25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

20 September 2009

Entrance	Brother, Sister, let me serve you (Gilliard)
Penitential Rite	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Gloria	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Psalm 52	The Lord upholds my life (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Beati (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Like a child rests (Walker)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	St Gabriels (mtgf)
Communion	I am your Saviour (Collegeville Composer's Group)
Final	God his love, his the care (Dearmer)

The Gospel seems to run on and even echo last week's with the prophecy of the passion. However, in between in Mark's Gospel is the Transfiguration - this is the mountain Jesus and his disciples are leaving. The attractive end of the reading seems to be the latter half with its argument about who is the greatest and the invitation to welcome a little child.

I am not sure there are hymns, or at least nothing came to mind, that is linked to the prophecy of the passion — which is a significant turning point in each year of the lectionary. There is plenty about the passion: last week we used 'Praise to the holiest', this week there was reference in both opening and final hymns. Perhaps there is possibility with the canticle from 1 Peter Christ suffered for you?

This morning we had a Pastoral Letter so no homily on the scripture.

This week's Communion song was down as the 'Song for the Week' (i.e. Entrance Antiphon) in Psallite. The text is based on that of the Entrance Antiphon so does it matter that we transferred it? Part of the way that the Roman Rite uses scripture particularly the Psalms and the rest of the Old Testament, it seems to me, is that context is everything. I am your Saviour is given as Entrance Antiphon for all three years by choosing Psalm 55 (56) (the Graduale has Ps 77) the authors of Psallite preface and prepare for the first reading but can also be heard as a post-passion statement of Christ — I will be with you for ever. At Communion this phrase (in this context) comes to be about the Eucharist. To reflect this adjustment of meaning another psalm or other canticle may have been better for the verses.