Weekly Message
from Fr. Eli

Dear Parishioners,


This week we celebrate Thanksgiving, Mass that morning will be at 8 am (the usual time). However, Friday, there will be no Mass I will be out to town with Family, and the office will be closed both Thursday and Friday. The adoration chapel will also be closed from Wed. at noon until the following Monday at 7 AM.


We will have a Mass at Holy Family on the first Sunday of Advent, at 10 AM on November 30th. The Crosier Fathers have been generous to provide a priest for that Mass.


Looking out a bit further, Monday Dec. 8th is a holy day of obligation. We will be celebrating the Immaculate Conception. Masses will be at 9 AM at OLF, Noon and 6 PM at SJ.


I want to share some things regarding the liturgy. I had proposed that we would do two things at the 10:30 AM Mass that would be different then at the 8:30 and 4 PM Masses. Those two things were the learning to sing the Creed in Latin, and having Mass celebrated in the Ad orientem posture. After some feedback and discussion with my advisement team, I have decided to approach this a bit differently. 


There was some desire to have a common celebration of the Mass rather than distinguishing between different Masses. There was also some concern about how to properly teach and catechize about singing the creed in Latin. While I still think it is worth doing at some point at least in some capacity, I grant that it may be a big step to take at this time. Therefore, I propose to do a few things that can be done at all the Masses.


First, we will work on singing more of the Mass. There is a document that guides what ought to be sung at the Mass. We actually do quite a bit, but there are some things which are prioritized, which we do not currently sing. Therefore, I would like to take the step towards regularizing these sung elements of the Mass. If you are interested, you can read all about this in the document put out by the 2nd Vatican Council on sacred music (Musicam Sacram). It lays out three degrees of things to be sung. Basically, it says there are some things which should be sung if at all possible.  There are some things which should be sung but not if the first group of things isn’t being sung. This is something I have long desired to implement but have not taken the time to teach and put it into practice. I think this is a good step for us as a parish cluster. Here are the things that we will be working on, those in bold are what we have usually spoken and which will now be sung. R. donates the response which you the people will sing in response to what I the priest will have sung:


The greeting, and reply of the people:

  • In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. R:Amen
  • The Lord be with you. R:And with your spirit.


The opening prayer: (we already do that)


The gospel acclamations:

  • The Lord be with you. R:And with your spirit. 
  • A reading from the Holy Gospel according to N. R:Glory to you O Lord.
  • The Gospel of the Lord. R: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.


The Peace of the Lord:

  • The peace of the Lord be with you always. R:And with your spirit.
  • Let us offer each other a sign of peace.

 

The prayer after communion: (we have done this)


The formulas for dismissal:

  • The Lord be with you. R:And with your spirit.
  • May almighty God bless you the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. R:Amen
  • Go in peace. R:Thanks be to God.


We will work to make this normal in our parish cluster since these are all elements that under the church’s guidelines we should sing if we can. It has become common in many places not to do so because it requires a bit more work, and probably because not every priest or minister can sing. It makes sense for us to learn these things to elevate our Eucharistic celebrations. When we have learned these more basic parts, we can learn to sing the creed and petitions etc. I would like us to strive to learn to sing the Mass, for now we will focus on singing the Mass in English.

Secondly, with regard to celebrating Mass in ad orientem or versus populum, we will do it at all three Masses for the 3rd and 4th weeks of Advent, but for the first 2 weeks we will keep as we have. Note that at OLF, both options are always available, so nothing will change there. However, at SJ, we will celebrate versus populum on Nov. 30th and Dec. 7th. Then we will have both Masses ad oreintem on Sunday Dec. 14th and 21st. This is an invitation to do it together. This desire to be in union was shared with me, and I think we can experience it together. 


In Christ,

Fr. Eli