Welcome back to Ordinary Time, all!
As you know, we'll be using Mass of Creation starting this Saturday until further notice. We (Jim, Ginny, Cris, & Emily) reviewed this last Saturday, so we should be in good shape. We also found out from Christina that the Acclamation will be 'When We Eat This Bread'.
For 'Lamb of God', the verses will be "Lamb of God...", "Lamb of God...", "Grant us peace...", not our usual "Lamb of God...", "Bread of Life...", "Prince of peace..." "Grant us peace..."
In an attempt to plan better, we're going to start picking Psalm cantors in advance once again (I've already put out an email regarding the Psalms for this month). I'm not as worried about the 'Alleluia' since most of us know it, but in an effort to keep things simple and consistent, we'll do that the same way. If you're not cantoring already, I'd encourage you to give it a try -- it's a great way to get comfortable singing in front of people.
We also spoke with Christina about Father's reviewing of our music, which is starting to become problematic from a rehearsal standpoint (he's reviews are often sporadic and last-minute). I don't have any new information, other than Father may be doing this because he feels some music may not fit the liturgy as well as he'd like. It also doesn't appear to be an issue with our group in particular (as he's doing this with all the Choirs). Stay tuned -- if this starts to really affect mass and our ability to 'lead the people', something will have to be done.
Here are the songs for this week (they've ALL been approved!):
Gathering:
GC 874 - 'Precious Lord, Take My Hand'
Response:
SS 61 - 'The Lord is My Light' (Psalm 27)
Cris & Emily, cantors
We're making a slight change to what's written: there will be a one-measure break between verse and refrain.
Alleluia:
Any volunteers? If not, Emily & Cris can do it (or one of Ben's daughters, since we know they know it...).
Preparation:
GC 649 - 'You Are Mine'
Communion:
SS 153 - 'I Am the Bread of Life'
As always, we'll finish this one off singing the refrain a capella.
Closing:
SS 213 - 'You Are the Way'
This one will definitely need some review - it's very fast-moving an has an almost rock beat to it. If possible, we should also plan to do this one for several weeks until we're comfortable with it.
Finally, we'll be having a brief, 30-minute, practice after mass (with no dinner) to go over music for next week. Please stick around if you can.
"May God bless you and grant you long life..."
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