POTHE PATRONAL FEAST DAY, SOLEMNITY of the MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD
(CORPUS CHRISTI)

In honor of this weekend's Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood, also our Patronal Feast Day, the Parish of the Holy Eucharist is pleased to offer Adoration Vigil, sacred music and high liturgy at Sacred Heart.  The 4 PM Mass at Sacred Heart will offer music chanted by the Women’s Schola.   Following Mass, the Schola will sing sacred music centered on the Blessed Sacrament for the first hour of the all-night vigil.  The Adoration Vigil will conclude in the morning with the Men’s Schola - “Monks of the Morning” - singing sacred texts appropriate to the Feast prior to the 8 AM Mass.  Mass will be followed quite literally by a feast: a continental breakfast.  The 11 AM Mass at Sacred Heart will be offered in the Sung Mass tradition, with Fr Cartwright, celebrant and Adult SATB Choir.  


If you are unable to attend any of these Masses or events in person, you will find at our parish website a video of adoration accompanied by the entrance chant appropriate for the feast of Corpus Christi. 

ADORATION LINK

“NOTES” FROM THE DIRECTOR of SACRED MUSIC on the SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI and the ROLE OF SACRED MUSIC
JUNE 11th

Why focus as we are on our Patronal Feast Day?  Why go to such lengths?  Is it just about building community? Singing sacred music?  Adoring?  How does this Feast differ from, say the 13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, which occurs next weekend?

The Eucharist’s centrality in the life of the Church is the answer.  It is neatly described by the Catechism of the Catholic Church as the “sum and summary of our faith” (No. 1327).  Indeed, the Second Vatican Council’s famous reiteration of this reality in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, calls the Eucharist the “source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, No. 11).

In fact, when this Solemnity was first declared in 1264 by Pope Pope Urban IV, he turned to St Thomas Aquinas, papal theologian, to compose new liturgical texts for this newly instituted universal feast.  St Thomas was a chief defender of Christ’s true presence in the Eucharist, a corporeality that was up for debate at the time, and it was he in fact who defined for the church transubstantiation.  We still sing many of St Thomas’ texts today, the most well recognized of which is probably Pange Lingua, sung at the closing Eucharistc procession of the Holy Thursday liturgy.  

Additionally, the text of another Aquinas hymn, Adore Te Devote, remains a beloved part of our sacred music canon.  Adore Te Devote will be sung this weekend both at the start and at the conclusion of the all-night Adoration Vigil.

CHORAL MUSIC WORTH HEARING
https://pothe.org/choral-music-worth-hearing
If you are interested in listening to other sacred music selections to enhance your knowledge of this beautiful Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood, head on over to a special page dedicated to Corpus Christi Sacred Music. 
CORPUS CHRISTI SACRED MUSIC
The first musical selection is a 4-part setting of Cibavit Eos, the Introit for Corpus Christi, by English composer William Byrd. 

The second is a Gregorian chant setting of the same Introit text whose video highlights tapestries and other religious art that underscore just how long we as Catholics have adored the Eucharist and processed with the Blessed Sacrament on this feast.  

Additionally, I've included two versions of the ancient Sequence Lauda Sion, the ancient hymn version penned by St. Thomas Aquinas.  (The other version is a choral-orchestral version written by the 19^th century Romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn, appropriate for a concert setting.  Note the grandeur with which Mendelssohn sets the text, especially the first choral entrance accompanied by brass.)

In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, although optional, the Sequence is recited or sung after the second reading at Mass. Since it is lengthy, the Lectionary provides for the following shortened portion of it to be used:

 Lo! the angel’s food is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
see the children’s bread from heaven,
which on dogs may not be spent.

Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a victim willing,
Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
manna to the fathers sent.

Very bread, good shepherd, tend us,
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.

You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food bestow,
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the heav’nly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be. Amen. Alleluia.
Source: Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition

If you’re lucky, you’ll hear the Lauda Sion Sequence sung at Masses this weekend.   You'll definitely hear it chanted at the 11 AM High Mass at Sacred Heart.

Happy Feast Day!

-Jen Runge, Director of Sacred Music

Give me justice, O God, 

and plead my cause against a nation that is faithless.  From the deceitful and cunning rescue me, 

for you, O God, are my strength.

Amen, Amen dico vobis

Amen, Amen I say to you:

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, 

it remains a single grain. 

But if it dies, 

it bears much fruit. 

• A setting of the Entrance Antiphon  Oculi Mei  "My eyes are always on the Lord..."  in Latin and sung by a single cantor
• One of the great musical masterpieces of the church and an example of “outstanding” Renaissance art:  Sicut Cervus (As the deer longs for running streams) More reflections on this amazing song to pray by here:   https://blog.adw.org/2010/06/music-to-long-by/
• From Brahms Requiem "How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place" - with text that hints at the Communion antiphon  " The sparrow finds a home...and the swallow a nest...  by your altars O Lord...Blessed are they who dwell in your house...."
• and bonus track below  "and the swallow"  a novel - and Covid-compliant -  take on Psalm 84!

SECOND WEEK OF LENT
A few things this week:

I've compiled some Lenten Musical Resources for your ongoing listening pleasure on the webpage Weekend Music Selections.  If you find yourself yearning for background music to any of your Lenten prayer time there may be something there for you. Check it out:   https://pothe.org/music-selections

Choral Music Worth Hearing has some additional offerings this week:  another setting of the Agnus Dei:  Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.  A rendition of Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs by an amazing choir from Ghana.  And in honor of the glory of our Lord transfigured proclaimed in the Gospel reading this Sunday - A Song of Christ's Glory - with words taken from Philippians 2 and arranged by Grayston Ives:

Christ Jesus was in the form of God, but he did not cling to equality with God. He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and was born in the likeness of man. Being found in human form, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even death on the cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow; in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

FIRST SUNDAY OF LENT
 

This Sunday is the First of Lent.  

I have three tracks at Choral Music Worth Hearing chosen for this First Sunday.  In addition to the Antiphon above I posted two other tracks, one in English the other Latin and from different centuries.  But the thing that most strikes me about them is this:  one selection is a "performance" while the other is "sung prayer".  

Both groups are small - just 4-5 singers - and although both are sublimely sung, there is a distinct difference between them. (And yet from the still frame of the video, they appear the same!)  It bears repeating: one selection is a "performance".  The other is "sung prayer." 

How can we tell when both are sublimely sung in a sacred space?  (Which makes me wonder - why do we often think that the most beautifully sung choral music is reserved for performance only?)  

The singing of "Remember not, Lord, Our Mercies" by a suit-clad quintet, standing in a sacred space for their recording, is chosen for its text and the delivery. Yet, there is no action in the sanctuary other than their voices and the subtle movements of the videographer.

The second group in choir robes at first glance looks and sounds as if they are in a similar situation.  Standing close together in a sacred space, singing the Agnus Dei from the Missa Secunda written by Hans Leo Hassler.  

And yet we are immediately struck by the action occurring during their singing.  

The sign of peace is occuring! And it moves directly into the Fraction Rite.  This is Mass! And this quartet sings the Agnus Dei positioned back and away from the action at the altar.  

This isn't just music at Mass.  This is music of the Mass.  

Sung prayer.  Sublime.  Adorning the most sacred liturgy we have on earth with heavenly song.  

Once upon a time Lenten music would have been all a cappella and floating through a sanctuary such as this.  Today we need to be reminded at seasonal shifts to find ways of honoring the Lenten fast even in music.  

