Annunciation announcements

If it wasn't official before, it is now; Thursday 25th at 7:00 pm Fr. Reid will offer a Missa Cantata for the Feast of the Annunciation at St. Ann's. I sat down with Fr. Reid this week and he accomplished a lot for the MEF at St. Ann's:

1. Hundreds of dollars of new cassocks have been ordered and will be at St. Ann's within 5 weeks. (Yes Luke, we ordered an 11 just for you.)
2. The Spring Mass schedule has been hammered out and is available on the side bar.
3. The Server training schedule has been completed and is available on the side bar. Please note the Monday March 15th training session with the Schola and hopefully Fr. Reid for a Missa Cantata rehearsal. It is imperative to make that training session.
4. An additional Missa Cantata may be planned for Thursday May 13th on the Feast of the Ascension which we did last year.

Let me know if mistakes have been made on the schedules or how I can help you in your ministry.

Piano = no practice today

Sorry for the late notice, but there will not be any practice today. On a better "note," my little family got an upright piano for the cost of moving it. On a worse "note," the piano fell on my leg while moving it. But the piano is fine, so don't worry.

My leg swelled up a bit, but rest, ice, compression dressings, and elevation have brought it down a good bit. I will need to rest it today and therefore practice gets cancelled. I've notified many of the server families, but please call someone if you talk with them regularly just to make sure they're aware.

Otherwise, the text Missa Cantata is officially scheduled for Thursday March 25th, the Annunciation. More details to come. I'll also work on the schedule, and we'll reschedule todays training for another time.

Please use this opportunity to go over the Latin and practice rubrics for the Low Mass. Have a happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Reminder

I hope everyone had a lot fun glorifying the Lord during the Christmas season and spending time with family. Today there will be practice at St. Ann's at 4:15.

Hope to see everyone there.

Holy Father on Christmas

From today's general audience with Pope Benedict XVI, we receive a beautiful insight into Christmas. This information comes from the VIS, Vatican Information services and the article can be found here online. Come, Lord Jesus.

THE CHILD JESUS MAKES THE LOVE OF GOD MANIFEST VATICAN CITY, 23 DEC 2009 (VIS) - In his general audience, celebrated this morning in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope focused his remarks on the subject of Christmas. At the beginning of his catechesis the Holy Father explained that "the Church's liturgical year did not initially develop on the basis of Christ's birth but on that of faith in His resurrection. Hence, the most ancient feast of Christianity is not Christmas but Easter. The resurrection of Christ is what founded the Christian faith, underpinned the announcement of the Gospel and brought the Church into being".

"The first person to make the clear affirmation that Jesus was born on 25 December was Hippolytus of Rome in his commentary on the Book of Daniel, written around the year 204", said the Pope.

"In the Christian world, the feast of Christmas assumed a distinct form in the fourth century when it took the place of the Roman feast of the 'Sol invictus', the sun unconquered. This highlighted the fact that the birth of Christ is the victory of the true light over the darkness of evil and sin. Yet the particular and intense spiritual atmosphere that now surrounds Christmas developed during the Middle Ages, thanks to St. Francis of Assisi who was profoundly enamoured of Jesus the man, of the God-with-us".

"This particular devotion to the mystery of the Incarnation was the origin of the famous Christmas celebration in Greccio. ... St. Francis with his nativity scene highlighted the defenceless love, humility and goodness of God, Who in the Incarnation of the Word shows Himself to mankind in order to teach them a new way to live and love".

The Pope then went on to recall the fact that the first biographer of St. Francis, Thomas of Celano, recounted how, "on that Christmas night, Francis was granted the grace of a marvellous vision. He saw, lying immobile in the manger, a small child Who was reawakened from sleep by the proximity of Francis himself".

"Thanks to St. Francis, Christian people are able to understand that at Christmas God truly became the 'Emmanuel', the God-with-us, from Whom no barrier or distance separates us. In that Child, God became so close to each of us ... that we can establish an intimate rapport of profound affection with Him, just as we do with a newborn child.

