Happy Feast Day!

Being an alum of Seattle University (SU,) I have a special place in my heart for the Society of Jesus. The Jesuits have been and continue to be an inspiration to me & a source of wisdom, strength and encouragement. On this, the feast day of their founder, I hold them especially in prayer.

There is no better way for me to celebrate this special feast than at the Chapel of St. Ignatius at SU, where I served as a sacristan during my studies.

 

"O God, who raised up Saint Ignatius of Loyola in your Church to further the greater glory of your name, grant that by his help we may imitate him in fighting the good fight on earth and merit to receive with him a crown in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever"    Amen!  

(taken from the collect prayer for St. Ignatius)

 

St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us!

Greetings from the NPM Convention...

...sort of anyway. 

If I were really in Washington, DC for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) Convention, I would be blogging about it more than just this one post.

This picture is from the NPM Facebook page.

And so are these video clips from the opening ceremony of the NPM Convention (just a warning that the young lady in the beginning is just a little bit too excited for Convention, but then again, I probably would be too!)

Earlier today I was in touch with one of the music directors from Tacoma who is in attendance at Convention, and invited her to write an article for our next Liturgy Line newsletter about her experience. I'm very excited to read it! In the meantime, I'll stick to following posts on Facebook.

More Musings

The long-awaited arrival of the new Archdiocesan Director of Liturgy is here! Andrew was in the office for a few hours last Friday morning to get his id badge, parking pass, finish signing papers with HR, get his computer and email set-up, etc. Tomorrow he'll begin his new ministerial position full-time. But I can already tell why he was the unanimous choice of the search committee! He is a great person and I look forward with even more joy, hope, and excitement in ministering together. Now the real time of transition begins...prayers are appreciated!

But on a lighter note, last Saturday morning we had a moving party for Andrew and his family. We're ever-so grateful for those who took a few hours to babysit his two beautiful children and move furniture, boxes, toys, and some other items. This is just a sneak peak into the "other items" we unloaded off the moving truck and into his family's new home in Shoreline. Pretty neat stuff, if you ask me!

                         



This week is the NPM Convention in Washington, D.C., in which three people (that I know of anyway) from the Archdiocese are in attendance. Please hold them, and all participants in prayer. For those of us who wish we could participate in this national gathering, the Pray Tell blog will be live-streaming some of the sessions.

Here's a very informative summer issue of the liturgy newsletter from Diocese of San Jose Worship Office. I think I have some ideas for the next issue of our very own Liturgy Line. A fun note, last Sunday the 21st, the director of worship for San Jose, Diana Macalintal, made a surprise visit to the Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle. She is the same Diana Macalintal that I had the grace-filled opportunity to have breakfast with one day when at the Religious Education Congress in Anaheim last February.

In the newsletter included a pretty neat podcast from Diana providing a run-down of Pope Francis' encyclical Lumen fidei and what may be important for all who prepare liturgy to know about the document.

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Father Emmett Carroll, SJ, Pastor of St. Cecilia on Bainbridge Island, who died unexpectedly last week. His Funeral Mass will be tomorrow evening, 7:00pm at St. Cecilia. Archbishop Brunett will be the main celebrant and Father Patrick Howell, SJ will offer the homily. Eternal rest, grant unto the soul of Father Emmett, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Obligation or No Obligation?

Our office is receiving a number of phone calls about December 8th - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - falling on a Monday this year.

Basically, the observance of the Solemnity is transferred to Monday, December 9th since the Sunday of Advent takes precedence, but December 9th is not a Holy Day of obligation this year.

And here's why:

Taken from the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship Newsletter Volume XLIX  February 2013

"In this year of 2013, December 8 – normally the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – falls on the Second Sunday of Advent. In accordance with no. 5 of the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, the observance of the Solemnity is transferred to Monday, December 9. Such a transfer is seen as a pastoral concession to the desire of the faithful to observe a beloved Feast even though it is impeded liturgically by a higher observance. The obligation of the faithful to attend Mass remains attached to the day itself (December 8), however, and so it does not transfer with the liturgical observance."

Jersey Job Opportunity

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen (which just so happens to be where our former Associate Director and a good friend now ministers) is now hiring a Program Coordinator for their Worship Office.

Maybe you are interested in applying or know someone who may be? Please spread the word to others.

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit may guide them and their ministry to the liturgical leadership of Metuchen.

Monday Musings

Today the new Archdiocesan Liturgy Director begins a long and adventurous family road trip westward from North Carolina, on this the memorial of St. Bonaventure. May the intercession of the seraphic Doctor bring Andrew and his family a good trip to Seattle (and to all the stops in between.) Please hold him and his family in your prayers. We look forward to welcoming him in our Archdiocese in a few weeks (he officially begins August 1st!)

[As a tangent, Andrew and I have a mutual friend getting married at Mary, Queen of Peace in Sammamish on July 27th so I will have the privilege of meeting him on Friday the 26th, and then seeing him again on Saturday and Sunday for the wedding festivities (the bride, who currently is on staff at MQP for children and family ministry, studied with Andrew at Notre Dame and she was also the former youth minister at St. Paul's parish.)]