Music ministers are advised by the experts:  Play less organ.  Limit the additional instruments.  Chant the Agnus Dei. Provide a different Mass setting.  Choose a seasonal Response.

Given the pandemic, the choral fast has been in place for almost a year now.  I yearn for the day when we can have even four singers....  that would seem a luxury!

In the meantime, we'll congregationally chant the Agnus Dei and together sing the most sublime music for our God...choirs or not....

The Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us."

-Our Father

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON: 
O sing a new song to the Lord, sing to the Lord, all the earth.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON:  
Look toward the Lord and be radiant... or 
I am the light of the world....

Choral Music Worth Hearing


This Sunday, the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, I'm struck by the emphasis on God's enduring mercy towards us.  From the first reading through the Gospel, the people of God receive instruction to repent and believe, for in doing so they will be welcomed by a merciful and loving God.  What better words capture this forgiving spirit than those of the Lord's prayer - "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us"?   Although we are not singing the Our Father at masses this weekend, I thought I'd  offer a sung rendition with the above setting of the "Pater Noster." 

Settings of Cantate Domino (Sing to the Lord!) and God be in my Head (a plea to enact the life he has called us to) may be listened to at Choral Music Worth Hearing.
 

END OF CHRISTMASTIDE, RETURN TO ORDINARY TIME  - Jan, 2021

Bound by seasons we are, even in the Church. And it is important to note that the boundaries of these seasons are defined by liturgical cues:  change in vestment color, change in decorative arts, change in music as well.  Thus as we come to the end of our celebration of Christmas, you will find that we as Church sing out Christmas hymns one last time, feast our eyes upon the glorious reds of the poinsettias and evergreen boughs, adore the creche, before all is safely tucked away.  To be sure, next week when we return to the green of Ordinary Time we will intuitively know that there is something ordinary ushered in:  and one of the ways we will achieve that is through our musical mass setting.  

The mass settings are known as the ORDINARY of the Mass - in other words it means the texts do not change from week to week.  The prescribed words are our collective affirmations Mass after Mass, and for the Assembly this is our prayer in song.  Much like the Mass PROPERS (the texts which do change from week to week, and are appropriately adorned musically) it is fitting that our ORDINARY prayers connect us to both heaven and earth with a musical nod to the liturgical time.  Thus, for Advent and Lent we adopt a more chantlike, meterless musical setting to help all enter into the penitential nature of those seasons.  Christmas and Easeter are adorned by a lively and sprightly setting that serve to stir the joy within.  And Ordinary Time - which serves as a bridge between these seasons - allows us a chance to be a bit more pedantic, more reflective but still with a joy kept "under the hood" if you will.  Our return to the Mass Setting of St Frances Cabrini next weekend heralds this new season and together we sing aloud our acclamations of hope and peace, praise and belief.  May our songs be ever more filled with grace as we storm heaven with our collective prayer.

 Advent BEAUTY
"The vocation of musicians is to reveal the beauty of God through sound."  - Catholic Herald, Nov. 2019

My brain goes in all directions when I'm choosing music for liturgy.  Seeking out excellent texts, making sure they are theologically sound.  Beautiful melodies, but still singeable. Interesting harmonies or chords, perhaps with special little harmonic "somethings" that tickle the ear a certain way.  Lots of directions.  Gets me bogged down at times.  

In conversation recently with a friend who also leads music at his church, the topic of Church Music came up. And essentially in the middle of the conversation I stopped and said, Wait.  Who am I to be asked to lead the congregation in their worship and their prayer?  Hasn't this already been done by Mother Church? Why should my tastes and desires be imposed on anyone?    Everyone who sits in the pews will have a different aesthetic preference.  At the end of it all don't we just need to order ourselves toward beautiful and reverent worship to our God?  Not perfect some complicated music offering so that our earthly aesthetics are tickled?

And then I said this, "Maybe Gregorian Chant was right all along.  It's all about the text.  It's about Scripture.  Just take what the Church asks us to proclaim each and every day (or Sunday) through Scripture and elevate it just so....spoken to chanted....so that it becomes an homage woven throughout our liturgy....taking the stylistic preference away and level the musical playing field as it were...no, elevate it...so that all who hear it are immediately touched by the SOUND OF THE SACRED."

Church should look sacred.  It should smell sacred.  It should feel sacred.  It should sound sacred.  Again,  "The vocation of musicians is to reveal the beauty of God through sound."    We enter into Church, stepping OUT of day to day into divine space....   

If Church looks and smells and sounds like our homes or the inside of our car, then have we really left Day to Day behind and moved closer to Divine Space?

And while we're talking about leaving the outside world behind when we step into the transendence of Mass.....   Advent music is not Christmas music.  So for the next four weeks you will not be hearing what you're hearing on your car radios, Spotifys, iTunes and googleplays.   Advent music is about waiting. And preparing.  The internal stripping away of excess and the paired down liturgies.  (Notice: no Gloria!)  It all coalesces into that something "other" that prepares the way of the Lord...  Let's not be too eager to get to Dec 24.  Church has provided musical paths - all well worn and trod over the centuries - to guide our pilgrimage to the creche.    You'll hear the shift to yearning in the musical texts this weekend...

O Come O Come
Come Lord Jesus
Maranatha
The King Shall Come
O Come Divine Messiah
Wait for the Lord
Soon and Very Soon

And beginning in the final week of Advent the shift to the O Antiphons will guide our way ever forward.  To be continued.

IN CASE YOU MISSED LAST WEEK:
ABOUT THE MUSIC: Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe NOVEMBER 22, 2020 The more I study, the more I realize how much I just don't know.  Sigh.  Well, back to the books and the deep dive into appropriate liturgical music for Church.  I pray that our ears will be opened to the treasures of our faith and the ancient melodies that accopany their truths.

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 33nd Sunday in Ordinary Time NOVEMBER 15, 2020
De Profundis


Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark our iniquities: O Lord, who can abide it? For with Thee there is mercy: and by reason of Thy law I have waited on Thee, O Lord. My soul hath waited on His word: my soul hath hoped in the Lord. From the morning watch even unto night: let Israel hope in the Lord. For with the Lord there is mercy: and with Him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

I'm feeling really torn this week.  One the one hand, a musical rendition of De Profundis ("Out of the Deep/Depths") which speaks of the powerful Catholic prayer said to aid the souls in Purgatory, is a worthy addition to our Choral Music Worth Hearing list for this month of November.  On the other hand I've just done a search on Youtube for the quote "well done, good and faithful servant" from this weekend's Gospel reading and stumbled upon this gem, "Well Done" sung by the Visions Children's Choir.  It goes against my musical standards in so many ways:  its catchy and poppy, the kids are singing outside on a mountaintop rather than inside a church.  You may find this one captures the end times with more immediacy for you due to its highly personal approach.  That's the thing with music.  If we feel a personal connection to a piece of music, then we say it moves us, and we end up liking it more and if we "like" it more then we give it our stamp of approval.  I really "like" the Rutter Requiem De Profundis because I remember being in high school choir and touring the Rutter Requiem with our chamber orchestra in which I played 2nd flute.  That memory is powerful to be sure.  Does my peference for this version make it more appropriate for liturgy than say the children's choir version?  Well, there's the rub.  We can't go by feelings.  Liturgical music needs to be SACRED. Cut off.  Separate from ordinary life.  Transcendent.  So my personal opinion in the end is really worth very little.  When you look objectively at both selections and consider them for liturgy - well, they BOTH fall short.  And that's how it goes week after week at the Parish.    One can never be sure we're hitting the right "transcendent" notes with the musical selections.  As Fr Phil said this week in his Pastor's Pondering, when the choirs and congregation are singing and the majestic instruments are playing  "...we are present here on earth in worship, participating at the same time in the divine worship of heaven, preparing ourselves to enter the Kingdom of God." 

