describes Nathanael as, “a true Israelite.” When Nathanael questions how Jesus knows him, the Lord responds, “I saw you under the fig tree.”

In the dramatized version of this story, Nathanael had recently spent torturous moments crying out to God from underneath a fig tree. When Jesus points toward those moments, Nathanael recognizes him as the Son of God.

Where’s your fig tree? Is there any moment of late when you’ve called out to God in bewilderment or despair? Maybe we, like Nathanael, are being prepared to recognize God’s love for us in new ways. Maybe in our own moments of utter confusion, somehow the Spirit is preparing a new path in our hearts.

Nat King Cole sang,

“Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart, but please don’t break it
Love was made for me and you.” 

I would take that sentiment a step farther and say that the Lord of Love made us for His love. And that God sent His Son to become a man out of love for us. God, who is Love, is for us. If Love is for us, what can stand against us?

Sincerely,

One starry-eyed artist

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Dick Safranski
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Carrie Brzezinski

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