Year D Psalms: Restarting with Breath Prayer

I’m attempting a series exploring the Psalms in year D.  Many churches use the revised common lectionary that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C).  Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others.  

I began this series in Lent 2020.  These blog posts include examples of meditation or spiritual discipline or mindfulness exercises.  Here are the links: Ash Wednesday: Psalm 102; 1st Sunday in Lent: Psalm 6; 2nd Sunday in Lent: Psalm 143; 3rd Sunday in Lent: Psalm 38; 4th Sunday in Lent: Psalm 39; 5th Sunday in Lent: Psalm 101; 6th Sunday in Lent Psalm 94 or Psalm 35.  I went a different direction during Holy Week and dropped the Psalms for a while, but I’m hoping to pick them back up again. 

Moving forward, instead of offering a smattering of mediations or exercise, I have decided to include breath prayers mostly because this is the practice that I engage in most often, so it feels authentic to include it.  Sometimes, I simply manage my breathing as I would when I was singing as a warmup and strengthening exercise.  This practice helps me to feel centered, strong, and connected with myself and the divine.  Sometimes, I add words or intentions for the inhalation and exhalation as in the picture below.

I’m going to try to move forward with the Psalms so that it might be useful for worship in the coming weeks and hoping that I can also go back and pick up some of the ones I missed.  

The basic format will include breath prayer, recorded reading of the Psalm and the Lord’s Prayer, notes, reflections, and prayer… lots of breath prayer… this project is a little more than I’ve taken on before and I’m already feeling overwhelmed.

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The following section has been edited to add links to blog posts throughout this journey.

Holy Week: Palm Sunday, 6th Sunday in Lent Psalm 94 or Psalm 35, Maundy Thursday Psalm 115 or 113, Good Friday Psalm 88, Holy Saturday (Great Vigil) Psalms 7, 17, 44, 57 or 108, 119:145-176, 149.

The Season of Easter: Resurrection of the Lord (Easter) Psalm 71:15-24 or Psalm 75 or Psalm 76, 2^nd Sunday in Easter Psalm 64 or Psalm 119:73-96, 3^rd Sunday in Easter Psalm 60 or 108, 4^th Sunday in Easter Psalm 10, 5^th Sunday in Easter Psalm 49: (1-12) 13-20, 6^th Sunday in Easter Psalm 129, Ascension Thursday Psalm 119:145-176, 7^th Sunday in Easter Psalm 115, and Pentecost Sunday Psalm 119:113-136.

Then we move into “ordinary time” which is broken up into sections throughout the liturgical year.  Remember that the year starts with Advent (I started this adventure in Lent) so some of the ordinary Sundays have already happened.

Trinity -Ordinary Time- Christ the King: Trinity Sunday Psalm 35, 9^th Sunday in Ordinary time Psalm 142, 10^th Sunday in Ordinary time Psalm 74, 11^th Sunday Psalm 7, 12^th Sunday Psalm 55, 13^th Sunday Psalm 56, and 14^th Sunday Psalm 57 or Psalm 3.

The Apocalyptic Discourse 15^th -19^th Sundays in Ordinary time: 15^th Sunday Psalm 17:8-14(15) or Psalm 83, 16^th Sunday Psalm 54, 17^th Sunday Psalm 50 or Psalm 105, 18^th Sunday Psalm 59, and 19^th Sunday Psalm 37.

Prelude to the Passion 20^th -23^rd Sundays in Ordinary time: 20^th Sunday Psalm 58, 21^st Sunday Psalm 140, 22^nd Sunday Psalm 68 or Psalm 120 or Psalm 82, and 23^rd Sunday Psalm 141.

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ 24^th – 33^rd Sundays in Ordinary time: 24^th Sunday Psalm 92, 25^th Sunday Psalm 25, 26^th Sunday Psalm 136, 27^th Sunday Psalm 41, 29^thSunday Psalm 38 or Psalm 55, 30^th Sunday Psalm 33: (1-10) 13-22, 31^st Sunday Psalm 31or Psalm 40, 32^nd Sunday Psalm 71, 33^rd Sunday Psalm 77, Christ the King Psalm 87 and Psalm 117, and All Saints Day Psalm 107.

This is the end of the liturgical year.  If I decide to keep going to finish Year D, I would have to pick up Advent/Christmas/Epiphany/Ordinary days from the beginning that I didn’t get to yet.  We’ll see where this goes.  Just typing out the list is overwhelming… 

The Advent –  Christmas – Epiphany Cycle: First Sunday in Advent Psalm 18, 2^ndSunday in Advent Psalm 106 or Psalm 95, 3^rd Sunday in Advent Psalm 81 or 95, 4^thSunday in Advent Psalm 144, Christmas Eve Psalm 21, Christmas Morning Psalm 44, Christmas Day Psalm 35 or 94, First Sunday of Christmas Psalm 110, Second Sunday of Christmas Psalm 73, Epiphany Psalm 75 or 76, Baptism of the Lord (1^st Sunday in Ordinary time) Psalm 69, 2^nd Sunday in ordinary time Psalm 109, 3^rd Sunday in ordinary time Psalm 89, 4^th Sunday in ordinary time Psalm 34, 5^th Sunday in ordinary time Psalm 28, 6^th Sunday in ordinary time Psalm 12, 7^th Sunday in ordinary time Psalm 119, 8^th Sunday in ordinary time Psalm 61 and Transfiguration Sunday Psalm 11.