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AUGUST 14 & 15 - ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Please check the Ordo for details.
This year, while the Solemnity is NOT A DAY OF OBLIGATION, it is still to be celebrated on Saturday, August 15. The Vigil Mass of the Assumption MAY be celebrated the evening of August 14. If your parish typically celebrates a Mass in anticipation of the Sunday celebration on Saturday evenings, it is recommended that Masses celebrated at or after 5 PM on August 15 (Saturday evening) be celebrated as the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. | |
Ms. Carolyn Lassek
Director
Assoc. Director
Archdiocesan
Ms. Michelle Clinton
Deacon Robert Dolan
Ms. Sandra Dresbeck
Rev. Kevin Duggan
Very Rev. James Johnson
Ms. Corinna Laughlin
Deacon Juan Lezcano
Mr. William McNamara
Rev. Steve Sallis
Ms. Rose Shandrow
Sr. Beth Taylor |
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LITURGY LINE! |
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 Issue #5 |
August, 2009 |
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Ordinary Time is Heavy Duty Time!
Several weeks ago I asked a wonderfully energetic group of liturgical ministers, "What is Ordinary Time? How is it different from the other seasons of the liturgical year?" I asked them to find out what the Church remembers and celebrates at this time of the year. Because no one in leadership ought to ask others to do what he or she is not willing to do, I looked up the General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar, found in the Sacramentary. According to the Sacramentary, this is a time "devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects" (#43). So, for 33 or 34 Sundays we are to wrap our arms around ALL aspects of this awesome mystery of the Divine merger with our humanity? It's no wonder that most of us are more taken with the Advent/Christmas or the Lent/Easter seasons. At least in those blest seasons we can delve more readily into a very specific aspect of the mystery of Christ!  How do we begin "to remember, to celebrate, to believe" all aspects of the Divine Mystery? What do we do on these 33 Sundays? We do what the Baptized have done for some 2000 years; that which was handed down to us: namely, we tell our story, we pray our great prayer of thanksgiving and we share the meal. How is it that we dare to enter into this sacred experience? The American Bishops have reminded us that "the most powerful experience of the sacred is found in the celebration and in the persons celebrating, that is, it is found in the action of the assembly; the living words, the living gestures, the living sacrifice, the living meal." Only a priestly people, one in Christ, reborn in the waters of Baptism, may dare to enter this sacred experience. Ordinary Time asks the question: Do we live what we celebrate in the Eucharist? Do we believe in and live as those Baptized in Christ? In the great Eucharistic Prayer of Thanksgiving we conclude "Through him, with him, in him..." only to discover that this prayer is not just for Sundays; rather, it reminds us how a child of God, baptized in Christ, lives every ordinary day of our lives. Ours is the privilege to live our lives as one with Christ. Did Jesus Christ not sanctify and incorporate into his very being ordinary living for some 30 years? What was it like for him in the village of Nazareth to live day in and day out the life of a Carpenter's son? To be part of village life? To live in the constant presence of Roman occupiers? To hope for and await the day of his dreams? How blessed is this ordinary time! Ordinary Time is blest time indeed! For ours is the task to join with all the church delving deeper into all the aspects of the "Christ Mystery." It means seriously pondering how well we live out on a daily basis our Baptismal promises and the pouring out of our very selves for the sake of others. Did Christ not challenge us to live as he did, living in our midst as One who serves? Are not our ordinary days filled with countless moments to live what we celebrate in the Eucharist, the pouring out of ourselves for the sake of others, in our homes, our neighborhoods, in offices, at the computer, on the farm, in our schools, on the roadway, at picnics, and even in our sleep? No room for slackers: this day in and day out stuff of our ordinary days is heavy but blest duty! Just seriously try it for one day.
A wise pastor once told me that if we only realized the dignity that is ours in Baptism all other things would fall into place. It does for those who believe even as we fail seven times a day! Check out the lives of the Saints that we celebrate this season.
Let us pause in all our Ordinary Time to give God praise and thanks for the very gift of our lives. Like Mary let us ponder well the awesome mystery of Christ for in Him is our dignity of being baptized, readied and able with Christ, in Christ, through Christ to glorify our God in our daily lives as we build the City of God, a new Jerusalem!
