Sep 9 Wed
Let us sing to the Lord a song of love.
Pope Leo XIV has highlighted the importance of sacred music in the liturgy, calling for the Church’s musical heritage to be preserved while fostering healthy inculturation of local traditions.
“Music, indeed, is part of the liturgical action and is not merely a decorative part of the celebration,” Leo said. “In particular, music expresses the affective dimension of prayer.
“Singing also fosters communion. It contributes to the unity of hearts, overcoming differences between people and bringing everyone together in praise of God through the symphony of voices,” he added.
St. Augustine says: ‘Singing belongs to those who love.’”
“Sing to the Lord a new song; his praise is in the assembly of the saints." We are urged to sing a new song to the Lord, as new men who have learned a new song. A song is a thing of joy; or rather, it is a thing of love. Anyone who has learned to love his new life in Christ has learned to sing a new song, and the new song reminds us of our new life. The new man, the new song, and the new covenant all belong to the one kingdom of God; so, the new man will sing a new song and belong to the new covenant.
We all love something, but the question is, what to love. The psalms do not tell us not to love, but to choose the object of our love. But how can we choose unless we are first chosen? We cannot love unless someone has loved us first. Listen to the apostle John: “We love Him, because He first loved us." Man can love God only because God loved him first. He has given us Himself as the object of our love, and He has also given us the strength to love.
You may learn clearly from the apostle Paul what this strength is: “The love of God has been poured into our hearts." This love is not something we generate ourselves; it comes to us “through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
So, let us love God with the love He has given us. As John tells us more fully: “God is love, and whoever dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him."
All of us have been born again in Christ, and our life is from above. Listen to me; or rather, listen to the Holy Spirit saying through me: “Sing to the Lord a new song." Look, you tell me, I am singing. Yes indeed, you are singing; you are singing clearly; I can hear you. But make sure that your life does not contradict the words of your song. Sing with your voices, sing with your hearts, sing with your lips, but, mostly, sing with your lives: “Sing to the Lord a new song."
Now, you desire to sing to him whom you love, but you ask me how to sing his praises. You wish to know what praises to sing. The answer is: “His praise is in the assembly of the saints"; it is in the singers themselves. If you desire to praise Him, then live what you express: Love your neighbor. Live good lives, and you yourselves will become a praise to God who made you so.