CHOIR DIRECTOR/ORGANIST ESCAPES ATHENS COUNTY! FILM AT 11!

I'm traveling to the Ohio Valley this weekend, assuming that my husband has returned from his extended (grrrr....) trip to Philly/New Jersey. Saturday morning, the older children and I will go to a used-church-goods warehouse, then on Sunday, the whole family hopes to travel to the St. Anthony Chapel, which houses the largest collection of relics outside the Vatican.

Consequently, the choir won't be officially singing this weekend, but for those of you who will be in town - PLEASE SING ANYWAY!

We'll have choir rehearsal next Thursday (Sept. 3) at 7:00 p.m., and Father will be there to practice the Preface with us. If you have friends/acquaintances/distant relatives that are new in the area, are Catholic (or becoming Catholic), and can SING WELL, bring 'em to practice.

A Sailor, Soldier and Marine walked into a bar....

The Meaning of "Secure a Building" in different branches of the military:

If you told Navy personnel to "secure a building", they would turn off the lights and lock the doors.

Army personnel would occupy the building so no one could enter.

Marines would assault the building, capture it, and defend it with suppressive fire and close combat.

Air Force personnel would take out a three-year lease with an option to buy.

(Celestine's note: ...can't...breathe...laughing...too...hard....)

Reality Star Chooses Life

Article courtesy of LifeSiteNews. I'd love for her to say she's pro-life, but perhaps that would turn off her target audience from the positive message. God bless her and her baby, and well as that fantastic doctor (see the last paragraph).

Reality TV Star Kourtney Kardashian Chooses Life
"I can't even tell you how many people just say, 'Oh, get an abortion.' Like it's not a big deal," says the star.

By Matthew Anderson

August 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Kourtney Kardashian, the famous socialite and model, told People magazine in a recent interview that she considered having her unborn child aborted but changed her mind after reading about the traumatizing effects of abortion online.

"I looked online, and I was sitting on the bed hysterically crying, reading these stories of people who felt so guilty from having an abortion," Kourtney told David Caplan of People.

Kardashian, who is most famous for her role in the reality TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians on E!, announced last week that she was pregnant.

Though Kardashian openly supports abortion as a legitimate choice in her interview, she says that she wrestled with the decision, something she thinks not many people do.

"I do think every woman should have the right to do what they want, but I don't think it's talked through enough."

However, after researching the emotionally and physically devastating effects of abortion on women, she said, "I was just sitting there crying, thinking, 'I can't do that.' "

"I felt in my body, this is meant to be. God does things for a reason, and I just felt like it was the right thing that was happening in my life."

Further, Kardashian says she recognized that her motives for aborting the baby would have been selfishly driven. Kardashian, who with her sisters Khloe and Kim owns the clothing boutique DASH, said, "For me, all the reasons why I wouldn't keep the baby were so selfish: It wasn't like I was raped, it's not like I'm 16. I'm 30 years old, I make my own money, I support myself, I can afford to have a baby."

Disturbingly, though, Kardashian said a number of people advised her to get an abortion without much thought to the gravity of the matter.

"I can't even tell you how many people just say, 'Oh, get an abortion.' Like it's not a big deal."

Luckily she was advised by a friend to see a doctor, and the doctor encouraged her to research abortion online. He also told her that she would never regret having the child, but she might very well regret aborting it.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 23, 2009

Processional: Go Make of All Disciples (BB 190)
Offertory: Where Charity and Love Prevail (BB 419)
Communion: De fructu....
Recessional: Holy, Holy, Holy (BB 211)

I'd like to learn the Ubi Caritas chant (BB 421), but it won't be done by this weekend. (The Benoit version of Where Charity and Love Prevail is an excellent substitute, though.) We'll work on the chant slowly, and we'll have a LOT of opportunities to use it.

Starting in September, we'll be singing the Preface at Mass. Exciting!!!

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 16, 2009

Processional: Alleluia! Alleluia! Let the Holy Anthem Rise (BB 185)
Offertory: The King of Love My Shepherd Is (BB 483)
Communion: Qui Manducat...
Recessional: Holy God, We Praise Thy Name (BB 102)

Most of the summer choir will be in Buffalo this weekend to see/hear Fr. Corapi. I expect a full transcript when they get back.

Horrors

Fall Quarter starts in a month, so I'm officially depressed. The good news is that The Blogmistress is taking a choral conducting class, so maybe all that crazy hand waving I do in the loft will start to make sense.

I should request a class that teaches various wild-eyed head gestures so that I can effectively conduct while playing the organ. Somebody's gotta teach that stuff -- you know -- the stuff that really matters.

Please put your Feelings of Dread and Tales of Woe in the comments. And any Happy News too, if you insist.

This has been a Public Service Announcement.

(For the Naysayers: Yes - I'm very grateful to God Almighty for all the blessings and opportunities He has given me.)

Mensah Pictures!

OOH OOH OOH! I never post pictures, preferring to leave the job to the ever-talented Celestine, because the process strains my limited intellect. However, I'm making an exception today; I've dusted the cobwebs from my synapses, and well, here we go!

Blogger is throwing the pictures at the top; I don't seem to have control over where they appear. This will make individual captioning slightly challenging.

Top: Altar Boys (one of them belonging to your blogmistressness), Msgr. Gaughan, His Excellency Bishop Thomas Mensah, and Fr. Tuffuor.

Bottom: Fr. Tuffuor, Fr. Holler, Archishop Mensah, Msgr. Gaughan

Photos by John Halley

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 9, 2009

Processional: Crown Him With Many Crowns (BB 747)
Offertory: O Sanctissima (BB 701)
Communion: Panis..... (I'll send out the practice recordings via email.)
Recessional: All Creatures of Our God and King (BB 548)

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