Director
Archdiocese of Seattle Liturgy Office
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| ORDINARY TIME: Anything but ordinary! |
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Ordinary Time is anything but ordinary! Sunday after Sunday we have the opportunity to delve deeply into the ministry of Jesus, healing, teaching, and proclaiming the Kingdom, as Mark's Gospel unfolds. And on weekdays, there are literally dozens of memorials, feasts, and solemnities of the saints: holy men and women of every time and place, the "cloud of witnesses" that spurs us on-even in the lazy days of summer.
Ordinary Time is a good time to look at how we celebrate the saints in our parishes. Here are some ideas. Have another good idea? E-mail it to us for inclusion in a future issue of Liturgy Line!
Progressive Solemnity
The Bishops' document on music, Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship, published in 2007, reminds  us of the Church's principle of "progressive solemnity" (110). The basic principle has been with us for centuries (remember "low Mass" and "high Mass"?), and it provides ways for us to mark the most solemn moments of the liturgical year by the use of music, not only by the choir and instrumentalists but by the priest, deacon, and people. Progressive solemnity includes not only the nature and style of the music, but how many and which parts of the rite are to be sung. For example, the Bishops suggest that at greater feasts such as Easter Sunday or Pentecost even the Gospel might be chanted. You might be surprised by how much Sing to the Lord expects even of daily Mass in Ordinary Time: the Bishops recommend that the dialogues and acclamations, the Kyrie, Agnus Dei, and psalm be sung even on weekdays (116). The principle of "progressive solemnity" is specifically about music, but this concept can also be applied to other aspects of the liturgy. How do we mark out the solemnities of Ordinary Time, whether it's the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary or the parish's patronal feast day? Music is a natural way to heighten a festive occasion, but there are other ways to do this as well.
- Greeters might welcome people with a variation on their usual words of welcome: "Happy feast day!" would be an appropriate greeting on the parish's patronal feast.
- Servers add dignity to the celebration. Use incense on solemn occasions. And get more servers involved: notice that the GIRM calls for as many as eight or nine altar servers in the entrance procession for a grand feast (thurifer and boat-bearer, cross-bearer, two candle-bearers each with the cross and the Gospel Book, and a Master of Ceremonies or book-bearer).
- Readers could join the entrance procession if they do not normally do so. They might even chant the concluding dialogue: "The word of the Lord." Even readers who don't consider themselves musical will be surprised at how well they are able to do this.
Celebrating a Patronal Feast
Many parishes celebrate their patronal feast day during the summer and fall months. The celebration of a patronal feast is an opportunity for the community to feel their special connection with the saint or mystery the parish is named for. Note that in your parish, your patronal solemnity takes precedence over any of the Sundays of Ordinary Time. Even when your patronal feast falls on a weekday, it can still be observed on the nearest Sunday, and the prayers and readings of the day may be replaced with those of the feast. Celebrating a patronal feast is that important!
 The patronal feast is an ideal time to take stock of the parish community. Delve into the history of your patron saint, and his, her, or their special charism. How is that charism lived out in your parish community?
Weather permitting, schedule your parish picnic or ministries fair to coincide with the celebration. You might even arrange a group picture on this day, and add it to the parish archives. Parishes small and large can use this time to collect stories and photos, to take an annual "snapshot" of the community.
The patronal feast is also a good time to install new members of the parish council. The Book of Blessings includes a simple blessing for this purpose (Chapter 64, No. 1897).
Celebrating an Anniversary of Dedication
On the day of its dedication, a church becomes more than a building: it becomes a house of God, and a home for God's people, the Church. Each year, the anniversary of dedication of the church is celebrated as a special feast. The dedication candles are lit, and the prayers and preface for the dedication of a church are used.
Every parish also marks the dedication of the Cathedral Church in Rome (the Dedication of St. John Lateran on November 9), and the great basilicas of St. Mary Major (August 5) and Saints Peter and Paul (November 18). In addition, the dedication of St. James Cathedral is observed as a feast throughout the Archdiocese of Seattle (December 22). It is good to celebrate our churches-every time we do, we are reminded of the amazing truth: that we who gather in these churches to pray are the Church!