Well that's awesome when you think about it.  But here we are mid-pandemic and so far from that reality.  Although the silenced choirs and sidelined instrumentalists are always on the periphery of my planning (because you just don't nevah know.... )  we choose the common, the well-known, the middle of the road for the hymns.  And when I read that our Bishop's letter to the Governor in which his requests for dialogue fell on deaf ears I send up yet another prayer, "Lord, how long?" because we remain right where we've been for the past 8 months.  Stuck.  How creative can we get with the hymns when we're allowed one cantor, one instrumentalist?  Which cantors can sing the antiphons?  Which themes are pre-eminent and can successfully be brought to life this week?  Will there be an uprising of complaint that Church is just punching the clock, week after week. Does anyone see that we are getting oddly used to a stripped down liturgy, the priest serving as lector, the cantor serving as choir, the congregation serving as mostly silent witness?  If we accept so readily a lack of pomp and celebration at a liturgy that should at minimum be a foretaste of heaven, then where - spiritually, culturally, musically -are we headed?  I guess I wait every week for someone to complain.  And it never comes.  Except in my own head.  Where will I be at the end of times when judged on how we handled ourselves during this Covidtide?  Will I have done all I can in the small matters to lift up the liturgy's musical components so that earth truly reaches heaven?  Was I a good and faithful servant with the talents God gave me?

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time NOVEMBER 8, 2020

Ten bridesmaids awaited the return of the bridegroom.  Five were ready with extra oil to keep the lamps burning to illuminate his path.  The others were not.   Themes of sharing, preparedness, anticipation for end times, being known for doing what we ought -  and turned away when we don't - all emerge from this well-known parable.  The treasury of music inspired by this Gospel is indeed rich.  Take a listen to what I've posted at Choral Music Worth Hearing for more examples.  

This weekend at church the Music Ministers have tried to strike a balance between the Gospel Theme and several other key components:  continued gratefulness for our many blessings in this month of Thanksgiving, acknowledgment of events on the national stage (election and upcoming Veteran's Day),  expression of our belief in the source and summit of our faith in the true presence of the Eucharist with Communion Antiphons and Hymns that speak to this truth, and a nod to our social justice arm where we give to HAITI in a special collection this weekend.  That's a lot! No one Mass or church site will be able to achieve it all but our overall Parish music ministry will.  Remember that when you worship in SONG your prayer is doubled - once as the intellectual exercise of connecting your mind to the text and secondly as the physical act of singing - connecting your breath and body to the song.  Therefore you pray twice!

ABOUT THE MUSIC: ALL SAINTS DAY
NOVEMBER 1, 2020
Two musical themes to consider this weekend and into November:  First, the martyrdom of the many saints who gave their all for the sake of the Gospel.  Second, remembrances of our dearly departed loved ones and  reminiscences of LIGHT, a most fitting tribute it seems as we turn back the clocks, plunge deeper into darkness and await Lux Aeterna, the Eternal Light.  



 

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 30th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
October 25, 2020

Hmmm.  What do the Popes say about Sacred Music?

The liturgy is inherently linked to beauty: it is veritatis splendor.  Beauty, then, is not mere decoration, but rather an essential element of the liturgical action since it is an attribute of God himself and his revelation.
- Pope Benedict XVI

As a manifestation of the human spirit, music performs a function which is noble, unique and irreplaceable. When it is truly beautiful and inspired it speaks to us more than all the other arts of goodness, virtue, peace, matters holy and divine.  Not for nothing has it always been, and will it always be, an essential part of the liturgy.
- Pope Saint John Paul II

Not just any music, but holy music, because rituals are holy; endowed with the nobility of art, because God must be given the best; universal, so that everyone can understand and celebrate.  Above all, clearly distinct and different from that used for other purposes.  Your dedication to the liturgy and its music represents a way of evangelization at all levels, from children to adults. 
In fact, the liturgy is the first 'teacher' of catechism. 
- Pope Francis
 

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 29th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 
October 16, 2020
Sacred music should consequently possess, in the highest degree, the qualities proper to the liturgy, and in particular sanctity and goodness of form,
which will spontaneously produce the final quality of universality.
—Pope St. Pius X
At various times during the past few years we've been charged as staff to "think about" and "initiate education" for the Parish that would illuminate a specific staff-chosen theme.  Last year's theme was THE EUCHARIST and THE WORD.  With that directive in mind, I gathered together various choral versions of Ave Verum Corpus, to my mind the definitive Catholic text on the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and dove in with the SH Choir, teaching them anthems to be sung during the Fall, specifically November.  My plan had been to then spend another month in the Spring adding to our catalogue of repertoire  - post Holy Week/Easter - singing new Ave Verum gems.  Well, Covid changed all that.

And now a new staff theme is upon us - THE MASS.  Problem is, I don't feel as if I ever finished last year's theme.  There are still Ave Verum Corpus settings I want to teach and share, many of which are either sitting in my office or in the "to be ordered" pile on my desk....  But choirs are on hold for the foreseeable future.  I may just revist some of my musings from last year and compile them and add recordings of Ave Verums we hope to get to when we can resume singing again.

In the meantime, I'm being asked what I might teach about with regards to this year's theme -  The Celebration of the Mass  - from a musical perspective.  So many things to choose from including:  

• What music best helps us encounter the mystery present at Mass? in other words, is there music that sounds more mystical or transcendent than others in the context of liturgy?
• what are the respective functions of the 4 C's: celebrant, congregation, choir and cantor.  We each have a role to play in worship.  Do we truly know and understand our own function?
• the musical SHAPE of liturgy - in other words what function does each musical component have and do we know and understand its role in how it devlops the liturgy toward consecration, the source and summit of each Mass 
• difference between pre-conciliar and post-conciliar liturgical music and what the documents REALLY say about the place of Chant in modern times.  You'll be surprised at Vatican II really said.
• personal experience with encounters with Christ within the mass when certain music was employed either by me, choir members and/or parishioners (Mass of Americas as one personal example)
• difference between ADVENT and CHRISTMAS music

Seriously people. The hour long recording "Music of Cathedrals" tabbed at the top of the page is what I'm trying to say.  There is a sound of transcendence.  And it defies words.  You know it when you hear it.  Have a listen.

-Jen

 

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 25th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
September 20, 2020 Congregational singing, even during COVID-19, can still be accomplished reverently and quietly behind your masks, and specifically during the Mass Acclamations.   

According to Joseph Jungmann "music is not merely addition to and adornment of the liturgy; it is itself liturgy, an integrating element, which belongs to the complete form of the liturgy." 

In other words, you do not sing at MASS.  You sing the MASS. 

Therefore the new Mass Setting by St Frances Cabrini is one of the many ways you can actively participate in the liturgy.  

Other ways include singing the sung responses to the celebrant's "The Lord be with you"... to which you respond..."and with your spirit"....    or singing the Psalm Responses and Gospel Acclamation. 

