6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

14 February 2010

Entrance	God at creation's dawn (Denis Hurley)
Gloria	St Augustine's (Christopher Walker)
Psalm 1	Happy are those (mtgf)
Gospel Acclamation	Salisbury Alleluia (Christopher Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	Blest are you who weep (Collegeville Composers Group)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Mass of Creation (Marty Haugen)
Lamb of God	Mass of Remembrance (Marty Haugen)
Communion	Happy are those (Russian)
Final	All creatures of our God and king

Baptisms at Sunday Mass always seem to come as a surprise. This is not the time to discuss the pros and cons of celebrating baptism in this context. It was noticeable that with two infants being baptised the combined size of the baptismal parties seemed to meet the critical mass needed to discourage the congregation from taking a lead role in the singing. As usual when there is a baptism we sang God at creation's dawn which I hope by articulating something what is about to happen helps both to catechise and realise the assembly.

We had reduced numbers again which meant a little juggling of the music. I had originally planned SS Wesley's Lead me, Lord we used the Psallite setting at the Preparation instead. We sang the verses from Psalm 102 rather than the Beatitudes which we saved for Communion.

Though Psalm 1 is often used as an example of christological psalm - one which the tradition of the Church understands as referring to Christ - it is interesting that at least in the Sunday Lectionary the pairing is far more generic. It is the one who chooses the right path, the happy/blest person of the Gospel.

We ended the Mass as we usually do on this Sunday with a burst of Alleluias. In honour of the baptism we praised the flowing water and ended with a doxology in praise of the Trinity.