3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

24 January 2010

Entrance	Your words are spirit and life (Bernadette Farrell)
Penitential Rite	Remembrance (Marty Haugen)
Gloria	St Augustine's (Christopher Walker)
Psalm 18	Your words are spirit (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	God has chosen me (Bernadette Farrell)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Remembrance (Marty Haugen)
Communion	Jesus, you are the bread (Bernadette Farrell)
Final	The voice of God (Connaughton)

When preparing the liturgy and reflecting on the readings I am often struck by the need for an opening text which 'sets the scene'. A text which is not specific to these particular readings. For this Sunday it was text about the word. It is not that such texts exist but they always seem either to be to melodies I doubt people know and/or a metre where there seem to be few alternatives. In the end today we sang a version of the psalm — so we began with an antiphon and psalm. I am not sure how often we have sung this setting . I would guess less than 5 times but people sang. We were also unaccompanied which is often a encouragement for people to sing out.

While writing this I have thought of another text which might have worked, and would have kept our Farrell quota, Praise to you, O Christ our Saviour. A text which I think works better as a hymn than as a Gospel Acclamation. It has a connection with St Augustine's Gloria as both were written for St Augustine's Abbey parish, Ramsgate.

! Corinthians is read for the first few weeks of each year of the liturgical cycle. The latter chapters read in year C contains some of the most well know passages of Paul's writing but they 'fight' to be heard against the other strong readings — an embarrassment of riches! Again, after the event God has chosen me might be seen to bring the texts together.