And of course you are free to abstain from singing if you prefer to worship silently. 
The old maxim, however, comes to mind: 
"He who sings, prays twice."  

If sung “well” (with sincerity and love), the words of a practitioner’s prayer and the music they sing each simultaneously constitute acts of worship.
In fact, they form a gestalt expression of devotion, the whole becoming greater than the sum of its parts. This merger is so effective that the
“… combination of sacred music and words, … forms a necessary or integral part of solemn liturgy.”

PROPER ANTIPHONS
Entrance Antiphon:   Salus, populi ego sum  
"I am the salvation of the people, says the Lord.  Should they cry to me in any distress, I will hear them, and I will be their Lord forever." (PSALM 36:39)
Communion Antiphon: Tu mandasti mandata tua     
"You have laid down your precepts to be carefully kept; may my ways be firm in keeping your statutes " 
(PSALM 118:4-5)  or  
"I am the Good Shepherd, says the Lord; I know my sheep, and mine know me ."  ( Jn 10:14 )  

Excerpts from the English translation of Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation, (ICEL); excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved.

-Jen

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 24th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
September 13, 2020  This weekend's Scripture reminds of God's immeasurable love and mercy toward us.  And likewise of our responsibility to love and forgive others. Even those who bug us.  A lot.  Mass plays out as a tennis match of sorts wherein we, servants, send up requests such as "Give peace, O Lord" and "Hear the prayers of your servant" and "The children of men seek shelter in the shadow of your wings." And Father-God sends back a laundry list of his demands:  "Forgive the injustice of your neighbor", "overlook the faults of others" and the big kahuna "Love one another as I have loved you."  Basically, we are asked to be merciful to one another like the Father is to us.  So much easier said than done.  At Masses this weekend we gather joyfully together with Gather Us In, For the Beauty of Earth, and Sing to the Mountains.   At Communion we reflect upon the Eucharist received with Ubi Caritas, I am the Bread and See Us Lord About Your Altar.  Antiphons flesh out the themes of mercy and forgiveness.   Your singing participation at Mass, indeed reverent and quiet behind your masks, and specifically during the Mass Acclamations is a crucial component of the celebration of the Mass.  You do not sing at MASS.  You sing the MASS.

PROPER ANTIPHONS
Entrance Antiphon:   Da Pacem, Domine   "Give peace, Lord, to those who wait for you that your prophets be found true.  Hear the prayers of your servant, and of your people, Israel." (SIRACH 36:18)

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 23rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
September 6, 2020  

Proper Antiphons, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Entrance Antiphon:   Iustus es, Domine   "You are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right; treat your servant in accord with your merciful love." (PSALM 118)

This weekend you'll hear references to LOVE (Love Divine, all Loves Excelling; Loving and Forgiving) and LIGHT (Christ be our Light).  SJ is celebrating a Sacrament Mass so selections there will reference Holy Spirit and First Eucharist.  HM and SG will close with Let There Be Peace on Earth, a possible nod to the ongoing strife in our nation.  Happy Labor Day one and all...

Communion Antiphon: Quemadmodum desiderat cervus    "Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God; my soul is thirsting for God, the living God."  (PSALM 42: 2-3)  or   "I am the light of the world, says the Lord: whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  (Jn 8:12)  

Excerpts from the English translation of Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation, (ICEL); excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved.

Look up the Proper Sunday Antiphons yourself if you're so inclined!  
http://www.liturgies.net/Liturgies/Catholic/roman_missal/ordinarymass.htm
https://parish.saintbrendan.org/antiphons-what-are-they/
https://www.ncronline.org/news/spirituality/scripture-life/using-antiphons-liturgy

MUSINGS:  THE FUNCTION OF THE DOmM (Director of Music Ministries)

I am struck time and again how my passion for Sacred Music and the Arts comes across not as PASSIONATE but as argumentative, or even, DEFENSIVE.  I'm working on it, trust me.  If I've engaged in passionate debate with you about the beauties of Gregorian chant (Happy Feast Day St Gregory!) and your eyes have rolled back at my enthusiasm, forgive me.  I've only just discovered myself the vast treasury of church music I should have learned a lifetime ago and I'm giddy with excitement for what can be.  If I've alienated you from the conversation about Antiphons because you grew up in the folk-music style, and would prefer a Gathering Song, please forgive me.  Words matter, but I've learned musical function also matters greatly in Liturgy.  I'm on a journey toward Truth, and along the way am implementing the discoveries.  I'm only this week putting all the books in order promulgated by the Bishops from 1969 through present day regarding the celebration of the Eucharist and the recommended musical rubrics.  I just read "Music in Catholic Worship" from 1972 - the year I was born!  The maddening thing for Music Ministers is the number of contradictions that spring up in the documents.  I'm not sure a Sacred Music degree at this point would help me make sense of the shifting waves of opinion over the past 50 years.  The Bishops can't even agree.  That's why I'm remaining open to hearing all the viewpoints.



As full-time Director of Music Ministries (DOMM) for POTHE for the past two years, I am grateful and appreciative for the patience of my Music colleagues and of the Parish as each week I delve deeper into learning how to "do" this job. 
Strictly speaking, I oversee the entire Parish Music Program, from Freeport to Falmouth, Yarmouth to Gray.  Fr Dan envisioned this, and hired me.   I am the point of contact for 7 Music Ministers when questions are raised about rubrics and issues - be they instrumental, choral, audio, digital, personnel or budget-driven, etc.  I consult with my colleagues regularly and provide recommendations to all when policy and/or music implementions occur parish-wide.  But they retain autonomy at each of their sites, by design.  By the way, I really do enjoy my work and my colleagues.  Gotta take a moment and give a HUGE SHOUT- OUT to the laborers this Labor Day Weekend.  We have an AMAZING team in Ron, Phil, Chip, JoJo, Dave, Matt and Kate.  It is thanks to them POTHE has maintained such a high level of Music Ministry at each MASS both pre- and during COVID.  And their work continues, as we each week find our footing, bear our crosses, reach our parishioners with music chosen specifically for each congregation, while simultaneously bracing for the myriad of restrictions that will surely accompany the upcoming Liturgical Seasons of Advent and Christmas and beyond.  Thank you friends.  Your calling and service to this Ministry does not go unnoted.

"Treat your servant in accord with your merciful love."  If ever there was a more apt antiphon for reflection, this week's Entrance Chant would be it.  We all want to be treated with merciful love.  And those of us in public ministry are servants first, no matter how much we study, pray, sing, or play.  What we do is all for the Greater Glory of God.  And it is our humble privilege to provide the Parish with a means of praying that is edifying, spiritual, sacred and holy.  And so I grow each week, not just as Musician, but as Minister.  I joke that the M in Minister is capitalized, not the one in Music.   If our congregations are at the forefront of our minds when we choose our music, then we essentially MINISTER to our congregations and to our choirs through our choices, inpsired by the Holy Spirit.  Our Ministry builds up the faithful.  Our Ministry edifies and sanctifies.  Our musical choices, laid out by Holy Mother Church, provide the means and the ingredients for Worship at the highest level.  It is my hope to inspire, by example, greater care in our choices.  As Adam Bartlett, founder of Source and Summit, writes:
The liturgy is not the place to evangelize—it presupposes faith, conversion, and initiation into the Church. But it is a place to form new evangelists into radiant beacons of Christ’s life and love who cannot help but to share the one who they love with everyone they meet. Elevating the liturgy during this time can help strengthen the core of our parishes and create a home and a culture that those who meet Christ can call their own.

