ORDINARY TIME MUSINGS
I can’t believe that we are back to Ordinary Time already! Christmas season went by like a blink. But before we completely turn the page to Ordinary Time, I would like to express my profoundest gratitude to those who have worked so hard in making our Christmas festivities truly special and memorable. The beautiful decorations that we had in the church during the Christmas season were made possible through a joint collaboration between the St. Therese Guild and some members of our Hispanic community. It was quite impressive how fast we were able to put things together. It did not feel like work at all; we all had fun while decorating the church. At the end of that day, we went home tired but joyful! We are also very grateful to the various choir groups that dedicated a lot of time practicing for the music for the Christmas Masses. Music is a huge party of the liturgy, and we very fortunate here at St. Cecilia’s that we have a variety of liturgical music genres that speak to our own unique individual spirituality. It does not hurt, though, to try other genres that do not necessarily speak to us. At times, we just have to be open to the various ways that the Holy Spirit is speaking to us in order to understand better where other people are in their own faith journey.
I am pretty sure that you have already noticed the new candlesticks on the altar and also the two big ones right next to the tabernacle. It’s hard to miss them! A very generous parishioner donated them to the parish. They truly add a certain solemnity to the celebration of the Eucharist, and they do remind us of the sacredness that takes place in the sanctuary.
We are in the process of finalizing our Adult Education offerings for the coming months. We are excited to bring to the parish two internationally known authors/speakers to give conferences on Spirituality and Scriptures: Father Jacques Philippe and Dr. John Bergsma. We are very fortunate to be able to work out a date with Father Jacques as he will already be giving a conference in Seattle in March. When we inquired as to his next availability, the nearest one was in 2017, so we are very glad that a date works out with him to come to us for a few days to give a conference in March of this year. Fr. Jacques is a sought after speaker in the field of spirituality, while Dr. Bergsma is a respected biblical scholar. Dr. Bergsma is coming in October 2016. More detailed flyers for these events will be published as the actual dates approach.
The calendar for Lent has nearly been finalized. It was a little odd that during the Christmas season we were already working on a Lenten calendar. Lent starts quite early this year — it begins on February 10. This means that we only have four weeks of Ordinary Time after the Christmas season. Cheryl Motal, our office manager, was a little bewildered when I asked her during the first week of Christmas to check our “Lenten” liturgical supplies.
As part of our Lenten calendar, we will be offering a workshop on funeral liturgy planning on one of the Saturdays of Lent. I have come to realize the importance of this topic. I have had several experiences already when we had active and devout parishioners who did not have funeral liturgies simply because their family members are no longer practicing the faith or sometimes because family members did not know what to do. Funeral liturgy is one of the most memorable and beautiful rites that we have in the Catholic faith, and for someone who has practiced the faith for a long time, it is just proper to have a funeral liturgy. I do understand that we also have very devout parishioners who prefer not to have a funeral and we do respect that, but it is a completely different story when it is a family member who chooses not to do it simply because he/she is not practicing anymore. The hope is that this workshop on funeral liturgy planning will help us plan for own funeral or for a funeral of a loved one– choose the readings, music, and other logistical needs. Having a prepared funeral liturgy is also a huge help for those who remain so that they will not have to wonder or guess what would be best to commemorate Mom or Dad. It also becomes a little awkward and difficult when family members fight during the funeral preparation simply because one wants to do something that others do not want to see in a funeral. This can all be avoided when we have a funeral liturgy form that we can pull out as part of our records so that it becomes a smooth and stress-free process. I myself update my own funeral liturgy form every year just to make sure that things are current. We will also invite Pegg Paxson and Springer Funeral Home to speak to us on some more practical considerations. You would be surprised how much energy and times it takes to prepare for a funeral! Stay tuned for more information! – Fr. Cary