From the Pastor: 7-29-2018

Over the next four weeks our Gospel at Mass will be from the sixth chapter of Saint John’s Gospel.  This is the beautiful and profound “Bread of Life” discourse.  In John’s Gospel, there is no “institution narrative” of Jesus giving us the Eucharist at the Last Supper as we find in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke).  Rather, we have Jesus washing the feet of the  disciples in the midst of the Last Supper.  John’s treatment of the Sacrament of the Eucharist is  this lengthy discourse in Chapter Six.  Since the Eucharist is so connected with the Mass, I thought I would use the next few weeks to remind us of some of the practical matters of  celebrating Mass here at St. Joan of Arc. 

One thing that you may have noticed:  we have been using a Common Psalm for the Responsorial Psalm at Mass these past couple of weeks.  A Common Psalm is one that can be used for the different seasons of the Church year.  There are common psalms for Advent, Lent, Easter and, as we are doing now, in Ordinary Time.  The Common Psalm thematically connects the different Sundays within a season.  For example, these next four weeks we will be using “Taste  and see the goodness of the Lord”, which is perfect as we reflect upon the Eucharist.  The Common Psalm can be found on the worship aid in the back of the hymnal.  It will NOT be found on the page with the Sunday readings.  Since just the refrain is in the worship aid, listen carefully  to the cantor as he or she chants the verses.  The Church give us many options within the Liturgy.  We are just using the option of using the Common Psalms!

Father Al