He goes on to say how it is "time for Catholics to be culture-makers once more."  I love that.  That must be why each week I study and learn about our rich Catholic culture and heritage.  And I've been doing that for the past five years.  Some have heard me say it's as if I've gotten an online Doctorate in Liturgical Music in the cracks of my life. This in addition to preparing Sacred Heart for its liturgies, rehearsing the Adult Choir, founding and rehearsing the Parish Youth Schola, engaging young families in Making Music, Praying Twice classes once or twice a week. Covid has added its own set of challenges, and so I'm now learning about best practices for singing with restrictions, animating a Parish to prayerful song when they have no hymnals, engaging Music Ministers who have been devoted through a Pandemic but are missing how things "used to be"....   you get the idea.    I merely ask that if you encounter something musical that feels out of step with how we should be worshipping as Parish, you'll let me know?    

In the meantime, keep singing quietly (and reverently!) behind those masks! The angels hear you!

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 22ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 30, 2020

MUSINGS:
I would never have known that the Entrance Antiphon for last week and this are from the same Psalm if I hadn't just typed it out below.  You know that's funny.  Church has a way of putting things right in front of us, and yet we just don't see it.  Kinda like Jesus.  Been there my whole life.  Hard to see Him really, as a person, as a God, as someone with whom I am called to be in RELATIONSHIP.  Ack. That word too.  Gets me feeling funny about RELATING.  Cuz I'm an introvert. And it takes a lot to make me feel comfortable with You.  Maybe that's why I am just not very good at the praying to Jesus thing.  WAAAAAAY more comfortable singing to Him than sitting still in my house and, well, praying.  

Anyway, back to the antiphons.  Last week's was from Psalm 86: Verses 2-3  and this week's is Psalm 86: Verses 3, 5.  Now I'm curious.  Verse 3 is in both.  What did last weeks' say and what is Church trying to tell me? There must be a reason the two are consecutive.  I vaguely remember something having to do with mercy....

Proper Antiphons, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Entrance Antiphon:   Miserere mihi, Domine  "Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I cry to you all the day long. (that's verse 3) O Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of mercy to all who call to you." (PSALM 86: 3,5)
Communion Antiphon: Quam magna multitudo   "How great is the goodness, Lord, that you keep for those who fear you."  (PSALM 31: 20)  or   "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.  Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."  (Matthew 5:9-10)  or Qui vult venire "If a many wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."  (Matthew 16:24)

Excerpts from the English translation of Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation, (ICEL); excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved.

Look up the Proper Sunday Antiphons yourself if you're so inclined!  
http://www.liturgies.net/Liturgies/Catholic/roman_missal/ordinarymass.htm
https://parish.saintbrendan.org/antiphons-what-are-they/
https://www.ncronline.org/news/spirituality/scripture-life/using-antiphons-liturgy

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 21st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
August 22, 2020
Is anyone reading this?

Is there a way to find out if my musings teach you anything about the close relationship of music and liturgy?  I could go on and on about it - and with great passion - but I wonder if you the parishioners even know there's anything to learn.... please let me know if you're appreciating this....

Musical shape of liturgy is a concept I admit I've only just begun to learn more about.  The average Catholic I would venture (myself included, fully formed in the 70's and 80's) has grown up enjoying a musically SQUARE shape to Liturgy (4 hymns), not the COVID-like SHAPE of a slowly rising curve, that ultimately peaks and then tapers to nothing.  You see, notice the liturgical action of the Mass, and then notice how the music complements and makes sense of it.  The action itself moves from low to high, with the consecration at the peak of the Mass. Let's follow the music along the way and see what we shall see.

This week we're going to focus on PROCESSIONS and ANTIPHONS and the relationship between the two.  The first is a liturgical function.  The second is a Musical form.  A procession happens thrice during a Mass: Entrance, Offertory and Communion.  What happens during a Procession?  People process - they move from Point A to Point B.  Take the Entrance Procession for example:  The function of the music at that point is to cover the action of the celebrant entering the church from the back and processing  up the aisle and reverencing the altar.  Yes, we also acknowledge the assembly/congregation/people need time to gather themselves during the song as well, allowing some to slip in the back unoticed (unless its my family who -alas - stride to the front and wait garishly against the wall for the Antiphon to conclude ) or some to set their bag on the pew just so, to take off their coat, to get out their kids' snacks and books.....  All the while, there goes the celebrant up the aisle.  Lots of folks don't even watch that part.  They're still very much into themselves, still catching their breaths from racing in from the parking lot and pulling their kids off one another.  Believe me, I know.  I've been there.  You almost wish for the aisle at Sacred Heart to be longer so you have just a bit more time, just a smidge more of a buffer in which to pat down your hair and stand up and fake that smile, you know the one that says, yup, we're a mess, but hey, we're here!  The priest now faces you, watches you, and it seems as he is waiting for you and your family to pull it together.  Well, in a very large Cathedral the celebrant has more ground to cover....hence more verses alternating with the Antiphon, hence more time for the aforementioned drama to ensue.  Also, the tradition of incensing the altar takes some time at this juncture - a practice which is less common now - so the cantor needs to be sharp and time the conclusion just so.  (There's an inherent art to the music which covers the liturgical function. More on this later.)  But in a smaller church with a shorter nave, the cantor likely sings far fewer verses, if they even get to any.  And you're left missing the processional entirely because you just AREN'T THERE MENTALLY yet and the priest is off to the races with "In the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit....")  Your Amen comes out breathless because you're still sweating from the stairs and you only just found the page in the hymnal with moments to spare....

Hmmm.  Makes you wonder if the renamed Gathering Song for the people was a good idea in theory, but....

Processions.  A distinct liturgical function.  At Offertory the music covers the liturgical action of the gifts of the people being gathered up and brought to the altar as well as the offertory prayers of the priest.  A really skilled liturgical player will time the conclusion of the music to the very second the celebrant completes his actions of readying the altar for the sacrifice about to take place,  and is ready to begin the communal portion of the Eucharistic Prayer.  It's been debated back and forth whether it makes any sense for the assembly to sing at this point.  They have nothing to do so singing invovles them to a degree.  But there is also this lovely liturgical action taking place on the altar .... one could argue that they could participate by watching that unfold....all the while having their ears massaged by the lovely tones of the organ and or choir.

Communion. Another moment when function and musical offering must agree.  There's a desire among many priests for the Communion song -  "sung while one processes" - to be short, memorable and Eucharistic.  They seek for the prayer of the assembly to be on their lips as they approach the Eucharist. The whole notion of Communion these days is busy and messy, so it makes sense that the accompanying music be somewhat simple and straightforward as balance. However, the music and TEXT must have a strong sense of momentum, of motion.   Why? Because the whole nature of congregational communion is just that - busy and full of forward motion.  And yet orderly.  And so the Communion Antiphon which begins the moment the priest consumes the Eucharist - a symbol by the way of the communal nature of Communion - is just that and perfectly poised to accompany the action of the assembly coming forward in thoughtful busy internal prayer to receive the Eucharist.  Some parishioners sing as they approach, but most in my observation, do not .  And no wonder.  If you've failed up to this point to put together a complete sentence of prayer in your heart, then, by golly, you're going to get something hastily composed up there before you receive the Lord.  And singing while one processes is just not that easy, folks.  Far better to let the cantor or choir provide the musical accompaniment to your humble pilgrimage.