Pastoral Associate for Liturgy
St. James Cathedral
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MUSIC and Summer Ordinary Time |
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 Ordinary Time in the summer is typically when pastoral musicians prepare for the coming liturgical year and a new cycle of celebrations. We consider our liturgical calendars, ponder the best seasonal music selections, and decide how best to use mass settings. And we spend hours looking through the many sample octavos that come to us from the publishers, hoping to find those two or three octavos worth adding to the choir's repertoire. These are all necessary tasks that can take many long hours but produce great fruit for the parish's music ministry, and foster the best song of the assembly.
I know most pastoral musicians are not looking for one more thing to add to the long list of "TO DOS" during this time of preparation. However, there is one often-overlooked resource that can produce great fruit for the singing assembly: the careful selection of hymn texts. Strong and theologically sound hymn texts are a vital part of a parish's repertoire. Singing those texts to familiar tunes can help the assembly to experience fresh and relevant participation without adding to the assembly's need to learn new music.
As you are probably aware, at the back of most hymnals you can find indexes of Hymn Tunes with their related metrical patterns. A great number of these tunes are already familiar to your assembly. You might consider identifying 10 of these familiar tunes to use for the upcoming liturgical cycle beginning with Advent 2009. Instead of using the texts that have been commonly sung to these tunes, find some new texts for the tunes and program them for Sundays and other celebrations of the upcoming liturgical year. The Liturgy of the Hours is a little-used resource for texts for liturgical seasons, Marian feasts, and the saints. It's quick and easy! Turn to a particular day's celebration in the Liturgy of the Hours and you'll often find hymn texts given with their metrical reference - then find a tune with the same metrical index that fits the text. A little caution though: while all metrical settings are technically interchangeable they don't always work best with the character of the text or stress of the lyrics so use your artistic filter as the final judge. (As an example, try singing the text of Amazing Grace to the tune of Gilligan's Island. It works, but does it pass your artistic filter?) I recently found an intriguing source titled Hymns for Morning and Evening Prayer published by Liturgy Training Publications. While these hymns are intended for the Liturgy of Hours, many of the lyrics would work equally well for Entrance or the Canticle of Praise at Mass. How might this text (88.88) found on page 62 of Hymns for Morning and Evening Prayer work on Ascension Sunday for the Song of Praise after Communion?
Suggested Tune: DUKE STREET or OLD 100TH
Christ's is the holy throne of God;
our flesh in Christ is glorified.
Love's open wounds will ever show
the measure of the Crucified.
Do you think this could be a powerful text for one of the upcoming Sundays in Ordinary Time? (88.88 meter from page 11 of the same resource)
Suggested Tune: DUKE STREET or OLD 100TH
All things created, great and small,
at dawn of time God sanctified:
now these, enfleshed within the Word,
return God's love, thus glorified.
These are just a two excerpted sample texts from one resource, there are many more possibilities. Remember composers like Ruth Duck, Delores Dufner or Mary Louise Bringle who have given us some great hymn texts. So be creative and experience the great song of the assembly! Deo gratias.
Archdiocese of Seattle Liturgy Office
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What about the RCIA in Ordinary time? |
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There is no "registration time" for RCIA. People come when the Spirit moves them. During this season of Ordinary Time, this "acceptable time," parish RCIA should be ready to welcome and provide for these precious guests whenever they come.
If your parish maintains RCIA year-round, those already in the Catechumenate will continue Dismissals from Mass for worship with the Word. This is also a good time to discern recruiting new members for the multiplicity of tasks found in the RCIA.
 In many parishes, the formal inquiry period will begin after Labor Day. This will be the time for an interview, to learn of an inquirer's specific needs and expectations. Inquirers may now be invited into the precatechumenate, a period of sufficient length, but "no fixed duration and structure," to become acquainted with Gospel values, to ask questions about the Catholic Church, and to find "the beginnings of faith" (RCIA Outline, #36).
