Three Prayers for the Triduum

I wrote these for the choir.  After we do our final rehearsal before each night, we have a prayer before we head upstairs to sing...

Thursday

A towel…A basin…A simple act of humility…

This is my body…This is my blood…Do this in memory of me.

The last supper…The first Mass.

O God, we ask that you grant us every grace to more fully participate in the Mass.  Help us to understand and appreciate the great gift that Christ gave us in the Eucharist.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Friday

The cross…The barren altar…

There is your mother…Father, forgive them…It is finished…

The broken body…The spilled blood…The wood of the cross.

God our Father, we ask that you grant us every healing that we need to be a better imitator of Christ.  As He took our sins upon His body to the cross, let us carry our small crosses as best we can knowing how much more He carried.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Saturday

A single flame…a candlelit church…the Exsultet…

An earthquake…The empty tomb…An angel of the Lord…

He is risen…He is truly risen.

Baptisms…Confirmations…First Eucharists…New Life in the Church.

For 40 days we have fasted and our fast is finally over.

We can once again say…

We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song. (3X)

O God, we ask that you grant us every blessing that we need to be like these new members of your Church.  Help us to see what they see in your Church and bring us to new life with them.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

A letter to St. Catherine's Music Ministry

In July of 1984, two music ministers who were looking for inspiration attended the NPM convention in Rochester, NY.  They heard many fresh new ideas and realized that those ideas would never be accepted at their parish in Ayer.  At that same convention, they met two other musicians  from Westford who invited them to come and sing at their parish.  A few months later, in September, we joined the music program at St. Catherine’s. 

If we fast forward to 2014, there are many changes that have occurred.  Music directors have changed, organs have changed, the church buildings have changed, musicians have come and gone, and some musicians have died.  One of those deaths has opened up new paths for me.  When Carmen died, I was devastated, but you supported me and God provides. 

For 30 years now, I have been involved with the music program at St. Catherine’s and now it is time to close this book as well.  Very soon after Easter, I will start my last summer assignment for the seminary. Fall of 2014 and spring of 2015 will find me at my new parish every weekend with no opportunity to return to play on Saturday nights.  This Triduum and Easter morning will mostly likely be the last times that I sing and play with the musicians at St. Catherine’s.

I cannot describe the mixed feelings that I have.  30 years is a long time and St. Catherine’s has been a huge part of my Catholic life.  I will miss playing and singing with you all more than I can describe.  But I have a new road to travel now.  It will have its own joys and rewards.  I am excited to be almost ready to embark on that road after my final year in the seminary and priestly ordination in 2015, God willing!

Know that I will always pray for you.  Please keep raising your voices in song to our Lord.  You do it so well.  I can only hope that the next music program that I work with will be as good as this one has been.

Ch-Ch-Changes

There is a lot of excitement in the air, some good, some not so good

The first of my classmates will be ordained as a deacon on April 5th in Texas.  Two more will be ordained on May 10th in Philly.  Much of the class will follow in May and June this summer.

There are, of course, a few exceptions.  Two of our classmates are following a unique schedule and probably won't be ordained as a deacon or a priest until after we graduate in 2015.  Two others will be ordained his coming winter. (Dec 2014/Jan 2015)

This leaves the last classmate who hesitated while writing his Request for Deacon letter.  He decided that he is just not ready and has requested a pastoral year to reflect more fully.  They tell us that this is a four year discernment process and I guess this just supports that statement.  He is a great candidate and I can only wish him the best as he decides where to go with his life.  Hope he is back here to complete the program in 2015/16

Candidacy

I received today a letter from our Cardinal formally admitting me to Candidacy in service to the Archdiocese of Boston.

The ministry will be conferred at our seminary on Wednesday, 2/25.

In a really strange God-incidence, the letter is dated 2/10, my late wife's birthday.

Class cancelled

Really?  How does a class get canceled at the Seminary.  You live there right?

Right!  We do live here.  But some of our professors do not live here.  They commute in.  And when they are not technology enabled for Skype, we have no class.  Since the class was a three hour class and our only one for the day... no School today!

Now if there was a clear path to Maine, I'd be home for the night.  Don't think that is going to happen.

Candidacy

Candidacy is a rite which takes place during Roman Catholic seminary formation, by which the Church recognizes the seminarian as worthy of being ordained (hence, they become a "candidate" for ordination to the priesthood). Permanent and transitional deacons in the Roman Catholic Church also go through Candidacy or being recognized as worthy of being ordained just before their ordination as permanent or transitional deacons.

This week, the faculty here at Blessed John voted and recommended me for candidacy.  The rector will be sending his recommendation letter along with my formal written request for candidacy to our Cardinal.  If the Cardinal agrees, I will receive a letter back inviting me to Candidacy.

We celebrate the Candidacy Mass here on 2/25 this year.  I hope to have a letter in hand by then.

Class of 2014 Diaconate Ordination

At this moment, Seán Cardinal O'Malley is preaching the homily for the Transitional Diaconate Ordination here in Boston.  Five men from our own Blessed John National Seminary are joined by four other men from two other Boston based seminaries to be ordained.  I am laid up in my dorm room with a bum knee and a bad bug, but nonetheless have a wonderful view of the Mass on CatholicTV.  I have seen most of our priests in the procession, many members of our schola in the choir, and all of our transitional deacons from around the nation in procession.

In about four months, these same nine men will be ordained as priests, also at the Cathedral in Boston.

God willing, on January 17th, 2015; I will be standing where they are today