Next time:  The function of the Eucharistic Acclamations and the new Mass Setting coming in September
 

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 20th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME-Weekend of August 15, 2020

On vacation! Be back next week! 

Look up the Antiphons yourself if you're so inclined!  
http://www.liturgies.net/Liturgies/Catholic/roman_missal/ordinarymass.htm
https://parish.saintbrendan.org/antiphons-what-are-they/
https://www.ncronline.org/news/spirituality/scripture-life/using-antiphons-liturgy

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 19th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME-Weekend of August 9, 2020
All I ever needed to know I learned in the...Antiphons?

So I'm guessing by know you're wondering, why does she keep coming back to the Antiphons?  Just give me a little something about the hymns for the weekend and I'll be good.

Well I'll tell you .

The hymns get chosen by me and the other music ministers.  I suppose God can work through me to deliver a timely message to you each and every Sunday.  But you are relying on mere mortals to get a message across.  What if God's Word were perfect and timely and exactly what He wants you to hear?

Wouldn't you rather hear what He has to say?

So we're back to the Antiphons.  Because Church has said for millenia these are the songs and scripture passages you ought to be singing.  Today.  On this Sunday.

This is what jumps out at me from the Entrance Antiphon....DEFEND YOUR CAUSE.  Yup, we could use some Divine help right now.   FORGET NOT THE CRIES OF THOSE WHO SEEK YOU.  Anyone seeking God pretty hard right now?  I am.  GLORIFY THE LORD, WHO GIVES YOU YOUR FILL OF FINEST WHEAT.   My eye goes to FILL.  My fill.  All that I need.  If I but glorify the Lord.  Well, ok.  Will sing for food!

See what I'm getting at?  Now, if you hear "Gift of Finest Wheat" this weekend, you'll know WHY.  Or "I Sing the Mighty Power of God."  Because we're praising Him for his power and glory because we are calling on him to DEFEND US.  You want the all-powerful one right?

Oh, and then there's Peter.  Courageous enough to ask to join Christ out on the water.  He would go on and enjoin himself most perfectly to Christ's evangelization mission.  Trusting enough to begin to walk.  Human enough to begin to doubt, faith faltering as ours often does.  And that's when he got a little wet.  Perhaps as you're listening to "We Walk By Faith" you may meditate on Peter on the water.  Can you imagine yourself there?  Would you stay steady or woud you sink?

Proper Antiphons, 19th Sunday

Entrance Antiphon: "Look to your covenant, O Lord, and forget not the life of your poor ones for ever.  Arise, O God, and defend your cause, and forget not the cries of those who seek you." (PSALM 74: 20, 19, 22, 23)
Communion Antiphon:  "O Jerusalem, glorify the Lord, who gives you your fill of finest wheat."  (PSALM 147:12, 14)  or Panis, quem ego dedero  "The bread that I will give, says the Lord, is my flesh for the life of the world."  (JOHN 6:51)
-Jen

Excerpts from the English translation of Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation, (ICEL); excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THIS WEEKEND'S MUSIC: 18th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME-Weekend of August 2, 2020
Sometimes when I am pressed for time I quickly glance over the antiphons and readings for the Upcoming Sunday looking for a rough theme that might present itself, rather than sit down and really pore over the Gospel Reading.  What struck me upon a cursory glance was this: it's all about feeding us when we are hungry.  Which made me think:  What kind of hungry are we?  Real or spiritual? And what kind of food does God provide?
         
A new song is being sung at SH this weekend:  Miracle of Grace/Bread of Life by Curtis Stephan.  It was written in 2008 and it has contemporary vibe and feel.  But the text,  oh the text: 
Bread of Life, Bread of Life, Those who eat this bread shall live and never die. 
Bread of life, bread of life.  Your true presence in this holy sacrifice.
Bread of Life....


It is always about the text for me when I am selecting music.  And the garnish of melody and harmony, chant or modern style, is merely that, garnish and adornment.  But if the text says the truth and the delivery is good and beautiful, then we have something. Thank you Curtis Stephan for this sweet little piece.  Mass this morning may feel a bit like walking into the Bowdoinn Museum of Art or the Louvre.....you enter through an entrance thoroughly modern (As We Gather at Your Table) and find yourself happily lost in the Renaissance...(Chant in time of Pestilence) only to turn the corner into the Modern Wing (Miracle of Grace).....

Entrance Antiphon, 18th Sunday

Entrance Antiphon: "O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me! You are my rescuer, my help; O Lord, do not delay."
Communion Antiphon:  "You have given us, O Lord, bread from heaven, endowed with all delights and sweetness in every taste."  or "I am the bread of life, says the Lord; whoever comes to me will not hunger and whoever believes in me will not thirst."
-Jen

Excerpts from the English translation of Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation, (ICEL); excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 17th WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Weekend of July 26, 2020
Do you ever feel as if your house is divided?  Mother against children, wife against husband, humans against the mosquitoes, ticks and viruses...  Isn't it comforting what it says in the Psalm for this weekend's Sunday celebration...
God is in his holy place, God who unites those who dwell in his house; he himself gives might and strength to his people.-                                                              Entrance Antiphon, 17th Sunday

It's the word unites that jumps out at me.  My house isn't feeling very united these days.  Nor is my extended family.  And the country?  Gosh, when did we stop being the United States?  Or were we ever truly united as a nation?  As depicted in Hamilton, the Musical, the forefathers of our independence didn't always see eye to eye either....Maybe with God's help we'll get through this.

Entrance Antiphon: "God is in his holy place, God who unites those who dwell in his house; he himself gives might and strength to his people."  (Psalm 68:6-7, 36)
Communion Antiphon:  "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all his benefits" or "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.  Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God."  from the Roman Missal. (Psalm 103:2;  Matthew 5: 7-8)

-Jen

 

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 16th WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Weekend of July 19, 2020

"See, I have God for my help. The Lord sustains my soul. I will sacrifice to you with willing heart, and praise your name, O Lord, for it is good."

-Entrance Antiphon, 16th Sunday

At Sacred Heart in Yarmouth, we frequently sing from a collection of Antiphons, in the style of Gregorian Chant, composed by Adam Bartlett.  We began the practice about 3 years ago, and over the years have added to the Processional Rite the Entrance Antiphon as well.  I'm finding Adam to be a tremendous resource for me during this time of COVID when our hymnals have been taken away.  Every week he emails a template with a worship aid already filled with his chants for Entrance, Offertory and Communion.  I love everything about his worship aid.  I love the font. I love the layout. I love the pre-filled chants. I love that the chants are in English and the words are right there for the assembly to see and digest.  I love the whole thing.  And this week did not disappoint.  In addition to his template he included the following text in his email: 

This Sunday is the Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
In her wisdom,  the Church once again puts the perfect words on our lips in the sacred liturgy:
See, I have God for my help. The Lord sustains my soul.

In our times of trial as a Church, our God is our help
and the one who sustains those
who offer a sacrifice of praise to him with a willing heart.  -Adam Bartlett

The thing is, I thought the very.same.thing as I read the Entrance Antiphon text for this Sunday.  I could even hear myself saying it, "See?  I have God for my help!" as if I needed to say it loudly enough to convince my own ears.

Why have we skipped over these beautiful Antiphon texts in favor of Gathering Songs for so many years? The Propers are chock full of things to assist us as we journey from the beginning to the end of Mass.  My commitment to making sure the faith-filled people of God here these words at Mass is emboldened by Adam's liturgical work.  Thank you Adam!