Our interim director for this past year had two small bouquets of flowers delivered to me and Teresa today for all of our work in this past year of challenging transitions. Each of us are displaying the beautiful bouquets on our desk for the week (hopefully longer, if they last.)

In today's mail I received an informational packet on the Diocese of Boise's first ever Eucharistic Congress to be held on Friday, September 6 and Saturday, September 7. My friend's wedding, which I'm altar serving at, is scheduled for that same Saturday at Noon, so not sure yet if I can make it work to attend both events. Maybe you can? And if not, our Archdiocese plans to sponsor it's very own Eucharistic Congress in a year or two.

 

And the best for last, check out these pictures of what I consider to be a pretty awesome find, going back to 1973 supposedly! These gems are keepers!

 

I do...with the help of God

During the Rite of Ordination, the candidates make several promises, in which they respond "I do" except for the last promise, where the candidates responds "I do, with the help of God."

For those of you who were at Father Mark's priestly ordination last month, you may recall a memorable moment when Father Mark forgot to say "with the help of God" but after a few seconds of silence, he added on this forgotten phrase with laughter from the assembly once everyone realized he had forgotten the phrase.

I've since learned that Father Mark was counting the promises with his fingers in order to remember when to say "with the help of God" but he lost count sometime during the Rite. Thankfully, two of the Masters of Ceremony (and maybe even the bishop) whispered to Father Mark before he realized the mistake.

If you click the video below, right after Father Mark says "I do" you'll notice his fingers moving, indicating his counting. It was a good laugh (for me anyway) to re-live this moment of the rite, knowing that Father Mark was counting with his fingers, then knowing that he had lost count.

Thanks to Father Mark's sister, Mary Jane, who took this video (in addition to the other videos below.)

A suggestion I have, albeit a bit late for Father Mark, is that instead of counting with fingers, to remember a key phrase in the promise that is associated with adding "with the help of God." (i.e. "Christ the High Priest" might have been a good one to remember.) Hopefully this suggestion is not too late for future ordinands.

To view other video clips from Father Mark Kiszelewski's ordination to the priesthood and Mass of Thanksgiving, simply click here to go to Mary Jane's youtube channel for the eight additional clips.

If you watch the videos closely, you'll see some additional light-hearted moments from the Ordination Mass, like in Video # 2 at 0:24 with some good commentary about Father Mark laughing because we put a cushion for him kneeling during the Laying on of Hands, Video #4 at about 0:03 the bishop nudges Father Mark with his elbow and in Video #5 which you'll see Father Mark is a bit anxious for the recessional.

But of course, please view these videos not because of these hilarious moments or to get a good laugh, but because of the beauty within the ritual itself!

Thanks to Father Mark's brother, Matthew, for forwarding these videos to me. And lastly but most importantly, thanks to Father Mark for being a great friend to me over the past few years and for whatever other moments we can laugh about in the future! Ad multos annos, Father Mark!

Ad multos annos

Today is the anniversary of priestly ordination of Archbishop Emeritus Alex J. Brunett, and Monday is the anniversary of priestly ordination of Archbishop J. Peter Sartain.

My prayer today for the both of them, and for all priests, comes from Sacred Scripture:

Do not neglect the gift you have, which was conferred on you through the prophetic word with the imposition of hands of the Holy Spirit.

1 Timothy 4:14

100 years

The Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Tacoma will celebrate it's 100 year anniversary of the church building. The structure turned 100 on June 16, 2013. Archbishop Sartain will celebrate Mass at the parish this Saturday, July 13th at 5:00pm.

View a message from the pastor of the parish, Father Nick Wichert, for more information on the celebration and a brief history of the church.

Not so quiet days of July

While most parishes and schools are experiencing some quiet days of summer, there have been lots going on since my last post, but I'll only be highlighting a few:

• The Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, calling it unconstitutional. As one archdiocesan priest commented with posting this article, "if you want your priest and your parish to be faithful, it is imperative to call attention to the issues at hand and to support preaching & practicing the Truth"
• Pope Francis has published his first encyclical "Lumen Fidei" (The Light of Faith)
• Pope Francis also signed canonization decrees for two former Popes, John Paul II and John XXIII

For a little more lighter fare:

• Many priests and parishes began the new fiscal year with new assignments. (just ignore the "draft" watermark, as I'm not able to remove it from the document)   Let us continue to pray for these priests and parishes going through transitions!
• My good friend, John Michael Reyes began in his new ministerial position as the Campus Minister for Liturgy at Seattle University last week. We first met when he and I coordinated the Youth Convention Mass a few years ago. Since then, he has been a great friend to me over the years and we continue to share ministerial stories together.
• After Priest Days (June 16-20) I took a week of staycation. Then after being in the office for only three days last week, I begin another staycation today. And...wait for it...I will have my last summer staycation August 5-9.
• Most priests probably know this already, but there is a minor change to the collect of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, whose feast day is July 14th. Instead of saying "Blessed" we will now pray "Saint"

I hope your first few days of July have gone off to a restful and relaxing start and I pray that the rest of the summer is a great one!