Today we celebrate the Annunciation of the Lord - the time the Angel Gabriel came to Mary to announce she would bear the Son of God. As we did last week with Saint Joseph, we take pause in our Lenten sacrifices and penances to celebrate this moment in our salvation history. With Mary's "yes," our salvation was secured.
The liturgy booklets are in, the cantor binders are ready, only three choir rehearsals left. Are you ready to celebrate our Lord's Passion, Death, and Resurrection?
Today the Universal Church celebrates Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a special day during Lent, when we take a slight pause in our Lenten practices, we sing the Gloria at Mass (and we'll do that again next week for the Annunciation of the Lord), clergy wear white vestments, and we call to mind Joseph's special role as Jesus' father on earth. Although Saint Joseph doesn't have a single line of dialogue in the Scriptures, we know he guided and protected Jesus as he grew.
Tonight at Saint Agnes we'll host a Saint Joseph's Table after a special evening Mass. There will be much celebrating, in true Italian/Sicilian style where there is a special devotion to St. Joseph. Come one and all! Saint Joseph, pray for us! Each year March brings about the most watched basketball tournament. Everyone fills out a bracket and watches with much excitement, anxiety, and, often, surprise. The Church celebrates it's own "madness" during March. We are in the midst of our Lenten season, a time of reflection, renewal, fasting, and prayer. In this midst of this penitential season we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph and the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, two major feasts (and the only times we sing the Gloria during Lent!). Yesterday was Laetare ("Rejoice") Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Clergy can wear pink (rose!!) vestments, rather than purple, as the Lenten season is coming to a close soon. And of course, there's the Triduum (Three Days) that come at the end of Holy Week. This week begins with a commemoration of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem and reading of one Passion Gospel account (this year we hear Mark's version). Over the course of Holy Thursday evening, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil, we remember Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection, the Paschal Mystery. We have many different tones to these celebrations, different focal points, different Scripture, different songs. But in all of this "madness," we recall our own baptism in which we died and rose with Christ. We pray we may reform our lives and be true to the call to live as Christ. We fast and do penance to remind us of our reliance on God. We give alms to help our brothers and sisters in need. We do this all so we can rejoice in the great festival of Easter, of our hope and faith in the Resurrection of Jesus, and ultimately in the great Wedding Feast in Heaven. On this date two years ago, the Conclave of Cardinals (instrument of the Holy Spirit) elected Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as our new pontiff. Continue to pray for the Holy Spirit to guide Francis as he leads us all on the journey to the Kingdom. Ad multos annos!
As the candle leads the procession into the Church, a short acclamation is sung three times - proclaiming the light of Christ as it enters the church and as all light their candles from the Paschal Candle.
Each Celebration of the Eucharist, Mass, contains elements laid out by the documents of the Second Vatican Council and from the long tradition of the Roman (Latin) Church. Here is an excellent, and brief, article about these principles and the important role of music in these Eucharistic liturgies. |