Entrance Antiphon: "See, I have God for my help.  The Lord sustains my soul. I will sacrifice to you with willing heart, and praise your name, O Lord, for it is good."  (Psalm 54:6,8)
Communion Antiphon:  "The bread that I will give is my flesh for the Life of the World." (Seasonal)   or  "The Lord, the gracious, the merciful, has made a memorial of his wonder:  he gives food to those who fear him, the Lord, the gracious, the merciful."  from Roman Missal. (Psalm 111:4-5)

-Jen

ABOUT THIS WEEKEND'S MUSIC:  15th WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME - Weekend of July 12, 2020
I just finished the most amazing week attending two virtual conferences sponsored by National Liturgical organizations.  The first, which ran from 7 am - 9:30 pm, was by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, NPM for short.  The likes of Sarah Kroger, Steve Angrisanso, Lorraine Hess, Paul French, Mark Doerries and others from across this country graced our computer screens in mini-concerts, enlightening and uplifting plenary talks, and breakout sessions from how to reach your parishioner base through a computer screen to how to best handle interpersonal conflicts with Holiness.  The second began with LIVE presentations at 5 pm and ran straight through until 10 pm. This Convention was developed by the Church Music Association of America, or CMAA.  I attended this conference in person last year in Philadelphia and was transformed.  No less transforming was this virtual week, spent with many folks I'd first come to know last July.  With a foot in both worlds I sent my 2 younger daughters packing, enrolled my oldest daughter in a day-long moutain biking camp and DUG IN. I can't wait to share with all of you the fruits of my week.  Thank you to POTHE for finding room in the bottom of the 2019 budget to subsidize my registration.  This week has rekindled my spirituality, my mission, my passion for liturgical song and my heart. I have made friends with many new people in the Church music world, and no longer feel so alone up here in our vibrant Parish in Maine.  Stay tuned for more!  I am moved especially this morning by this weekend's Communion Antiphon, particularly this line:  "Blessed are they who dwell in your house, for ever singing your praise."
-Jen

ABOUT THE MUSIC: 14th WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME  - Weekend of July 5, 2020
Saving justice. Merciful love. Praise reaching to the ends of the earth.  And that's just the Entrance Antiphon text for this 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  Wow.  If we really stop and listen to those words, perhaps our hearts quicken as we realize our human errors and sins of late still qualify for God's forgiveness.  'Blessed the man who seeks refuge in him.'  Well, what are we waiting for?  Do we need an engraved invitation?  You will hear songs such as "Come to Me" and "The Summons" this weekend.  "Come to Me" directly quotes Matthew 11, where Jesus says "take up my yoke and learn from me....for I am meek and humble of heart..."  And likewise, "The Summons" asks in its opening lyric: 'Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?'  Ordinarily I am put-off by song lyrics which give Christ's exact words to the congregation.  I personally prefer we use our voices as worship to God, rather than allowing ourselves to become the voice of God.  But, if you pause for a moment and hear these songs for what they truly are - invitations - than perhaps your soul, as well, will be stirred to take Him up on His call.  
-Jen

 

13th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Weekend of June 28, 2020
For the second night in a row my middle daughter burst into tears at bedtime.  "I'm so lonely...." she finally sputtered through sobs wracking her 9 year old frame.  As I sat back down on the edge of her bed my brain spun... I glanced at the clock.  9:16 PM.  Was she going to bed too late, again?  Did she not eat enough food at dinner?  Was she feeling stressed because I had worked all day in my home office and left her and her sisters to fend for themselves?  I struggled to find words of comfort.  It was late.  I was tired.  Very tired. I'd been at this day since 4:15 am.  Deep breaths.  "I'm broken!" she wailed, going on.  "I'm one of those people with ....(pause)... problems!"  Oh boy, I thought.  This isn't good.  Against the backdrop of a global pandemic and mouting social pressures my sweet little girl was fracturing before my eyes.  I squeezed mine shut, willing God to give me something - anything - that wouldn't sound like a "lecture" coming out of my mouth. (Having been daily accused of this by my 12 year-old, my sensitivity to choosing the right words was at an all time high.  My oldest daughter and I still need to stroke the difference between discussion and lecture but that's a conversation for another day.)  "Sweetheart,"  I began, "You're not alone.  None of us are alone."  I paused. A beat passed.  " Jesus said, 'I will be with you always....' " (Hmmm. I thought - that was pretty good.  Where'd that come from?)  I kept going.  " 'I will be with you always'.....even when you're feeling tired, even when you're feeling lonely, even when you're feeling isolated, even when you're feeling anxious, even when you're feeling angry and hurt and sad and mad...."  Words kept coming.  "He said it to the disciples but it didn't just apply to them.  No, he meant it for us, too.  Us, too...Jesus is with us.  Dear Lord, please help my daughter feel your presence."  My voice was pleading.  "Please help her know your presence. Please help her believe in your presence.  Please, Lord, help her right now....."  It took a few more minutes before her rapid catch breaths slowed to a deep and more steady rhythm.  I really wanted to get out of there....all of my being wanted to go meet my husband on the couch and watch Netflix.  It was now 9:46.  I stayed put.  I stroked her back.  At last I kissed her forehead and fanned my hand across her brow.   "I love you sweetheart.  It's gonna be OK."  

There's a song I just discovered in the OCP hymnal as I was planning music for this weekend. It's called "Our God is Here."  Maybe listening to this song yesterday opened the portal of grace so the Holy Spirit flowed through me last night?  I'll never know for sure....but ...these kids get it.....so must we..... 
LISTEN:  https://youtu.be/qUzFFDB9dfc

Entrance Antiphon: "All peoples, clap your hand. Cry to God with shouts of joy!"
Communion Antiphon:  "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all within me, his holy name."  or  " O Father, I pray for them, that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you have sent me, says the Lord."

-Jen

ABOUT THE MUSIC:  THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST (CORPUS CHRISTI)
WEEKEND OF June 14, 2020

Sitting down to write about this weekend's music feels so complicated to me at the moment.  If I may be honest, I am unsettled.  I am unsettled by current racial events in our country. I am unsettled by fear of the Pandemic.  I am unsettled mostly by how the Pandemic has robbed me and you of what we are supposed to do at Liturgy, lo, expected to do at Liturgy, that is lift our voices in song.  Our songs are on hold, for now, and I am unsettled by what we music ministers may still offer you, what we may rush to give you to fill that void left by a lack of congregational singing.  What is listed below is but a scratching of the surface of what we SHOULD be doing.  The role of singing in the Liturgy has come such a long way in the last 50 years.  Yes, we sing because it helps us engage in worship.  Yes, we sing because it helps those words we sing in the texts "get into us."  Yes, we sing as a celebration, or as a petition, or as a prayer.  Although some may see we've checked off requisite boxes (Entrance, Psalm, Gospel Acclamation and Communion) it is a far cry from the full, active and conscious participation owed our Lord.  There's something about music that reaches down into the depths of our soul and helps us access the proclaimed words of Scripture, helps us to "get it."  And yet now we will recite the first great hymn of the Mass, the Gloria.  And we will refrain from singing at Offertory and Recessional.  All recommendations point to singing nothing at all.  Even these changes represent a ripping apart of our liturgy for me.  The role of music in our celebration has been suppressed due to the current Pandemic and the superspreading qualities of congregational singing.  I am grieving.  As we look to reopen our Parish in all four locations by next weekend, please be patient with the changes in Music Ministry you encounter.  And yet, oddly, there is much to be gained at this unusual time, not the least of which is allowing for liturgical music offered by the Cantor and Instrumentalist which deepens the meditative, contemplative prayer of our parishioners.  And so I am unsettled because the journey ahead is full of unknowns.  But, as I was reminded in staff meeting this past week, we are living through times much like the Apostles did, who clung to each other in fear in the Upper Room until the celebration of Pentecost arrived and the Holy Spirit descended upon them.  And then there came the waiting.  The waiting for the first early Church to get traction.  The waiting for the Lords' return.  Many, if not most of you, have spent the past 3 months waiting for a return to the Eucharist.  How fitting that many of you will get your chance this weekend on our Parish Feast Day, Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.  You'll notice the overwhelming focus on songs about gathering around a table to eat, and be nourished, by our Lord.  Welcome home.  We're glad you're here.   

