Food for the Multitude

 I love the Gospel story of Jesus multiplying the 5 barley loaves and 2 fish that came from a boy in the crowd that was listening to Jesus.  After Jesus worked a miracle, there was enough to feed the multitude and have twelve wicker baskets of fragments of bread left over.  In the first reading God works through Elisha to feed the crowd of a hundred people with some left over "as the Lord had said".  

We sing Psalm 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18 with the refrain:  "The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs."   Thanks be to our loving God.   In the psalm we sing: "All your works shall thank you, O Lord, and all your faithful ones bless you.  They shall speak of the glory of your reign, and declare your mighty deeds."

This week we begin a new hymn called Come To The Feast/Ven al Banquete. Verse one echoes the Gospel of this weekend:  "Like the child whose fishes and loaves fed the multitude, in the Lord the little we have, broken and shared, becomes abundant food."  The refrain which is English and Spanish calls us to come to the feast of the Lord Jesus and receive his Body and Blood as our food.

CHOIR OF HOPE:    All old and new members are welcome.   Come to the choir room this coming Wednesday at 10AM for a time of prayer and song.

MUSIC FOR THIS WEEKEND of 17th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  July 25   Gathering Hymn: No. 606 Glory and Praise To Our God;  Hymn at the Preparation of the Altar: No. 838 Come To The Feast/Ven al Banquete; Communion Antiphon: Bless the Lord, O my soul and never forget all his benefits; Communion Hymn: No. 916 I Receive the Living God;  Closing Hymn: No. 636 Now Thank We All Our God.     The Mass setting is the Mass of Renewal.

Summer of 2021 and Ordinary Time

 In this beautiful season of summer with everything in full bloom, our music ministry is rapidly coming into full bloom.  The hymnals are back in the pews, we have been able to release the masks and the plexiglass, and we also now can have choirs again.  God is good!

The church has this to say about the participation in music at the Celebration of Mass:

• "The celebration of Mass, as the action of Christ and of the People of God arrayed hierarchically, is the center of the whole of Christian life for the Church both universal and local, as well as for each of the faithful individually. For it is found the high point both of the action by which God sanctifies the world in Christ and of the worship that the human race offers to the Father, adoring him through Christ, the Son of God in the Holy Spirit. In it, moreover, during the course of the year, the mysteries of redemption are celebrated so as to be in some way made present. As to the other sacred action and all the activities of the Christian life, these are bound up with it, flow from it, and are ordered to it."  GIRM16."

All music is chosen with the praise of God, the season of the year, and the particular Scripture and prayers for each particular Celebration of the Mass.

• "It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that the celebration of the Mass or the Lord's Supper be so ordered that the sacred ministers and the faithful taking part in it, according to the state proper to each, may draw from it more abundantly those fruits, to obtain which, Christ the Lord instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood and entrusted it as the memorial of his Passion and Resurrection to the Church, his beloved Bride." GIRM 17

Prayerful, beautiful, well-prepared assists the assembly to "draw from it more abundantly those fruits".

• "This will fittingly come about if, with due regard for the nature and other circumstances of each liturgical assembly, the entire celebration is arranged in such a way that it leads to a conscious, active, and full participation of the faithful, namely in body and in mind, a participation fervent with faith, hope and charity, of the sort which is desired by the Church and which is required by the very nature of the celebration and to which the Christian people have a right and duty in virtue of their Baptism. GIRM 18

This is a clear directive to all musicians to take particular care with the choice of music, the quality of music, and to make sure that the assembly knows the music and can participate with conscious, active and full participation.  

MUSIC MINISTRY NEWS:   

• Choir will begin in September and you will be receiving notices in the bulletin about how you can become a new member.   For current members, you are receiving regular newsletters and you have received a choir schedule with all the information you will need.  
• The Guitar/Vocal group has begun to come together again, and will be singing as a group on August 7th at the 5:15 Mass.
• The Choir of Hope is also resuming with a rehearsal on Wednesday morning, July 28th at 10AM in the music room.   New members are welcome!   If you are interested in joining this Choir, please contact Beverly at sttheresemusic@gmail,com or call 413-1233. The Choir of Hope sings for funerals.
• Saint Therese Chimers:    Will be resuming soon on Wednesday evenings from 6:15 - 7PM. No starting date has been set yet.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time   July 18 

Entrance Hymn:  No. 853  All People That On Earth Do Dwell    Responsorial Psalm:  "The Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing I shall want."  Alleluia verse: "My sheep hear my voice says the Lord. I know them and they follow me."  Hymn at the Preparation of the Altar and Presentation of Gifts:  No. 588 I Have Loved You  Communion Antiphon:  The Lord, the gracious, the merciful, has made a memorial of his wonders. He gives food to those who fear him."  Communion Hymn:  No. 35 Shepherd Me, O God  Closing Hymn:  No. 604 All The Ends of the Earth.