Ordinary Time is the ideal season for inquirers to enter the catechumenate because this season offers liturgical "space" for the celebration of the Rite of Acceptance during the Sunday Mass. New catechumens, having crossed the threshold of the Catholic Church, then begin to join the Dismissals following the Sunday homily during the Mass when they celebrate the Rite of Acceptance. Notice that catechumens received into the Order of Catechumens this fall will not ordinarily be initiated at the next Easter Vigil (2010) but the year following, 2011, because the RCIA statutes indicate that one must be a catechumen for one year before initiation (National Statutes for the Catechumenate, 6).
What about those who were baptized last Easter? For the Neophytes, their pathway during this part of the year is pastoral care, with catechesis and assistance with their integration into regular parish life. They are acquainted with the faith and its Gospel values, but before initiation they were on the outside looking in. Following initiation, some seem to enter a new period of inquiry, of looking at their faith from inside the faith community. Many may be ready to examine and re-examine all manner of questions with the zeal of the newly-baptized.
Member, Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission
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Celebrating the Year for Priests
(June 19, 2009 to June 19, 2010)
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars. St. John Vianney has long been the patron saint of parish priests; Pope Benedict XVI has now declared him the patron saint of all priests.
Find resources for the Year for Priests at the USCCB website. The website of the Holy See has also prepared a website with many resources, including links to documents on the priesthood from Vatican II and from several recent popes.
Your parishioners may ask about the requirements for obtaining the plenary indulgence in this special Year for Priests. The indulgence may be obtained only on the first and last days of the Year for Priests (thus June 19, 2010) and on the first Thursday of each month. The following steps by which the lay faithful may obtain the indulgence are taken from the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
- Attend Mass
- Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation
- Pray for priests
- Pray for the intentions of the Holy Father
Prayer for the Year for Priests
The Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations has prepared this prayer for priests, which may be freely used and distributed during the year. You might consider reprinting it in the parish bulletin on a regular basis.
Dear Lord,
we pray that the Blessed Mother
wrap her mantle around your priests
and through her intercession
strengthen them for their ministry.
We pray that Mary will guide your priests
to follow her own words,
"Do whatever He tells you" (Jn 2:5).
May your priests have the heart of St. Joseph,
Mary's most chaste spouse.
May the Blessed Mother's own pierced heart
inspire them to embrace
all who suffer at the foot of the cross.
May your priests be holy,
filled with the fire of your love
seeking nothing but your greater glory
and the salvation of souls.
Amen. Saint John Vianney, pray for us.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations | |
| LITURGICAL MINISTRIES INSTITUTE Update |
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Participants who are nearing the completion of the eight foundational courses will be receiving information in the next few weeks on the next steps available. Keep an eye on the mail.
The Fall 2009 schedule will be published by the end of August. The schedule will include course offerings from the eight foundational courses with locations. If you are receiving this email newsletter, you will receive the schedule when it is avaiable. So stay tuned!
Associate Director
Liturgy Office Archdiocese of Seattle |
| Some other good resources . . . |
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Celebrating Initiation: A Guide for Priests, by Father Paul Turner, World Library Publications, 2007. This great guide is not just for priests! Father Turner will take you on a walk-through of each of the rites of initiation-infant baptism as well as the full spectrum of RCIA rites-with ideas about how to celebrate the rites in parish communities large and small. It's a valuable guide for all who are involved in preparing for these rites-pastors, liturgists, RCIA directors, and musicians.
Living Liturgy. This annual resource from Liturgical Press is geared towards priests, deacons, and liturgical ministers. It includes the readings for each Sunday, with reflections on the readings, as well as musical suggestions, sample intercessions, and questions for reflection that will get liturgical ministers thinking and praying about the readings.
Sourcebook for Sundays, Seasons, and Weekdays. An annual resource from Liturgy Training Publications-a great resource for preachers and liturgy planning teams, with ideas for celebrating the various rites and commentary on weekday and Sunday readings.
Daily Prayer 2010. This annual resource from Liturgy Training Publications is a good source for meeting prayers and includes meditations on the Gospel reading for each day of the year.
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