First Rule for Altar Servers

DON'T show up for Holy Mass looking like you live under a bridge. Put on appropriate clean clothing and shoes, and wash/comb/brush your hair. PLEASE.

Feel free to add other rules in the comments.

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 2, 2009 UPDATED

Was it not the coolest thing ever to have Archbishop Mensah with us last weekend? I wish that more parishioners had attended, though, if not for the beautiful Mass, then just to look at those awesome African vestments!

Processional: For the Beauty of the Earth (624)
Offertory: Panis Angelicus (364)
Communion: Graduale Romanum antiphon listen here
Recessional: Alleluia, Sing to Jesus (748)

Friendship and Honesty Part Duo

The awesome Heresy Hunter's comment on the previous post has prompted me to clarify things just a little.

This blog has a limited readership, consisting mainly of my small, young choir and my parents; the blog is hidden, and search engines supposedly can't find it. So there aren't too many people reading my hymn listings, and VERY occasional rant. And the rants only come when I'm feeling REALLY down. Despite this, I've never written anything that I regret.

I have a theory that since I'm usually cheery/happy (or whatever), that I'm not viewed as a real person with feelings. Does that make sense? But please, people; it is not respectful to treat others with disregard. Because believe me, we notice. Have I been guilty of this too? Probably.

Is this eating away at me? No. Just bugging me a little. So now I've vented. *Breathes Deeply* Okay. I'm good.

On Honesty and Friendship - probably continually updated

I've been reflecting on acquaintanceship, true friendship, and the like. I'm not a good writer, so I hope the reader will excuse my inadequacies in this regard. And since I'm not able to express myself in a philosophical manner, perhaps I'll start with an example.

A LONG time ago, I had a "friend" who leaned on me for emotional support; she phoned me at home and at work with her troubles, and we frequently lunched together. Her life was a disaster; between her husband (and ex-husband) troubles and irritable bowel syndrome, she never lacked burdensome incidents to tell me about. (Side note: NO ONE wants to hear about your irritable bowel syndrome.) But guess what? My life at the time was a shambles, too. When I attempted to bring up something bothering me, I was CUT OFF so that she could complain about something else. Eventually, I realized, with the help of my future husband, that this person was NOT a friend, and was just using me as a "life crutch". I just stopped returning her calls, and she eventually left me alone. Yay.

But hey, that was twenty-two years or so ago, and things have changed. OH WAIT! I'm not so sure. I've struggled with my friends misleading me, or outright lying to me. (I know they were lying because they admitted it to me later.) Or in other cases, I think I have a friend, but when I bring up anything remotely personal (and I mean REALLY remotely, like my personal feelings on a subject), the person ignores outright what I've said, and changes the subject. I don't know what to make of it. Perhaps these relationships are just for convenience, and will blow away like dandelion seeds when the "friends" are separated.

If you see yourself in the preceding paragraph, please know that dishonesty does not flatter you. The truth will come out eventually, you'll feel stupid and embarrassed, and....the 8th Commandment states "Thou shalt not bear false witness." And what else....hmmm......using others because it's convenient for you is not nice. So don't do it.

Enough ruminating for now. Perhaps I'll add more later.

And there's not a particular incident that led to this post. It's just a number of things that have happened in the last year, and it's had a cumulative effect on me.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 26, 2009 - UPDATED

Processional: To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King (BB 740)
Offertory: Ave Verum Corpus (BB 366) (choir only, gals then guys)
Communion: antiphon LISTEN HERE.
See Us Lord About Your Altar (BB 363)
Recessional: I Sing the Mighty Power of God (BB 416)

Archbishop Mensah from the Diocese of Kumasi, Ghana will be here this weekend with Fr. Louis Tuffuor.

UPDATE:
After looking at the antiphon, I've decided to sing it through once, then we'll move on to Ave Verum Corpus. This is the most difficult antiphon I've seen. Although I'm open to being convinced otherwise.

O Germany...

Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944

"I am committing high treason with all my might and means...."--Claus Von Stauffenberg, about the July 20 Plot to assassinate Hitler, to a fellow conspirator

Today, July 20, was the day on which Claus Von Stauffenberg attempted to assassinate Hitler, culminating the now-famed Valkyrie plot. He and his fellow conspirators were executed by firing squadron just after 1 AM on July 21, 1944. Though buried with military honors, he was disinterred the next day by the SS, his medals torn off and his body cremated.

Rest in Peace.

The Unlikeliest Events of All...

...are frequently ones that make one feel better. Unless, of course, it's something like some dirtbag running into your bumper and crumpling part of your trunk (which also happened).
But this was an unlikely event (as in, the odds were 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 etc.) that was absolutely wonderful. But what makes it unlikely and fantastic?

Anyone who's been around me and mentioned the armed forces is any way is aware that my favorite of all dead guys from the past 200 years would be Michael Monsoor*, who dove on a grenade in Ar-Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept. 29 2006 in order to save the lives of his comrades, when he could've easily escaped the blast himself (but others would have died). This unlikely event took place just outside of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Mikey M. drove a corvette, but there his involvement seems to end. However, as we approached the entrance, there was a simple memorial bench, like the kind you see in cemeteries. And it read 'Michael A. Monsoor'.
At first I didn't comprehend it. Of course it's there, I thought. Makes perfect sense. The guy's a national hero, why wouldn't he be here?
Then it occurred to me--Oh. Right....
While I certainly would bring him up and put a memorial of him in any given place at any given time, most other people wouldn't. But sure enough, here it was. And we easily could have missed it if we had parked in the adjacent lot. (To make the matter more unbelievable, that bench was put in place on May 23....2009.)
But there he was. The heroic modern-day saint who died on his name day and my birthday.
God bless you, Mikey. We love you.

*and if you haven't noticed...where have you been?

We found him!

Johnnie Lewis Sr., who is the uncle of our dear MCK! He was, sure enough, in Barrancas National Cemetery.

Watch the ad rejected by CNN and NBC

Read about it here.

The Vacation Thus Far

More to be added soon.

Heroism II

Naval Medal of Honor

"For Conspicuous Gallantry above and beyond the call of Duty..."

(Pensacola Naval Air Base, Florida)

Heroism

Pensacola Naval Air Base, Barrancas National Cemetery, Florida

There is a tendency to call anyone who has done anything anywhere a 'hero'. If you've read any given news website in the past month, then you know exactly what I mean.

The picture above is a small part of the Annex of the 94.9 acres of the Barrancas National Cemetery. It is the resting place of many, many brave men and women who have fought for our country since the Civil War, including three medal of honor recipients. Many have been dead for years--and many have not.

These are the heroes of our society--and the ones that many Americans will never know about.

Do not forget them. They are quite possibly the only way that we are alive today--and quite possibly the ones who made us who we are, whether we know it or not.

Rest in peace.

See:

Michael Monsoor
Sarah Taylor
Ross McGinnis
Jason Dunham
Hugh Purvis
Medal of Honor Recipients

And for Contrast, see:

Benedict Arnold

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 18, 2009

Carissa will be guest organist this weekend.

Processional: Praise to the Lord (BB 203)
Offertory: The King of Love My Shepherd Is (BB 483)
Communion: O Jesus, How Our Spirits Sing (Jesu Dulcis Memoria) (BB 368)
Recessional: Holy God, We Praise Thy Name (BB 202)

Outa Here.....

I'll be gone for the next two weeks (15th and 16th Sundays of Ordinary Time) for a vacation in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Check back, though; I'm hoping to post some pictures.