"In that Child", the Holy Father added, "God-Love becomes manifest: God comes unarmed and powerless, because He does not intend to conquer, so to say, from the outside; rather, He intends to be accepted by man in freedom. God becomes a defenceless child to overcome man's pride, violence and thirst for possession. In Jesus, God assumed this poor and disarming condition in order to triumph over us with love and lead us to our true identity".

"His being a Child likewise indicates to us that we can meet God and enjoy His presence", the Pope concluded. "People who have not understood the mystery of Christmas have not understood the decisive element of Christian existence: that those who do not accept Jesus with the heart of a child cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven. This is what St. Francis wished to tell the Christian world of his time and of all times, even unto today".AG/CHRISTMAS/... VIS 091223 (560)

Wrapping up December '09

I would like to send out a warm conrats to newly ordained Deacon Lucas Rossi. Yesterday, the Ordination Mass was beautiful and filled with joy. Bishop Jugis commented during his homily how in the second reading, Deacon Phillip was told by the angel to "go south." Phillip obeyed and ended up assisting a traveling Ethiopian eunuch in understanding a scroll of Isaiah. Then in the zeal of receiving the Truth, the eunuch exclaimed, "See , here is water! what is to prevent my being baptized?" (Acts 8:36). Lucas also obeyed the Lord's will in coming from the Diocese of Peoria in Illinois to Charlotte. As a Deacon, his role will be to proclaim the Word of the Lord, assist with Baptisms, Marriages, funerals, and public prayer, and assist in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Lucas brings a wonderful gift of Joy to the Diocese of Charlotte and to his ministry. As a transitional Deacon, Lucas may be ordained into the priesthood as early as this summer, so let's be sure to continue to keep him in our prayers. By the way, after the Mass, Lucas commented that he will be receiving instruction in how to offer the MEF. Take time to pray for Lucas, the Deacons of the Diocese of Charlotte, those in training to be Deacons, all of our Priests, and our seminarians. God is good.

Please remember that the next training session will be next Tuesday December 29th from 4:15 to 5:45 pm.

I have completed the 2-server training cards and will be distributing them out at the next two meetings.

The next Missa Cantata will be in March. Fr. Reid and Terese Rowe are still finalizing which date will be utilized, the Feast of St. Joseph or the Annunciation.

For those who are interested I'm posting a link to the 2010 Mass Calendar also known as the Liturgical Ordo. This Ordo is for the Old Rite (MEF) calendar and does not always match up with the Novus Ordo Calendar.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Finally a new post!

Practice is a go for today, December 14th, 2009. There's a new training schedule that's out. Please see the link on the sidebar. Please note the changes and I really tried to put it out with any mistakes this time so keep me honest and let me know if I messed up.

I've been working on the Mass Schedule for the rest of December and January and will have it out soon. Please comment if there are dates you can't serve.

The dedication on December 5th went very well! Griffin Walsh and Thomas Mathis served and did a great job. Will Borin helped make a replica of the completed Church that was put on display in the gym for the ceremony.

Great to see you folks helping out. See everyone in a few hours.

Fruit of Homework II

In addition to the previously posted essays, I would like to add some quotes from the other essays that add depth to the purpose of the assignment.

"One should stir within himself a desire to know and to be aware of all that is going on (at) the Altar...Most importantly, one must observe the silence and reverence of the Mass, and the great Mystery about to take place." J. Yellico

"Also, you may find it interesting to discover how many of the prayers had changed slightly in translation. Knowing the original prayers can deepen your understanding of where the prayers originated, as well as how they were meant to be said." D. Rabideau

"A good way to help you to participate would be to be like Jesus." N. Simms

"The MEF (is) not meant to be a burden for people. The Latin spoke throughout the Mass may confuse some greatly, and the unfamiliarity of the dignified rubrics may turn some away from the Extraordinary form - at first. However, if one sticks with it, the MEF (granted me) a great amount of incresaed appreciation, devotion, and reverence for the Sacrifice of our Lord." J. Bruck

"A second way (to fully participate) would be to spend time preparing oneself for the Mass, either in prayer or in meditative silence." B. Ostendorf.