Alternatives to singing include:

• humming
• beating out the response rhythmically on your body with your hand
• as a word of caution, singing while wearing your mask may leave you feeling lightheaded as it forces you to deeply rebreathe your own recycled air.  

ABOUT THE MUSIC:  THE MOST HOLY TRINITY
WEEKEND OF June 7, 2020

John 3:16.  Come on.....you know it by heart....it's on all those signs at football games.....it's this one....

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

This is the preeminent Gospel teaching on Most Holy Trinity Sunday.  It's a most timely message, isn't it?  In a world overwhelmingly focused on death and darkness, it is in Jesus that we see who we are to be, why we are to be, and how we are to be....and this is accomplished by the coming of the Holy Spirit....

Wait...wasn't it just Pentecost last weekend? Oh yes. Holy Spirit. Check.  Now, children of God...use your voices this weekend to proclaim this Truth: Because God sent his Son 'we shall not perish!"  Through the gifts of the Spirit we are equipped to move out into the world and make a difference.  Are you paying attention to the Spirit in your life?  I know for me it's been as if I've been sleepwalking spiritually. And now I'm awake. Check out your heart.  What's going on in there?  Proclaim and be heard (through your masks of course....)

Communion antiphon for this liturgy:  "Since you are children of God, God has entered into your hearts the Spirit of his Son the Spirit who cries out: Abba, Father."

-Jen

ABOUT THE MUSIC:  Pentecost
WEEKEND of May 31, 2020
COMMUNION ANTIPHON:  "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke of the marvels of God, Alleluia."

Alleluia!  We made it!  I think I was an adult before I learned that "PENTA"-COST literally meant 50 days after the celebration of a Jewish holiday which coincided with the Resurrection of our Lord.  From Wikipedia:  The term Pentecost comes from the Greek Πεντηκοστή (Pentēkostē) meaning "fiftieth". It refers to the festival celebrated on the fiftieth day (or Seventh Week depending on how you count it) after Passover, also known as the "Feast of Weeks" and the "Feast of 50 days" in rabbinic tradition.  I've read that pilgrims would travel from far and wide to Jerusalem for the Festival which "celebrated God's presenation of the Jewish Law to Moses on Mount Sinai."  Wouldn't it be cool if we had as big a celebration this Sunday as the Jews had celebrating Shavuot, or Feast of "Weeks" in Hebrew, and the disciples and Mary experienced on that wonderful first Pentecost Day after 9 solid days of PRAYING?   What does a Big Feast look like in this day and age?  Will it be windy tomorrow?  If you have family, check out this link:  https://www.catholicicing.com/whos-ready-to-celebrate-pentecost/

One other thing to note about our music this Sunday is the singing of the Pentecost Sequence. "Veni Sancte Spiritus" is one of only four medieval Sequences which were preserved in the Roman Missal published in 1570 following the Council of Trent (1545–63). Before Trent many feasts had their own sequences.^[2] It is still sung today in some parishes on Pentecost, including ours!  It was traditionally sung in Latin of course, and that version will be featured at the 10:30am Mass, but a wonderful English translation also works beautifully with the well-known HYMN TO JOY melody by Ludwig van Beethoven.
-Jen

ABOUT THE MUSIC:  7th Sunday of Easter
WEEKEND OF May 24, 2020
COMMUNION ANTIPHON:  "Father, I pray that they may be one, as we also are one, Alleluia."

Alleluia! Yes, we're still in Eastertide...all the way to Pentecost next weekend.  So a song choice such as "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" is as resonant today as it was 6 weeks ago.  Reminders of Christ as a guiding light - especially as we continue to light the Paschal Candle throughout all of Eastertide - help usher us through darkness and valleys and strife.  Ponder this everlasting light as you sing "Christ Be Our Light."

There are lots of themes to touch on this weekend and no one Mass can really hit them all...   Church provides a blueprint for this 7th Sunday, the penultimate week before the Great Feast of Pentecost, with Scripture that shows how the Apostles prepared for their mission of building the early Church.  First they gathered; then they prayed - unceasingly mind you, with a concentration, a stillness, an intentionality that some would find hard to replicate in today's busy world.  And Jesus reminded them that He was praying for them to become united.  They did not yet know how they would receive such unity but they trusted.  Of course we also celebrate our veterans this Memorial Day and some have chosen patriotic songs to honor their sacrifices.

-Jen

PS- Be sure to check out Dave Bartoletti's teaching videos on two songs that may not be familiar to our whole Parish community.  
One in Body, Heart and Mind by C. Walker  NEW! Teaching video available
Open My Eyes,   MI # 393   Teaching video available
 

ABOUT THE MUSIC:  Ascension
Thursday, May 21, 2020
"Behold I am with you always, even to the end of the age, alleluia."  Last weekend I found myself reading the Antiphons aloud to my family before Mass began.  As I read, suddenly it dawned on me that every Antiphon for Eastertide ends with an alleluia.  I brought that to their attention!  Remember how we buried the Alleluia for Lent?  Well, it's ba-ack!

~Jen

ABOUT THE MUSIC:  6th Sunday of Easter
WEEKEND of May 17, 2020
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments."  Thus opens the Gospel for today.  Music choices could consider just this instruction in various selections for the 6th Sunday of Easter.  However, in addition to highlighting a Gospel passage, music ministers also strive to bring dimension to the psalms and antiphons provided by Church for each Mass.  The Propers (or Antiphons) that change daily work all together to offer the people a whole liturgical experience.  These in conjunction with the Mass Ordinary (the parts which don't change - i.e. Gloria, Holy Holy, Amen, Lamb of God) make up the structure of the Mass.  The entrance song can reference the Enrance Antiphon (if the Antiphon is not sung). Today's is joyful in tone which led ministers to choose songs such as "Glory and Praise" and  "All Creatures of our God and King".  Throughout the readings today we also notice references to Holy Spirit.  This is the Advocate (or Paraclete)  sent by the Father so that we will not be left "orphans."  In the Second Reading, the apostle Peter encourages us with these words, "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope...."  Songs such as "Lord of All Hopefulness" help us articulate this hope.  What a fitting reminder in today's challenging time.  The Communion Antiphon brings the Gospel scripture line to bear.  It is notable for its familiarity to many choral singers as set by 16th century English composer Thomas Tallis   "If ye love me...."  Lastly, we leave our worship celebrations this weekend thanking God for his abundant blessings and appealing for continued peace in our troubled times.

~Jen