November

We are now in that time just before the season of Advent. Outside, the trees are losing their leaves, and most plants are hibernating for the coming winter as we end a cycle of the growing season...and as a Church we are ending the liturgical year, as we look at the coming of Christ at the end of time and at the end of our own lives. November 1...All Saints celebration; November 2...the remembrance of All Souls who have died.

Next weekend, November 14/15, the first reading and the Gospel are about the end of the world as we know it. Mark 13:24-32: "Jesus said to his disciples: In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky."

This liturgical year, with the Cycle B of readings, will be complete on the Solemnity of Christ the King. The second reading is from Revelation: "Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him. Yes. Amen. 'I am the Alpha and the Omega', says the Lord God, 'the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.'"

The music for Mass is always chosen from the readings, and so, as we move further into November, we will sing "Soon and very soon we are going to see the King....no more crying there, we are going to see the King" and "All Hail the power of Jesus name, let angel's prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all."

The bell choir, adult choir and children's choirs are all beginning to prepare for the Advent/Christmas season. We are planning a beautiful "Lessons and Carols" concert on December 13th for the parish.

World Mission Weekend

This Sunday is World Mission Day. We have one of our own young people doing missionary work this year....Megan Ryan is in Ghana teaching English to children and being a example of Christian love to all around her.

The readings talk about being a servant as we live our daily lives. "Whoever would be great among you, must be the servant of all." Jesus was the ultimate example of service....giving his life for all of us. At the 4:30 and the 8:00 we will sing the servant song: "Will you let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you....". At 10:30 the choir will sing an anthem: "Whoever would be great among you, they must be your servant".

October

This coming weekend we celebrate Ordinary Time, but also the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi falls on Sunday, October 4. We do not pray the prayers or read the readings for Francis of Assisi because the Sunday always takes precedence, but we can remember St. Francis through the music.

The opening hymn is the words of St. Francis of Assisi praising God through God's creation.
We also sing the Prayer of St. Francis: Make me a channel of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.....

May this be our own prayer through this coming week, that we may be servants of Jesus Christ, bringing love, kindness, peace to all around us.

Children's Choir starts this coming Tuesday, October 6th: we meet in the church at 5:45-6:30PM. All children must be picked up after choir by an adult or older sibling. We can't have anyone running to a car parked somewhere....not knowing if they will arrive at that car safely.

Music Ministry in Full Swing for the Fall

This week the adult choir officially starts the Fall season with rehearsal at 9AM on September 13. If you are reading this and have always wanted to join choir, take the leap....give me a call or e-mail me and join.

Saint John's Ringers welcomes new members Nate Smith, Neva Able, Gretchen Todd, (and maybe a few more) and all of the members from last year. First bell workshop: September 10, this coming Thursday, at 6:30PM in the choir loft.

Children's choir will be starting up in October. We welcome all parish children grades 2 - 5 who want to be a part of this wonderful ministry of song. Watch for information to appear in the parish bulletin next weekend.

We are asking for instrumentalists to join the music ministry. If you play trumpet, flute, oboe, violin, guitar, or another instrument and would like to volunteer your time, please contact me.
Instruments like these add SO much to the liturgy.

You will notice that I am not playing for 4:30 and 8:00 Mass this coming weekend, and I did not play last weekend for these two masses. I am also not playing for the weekday children's masses in September. My arm has an old injury that has flared up, and I needed to rest it a bit after all of the summer weddings, etc. I'll be back for all Masses on the weekend in late September, and for the children in October.

A special weekend with the Installation of our new pastor

For most of the world, this is Labor Day weekend. For us here at St. John's, it is the weekend of the installation of Fr. Cyril Fernandes as our new pastor.

It is amazing how the readings for this 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time fit the occasion of installation. Throughout we will hear how Jesus brought sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and set captives free. We hear about our responsibility to the poor and the importance of justice and mercy in our dealings with others. For our new pastor, Fr. Cyril, and for us, the commission is clear.

The text of the music echoes the readings from Sacred Scripture. "Here I Am, Lord, is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart." At communion the verses call the First Reading and the Gospel to mind: "God who made the blind to see, God who made the lame to walk, bring us dancing into dqy, lead your people on your way."

And finally, at our Hymn of Thanksgiving we sing: "Lord, you give the great commission. Heal the Sick and preach the Word. Lest the Church neglect it's mission, and the Gospel go unheard.
Help us witness to your purpose with renewed integrity. With the Spirit's gifts empower us for the work of ministry."

Into the School Year

Here we are again. Summer is almost over and the school year is beginning this week. During the week we will begin masses with the children present for three days of the week. One day will be grades K-4, one day will be grades 5-8 and one day will be an "all school" mass. We try to schedule all school masses on special feast days, so the day of these all school masses will vary.

It is wonderful to have the children at Mass. They are especially precious to God. They also learn how to be lectors, cantors, gift-bearers, ushers, and servers and when they get into high school, they can bring these skills into our weekend liturgies.

Our readings this coming weekend call us to serve God about all other gods (money, power, etc.) and reminds us also that sometimes the teachings of Jesus are hard to live. We are asked to love, to forgive, to reach out beyond our own selves to help the poor, the sick, the confused. However, our words can be the words of Simon Peter: "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. "

The weddings continue this month and congratulations to our newly married couples. We heard the second reading for this coming weekend at the wedding of Eliza and Martin last Saturday.

We continue to get ready for the season of adult choir, children's choir, and St. John Ringers.
Cantors continue to give of their time in rehearsal and ministry at Mass so that Word and Song can be proclaimed beautifully and prayerfully. A group of teens is preparing special music
for our 4:30 Mass on September 19th during the Parish Festival. We are also blessed to have really talented guitarists in this parish who spend time in rehearsal and in music ministry at Mass.

We continue to work on the rebuilding of the pipe organ project, and are also working on the sound system to make it more effective.

Finally.....kudos to the assembly of Saint John's for singing so wonderfully these last weeks.
The church's of vision of liturgy is summed up in last week's second reading from St. Paul to the Ephesians: "Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.

Blessings.

A time of new beginnings

As we move into August you can feel the excitement of the coming new school year, new year of Faith Formation, the beginnings of the RCIA process for this year, and of course for music, a new choir season, a new bell choir season, and a new children's choir season.

We have a new pastor: Fr. Cyril Fernandes. Welcome, Fr. Cyril!

We are supported in all of the new beginnings by Jesus, who feeds us with his Body and his Blood. In our Gospel for this weekend, Jesus gives us this promise: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

The music for liturgy always comes from the scripture for that weekend. Thus, you will be singing "Taste and See the goodness of the Lord" as the responsorial psalm; I am the Bread of Life at Communion; and Love Divine All Love's Excelling as the Hymn of Thanksgiving.

Love Divine All Love's Excelling was written some time between 1707 and 1788 by Charles Wesley. The words are a beautiful hymn of praise and of commitment "Jesus, source of all compassion, love unbounded, love all pure:" "Lord, we would be always blessing, serve you as your hosts above. Pray, and praise you without ceasing, glory in your precious love."

We are celebrating many weddings also in August...more new beginnings. Let's ask God to bless these young couples with the grace of long and happy marriages.