Mystery Flowers

Flowers on the altar at St John this morning. We (at the 11:30) are gaga over the color, and mystified at what they might be…




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Connections

When I got to St John this morning, Fr Mike was walking from the rectory to the church, singing “Catalina Madalena…”!!

I joined in the verses (he knew one that I didn’t), and we both howled when we got done. He said, “Hey! There’s someone else besides me who knows that!!” I didn’t think to ask him where/when he’d learned it; I must rectify at the earliest possible.

RenRen was just as amused as I, and is absolutely sure that we learned it from Claudia Kellogg; I’ll have to inquire.

Fan Club

I filled in for Celia at St Michael again this morning; Tom buzzed up, again, too.

After the Offertory song, before Fr Bob started the prayer, there came a “Yay!!” from the side of the church to the choir’s left, from a small, cheerful, slightly noisy (but certainly not obnoxious) boy. Everybody in the church heard him, and were most amused.         :-D

We Did *Not* Plan This

When I got up this morning, as usual, I grabbed the next blouse (basic black) and blue trousers to be worn, put them on, and carried on.

Gary showed up, wearing a black polo shirt and blue trousers.

Diane showed up, wearing a black sweater and blue trousers.

It got worse.

At 10:30, Elaine was wearing a black sweater and Roy, a black pullover (and black trousers both). Suzy Brown, who was lectoring, had a black top and roasty-toasty-looking shawl (and brown trousers).

It’s not my fault.

Who Died and Made Me????? God?

Our parish mission is this week, and Fr Gavin Griffith, who’s leading it, said the Masses this weekend. His sermon touched on several things, including his two favorite prayers, the Serenity Prayer and Fr Mychal Judge's prayer.

Father Mychal's Prayer:

Lord, take me where You want me to go;
Let me meet who You want me to meet;
Tell me what You want me to say
And keep me out of Your way.

Life and Its Twists and Turns

Roy scheduled this week’s rehearsal for last night, because the gang at work was going to the Giants’ game tonight, and had a ticket for him. While we were waiting in the vestibule for the after-Mass Rosary to be said, Fr Mike asked if one of us could be at the church today to offer assistance with the sound system and setup to the out-of-parish musicians for the scheduled funeral. I raised my hand.

The funeral was scheduled for 2:00p; figuring the musicians could be arriving about 1:00p, I bugged out from home about 12:40p. There was already plenty of bustle about the church when I got there, including a San Jose Fire truck and a paramedic bus; a white Ben Lomond Fire vehicle appeared some time later. When I walked into the church, the front was stuffed with flowers, and more kept coming, both from the funeral directors and a florist.

There was also a portrait of the beloved deceased, who didn’t look that much older (in the portrait, anyway) than Marisa…

He was a local boy, Benjamin Richard Gutierrez, who graduated from SLV High School in 2002; a paramedic, working his way to being a fireman.

The church was jammed with mourners: the pews, SRO, the vestibule, the steps outside the front door, the passage from the church to the parish hall, the two front parking lots…

May he rest in peace, Lord; comfort his family and friends in their hours of need.

Benjamin Richard Gutierrez
Tributes

*Who* is Getting Excited about the Latin Mass??

Recommended link on CeltList:
Youth behind resurgence of ancient Catholic ritual

Clueless in Choir

Is it because we’re musicians?

After the lector finished with the petitions this morning, Fr Paul added one, to the effect of “That the people of Iraq will have a better time of it, with Saddam Hussein’s capture.” (Let us pray to the Lord…)

I looked over at Diane, who was standing next to me, and we both looked back at Anne (in the pew behind us), and all of us had no clue. The lady behind Anne confirmed that, indeed, it was true. As we were walking back to the altar, Tom leaned over and asked me if it had actually happened.

I was relieved it wasn't just I who hadn’t a clue…

Gaudete Sunday

And what shade did you say Father’s vestments were?

Today is Gaudete Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of Advent, a reminder of the joy and wonder upcoming, in the midst of Advent’s preparations. Purple (violet?) is the seasonal color, but today’s color is rose. Fr Paul tells us that the color comes from the combining the purple of Advent with the white of Christmas. He also pointed out that his vestments, which had come from St Michael, weren’t exactly the most wonderful shade of rose (they were pank, actually), but we got the drift...

And then, what appears on CeltList?

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Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2003 20:48:14 -0000
Subject: [Celt] (+) Gaudete Sunday, Third Sunday of Advent
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Gaudete Sunday, Third Sunday of Advent
Liturgical Color: Rose
Themes & Motives: rejoice, joy, preparation, coming, glory, splendor,
John the Baptist

Gaudete Sunday By Br. James Thompson, O.P.
http://www.newman-asu.org/lit_corner/lit_gaudetesunday.html

You have noticed the rose-colored candle in the Advent wreath, but do you know why one is rose while the others are purple? The color rose is only occasionally used liturgically, and it represents joy. Halfway through the otherwise muted season of Advent, we express the joyful aspect of anticipating the Lord’s coming. You can hear the theme of joy and rejoicing throughout the readings and prayers in the Mass.

The third Sunday in Advent was nicknamed “Gaudete Sunday” long ago. Gaudete means ‘rejoice!’ in Latin, and is the first word in the Latin Mass for that day. If you look up the “entrance antiphon” in a missalette, you will see that it starts out: “Rejoice in the Lord always!” In the Latin that would read Gaudete in Domino semper! Today we usually sing an opening hymn rather than recite or chant the entrance antiphon, but the theme of rejoicing is no less conspicuous now on Gaudete Sunday than in the past.

Is there a counterpart to Gaudete Sunday in Lent? Yes, there is. Halfway through Lent we celebrate what is traditionally called “Laetare Sunday.” As in Advent, we take a mid-term break from the somberness of the season for joyous anticipation. Laetare Sunday also takes its name from the entrance antiphon of the day, whose first word is a Latin synonym also meaning “rejoice” or “be joyful.” This is the other time you may see liturgical use of the color rose.

-------------------------------------

Gaudete Sunday (full article available at):
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06394b.htm

The third Sunday of Advent, so called from the first word of the Introit at Mass (Gaudete, i.e., Rejoice). The season of Advent originated as a fast of forty days in preparation for Christmas, commencing on the day after the feast of St. Martin (12 November), whence it was often called “St. Martin’s Lent” -- a name by which it was known as early as the fifth century.

The introduction of the Advent fast cannot be placed much earlier, because there is no evidence of Christmas being kept on 25 December before the end of the fourth century (Duchesne, “Origines du culte chrétien”, Paris, 1889), and the preparation for the feast could not have been of earlier date than the feast itself. In the ninth century, the duration of Advent was reduced to four weeks, the first allusion to the shortened season being in a letter of St. Nicholas I (858-867) to the Bulgarians, and by the twelfth century the fast had been replaced by simple abstinence. St. Gregory the Great was the first to draw up an Office for the Advent season, and the Gregorian Sacramentary is the earliest to provide Masses for the Sundays of Advent. In both Office and Mass provision is made for five Sundays, but by the tenth century four was the usual number, though some churches of France observed five as late as the thirteenth century.


“When you perceive that God is chastening you, fly not to His enemies… but to His friends, the martyrs, the saints, and those who were pleasing to Him, and who have great power in God.” John Chrysostom: Orations 396 AD


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