Published on 2 weeks ago
It seems that summer has hit with a vengeance. No need to pray for
rain in the near future. At least I'm off the hook for a little while.
One thing to keep in mind these summer months (which for us lasts
until end of September) is that air conditioning is working its hardest and
often cannot keep up with demand. Also, it's almost inevitable that a unit
will break down and finding a part can take time or even a minor miracle.
So, patience and forbearance will come in handy. Dress a little lightly, but with decorum...lol.
Ifand when we have an issue, we'll send a Flocknote alerting you to the situation. Pray that
nothing major happens until the first northern comes in... possibly October.
You'll be reading this as we are celebrating the 250th year of our nation's declaration
of independence from England. It is definitely a time to reflect how blessed we all are to be
part of a Nation so blessed by God. Every nation, | would presume, believes itself to be
blessed by God but our Nation, from its inception, based ourselves on the principle of the
God-given gift of life, liberty and justice for all. The Declaration of Independence declares
that all men are created equal. Given, we as a Nation are still a work in progress but we firm-
ly believe that this God-given gift is possible and achievable. It's not just a lofty dream but
what we as disciples of Jesus and citizens of this great Nation hold firmly to be our purpose
and wish to be a guiding light for other nations.
When our Nation was founded, Christianity was the core belief on which our Founding
Fathers built upon. Christians were as diverse then as we are now... Puritans, Evangelicals,
Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Non-denominationals and a spattering of
Catholics. Because our Catholic worship was in Latin, we had a treasury of Latin hymnody
but a very limited what might be called 'American Catholic' hymnody.
The other denominations were keen to develop a hymnody that would eventually be
considered 'American'. During conventions of National Pastoral Musicians (a Catholic organi-
zation of Catholic musicians, cantors, choir members, you-name-it) it was often pointed out
that American hymnody was often written for and sung in the forests without instrumental
accompaniment except maybe a mouth-harp. | often jokingly remark that, with Vatican
Council Il, we 'borrowed' hymnody from other churches 'fair-and-square! That was over 66
years ago. We, as a thoroughly American-based Catholic community, have now come into
our own and have developed a hymnody uniquely American and Catholic. On that score, we
have a lot to be proud of. As Catholic communities of St. Mary and St. Joseph, we are shining
examples of how that hymnody is enthusiastically sung each Sunday.
With that as background, during July, as we celebrated our Nation's Independence,
we're going to sprinkle our Sunday celebrations with typical early American hymns. | might
even say that, during July, we're going to enjoy 'Revival' Sundays...celebrating our Christian-
based American heritage. Sing as if you were in a forest.