23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B, 2009)

Entrance	Praise my soul, the king of heaven
Kyrie	Mass for John Carroll (Michael Joncas)
Gloria	Mass for John Carroll
Psalm	Ps 145 (Stephen Dean)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts	Fugue alla Gigue, BWV 577 (J.S. Bach)
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Agnus Dei	Holy Family Mass (John Schiavone)
Communion	(i) Like the Deer (mcb) (ii) Godhead here in hiding
Postcommunion	Sicut Cervus (Palestrina)
Recessional	Thou whose almighty Word

We returned from our Summer break today, and were fortunate to have members of Province 1 of the Catenian Association with us once again. As usual for these occasions, the music was chosen to take advantage of the large and enthusiastic singing assembly.

Today’s readings touched on healing, and two of our hymns took up the same theme: Praise my soul, the king of heaven (“ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven”) and Thou whose almighty Word (“Thou who didst come to bring/on thy redeeming wing/healing and sight,
health to the sick in mind, sight to the inly blind, ah! now to all mankind,
let there be light!”)

Psalm 42’s thirsty deer had two contrasting outings, in my simple setting and Palestrina’s famous gem. (One-nil to Palestrina then.)

The Ordinary of the Mass was mix-and-match, the items by Joncas and Schiavone providing instantly accessible but musically strong congregational responses for a gathering of people from disparate worshipping communities with a limited common repertoire. And if anyone didn’t know the Sanctus from the Mass of Creation, perhaps they should have, and they do now.

All that plus Bach’s Jig Fugue during the Preparation of the Gifts, carried off by our inimitable organist with verve and panache, and stuff like that.