2nd Sunday of Easter

11 April 2010

Entrance	O sons and Daughters
Gloria	Glory to God (Berthier)
Psalm 117	Give thanks to the Lord, alleluia (Collegeville Composers Group)
Gospel Acclamation	Celtic (O'Carroll/Walker)
Preparation of Gifts	We walk by faith (Alford/Marty Haugen)
Eucharistic Acclamations	Gathering (Paul Inwood)
Lamb of God	O Lamb of God (Berthier)
Communion	Now we remain (David Haas)
Final	Thine be the glory

There is a challenge in Catholic liturgy: is the Sunday liturgy the primary liturgy of the Church when the whole local church gathers or is Sunday part of an ongoing cycle which the majority of the laity dip into once a week? This is something that strikes me at Christmas and Easter. This time the thought is occasioned by the term 'Low Sunday'. I suspect underneath this is a form of WWJD - a 'what is necessary?' and I guess the participation in the liturgy is not enough (how ever many times a week) it is whether we hear and live the Gospel.

If you wondered what that was all about two further questions might help. How 'low' is Low Sunday? and How do you sustain the joy of the Easter Season over 8 Sundays? I find the hardest Season to give a musical/liturgical shape. This is because I see the Sunday Lectionary as diffuse. It probably isn't anymore than any other season but I bring different expectations because we are lulled into narrative in the first 3 weeks and expect there to be a Sunday by Sunday story of the season (in a way I don't expect the Temptation in the desert to be drawn out over the 6 Sundays of Lent) and then the different readings: Acts, Apocalypse, Gospel can seem to be going on their own trajectory. How might we sing Revelation this year?

A question for this week and next (what's with all the questions!) is how much should the music choices retell the gospel. As we sang O Sons and Daughters ('Thomas' verses) I wondered if the text was a 15th century verbal equivalent of the stained glass - telling the story for those who did not otherwise hear it.

The psalm setting from Psallité is good and worth seeking out. I wish there was a complete set of verses for all three years but a little adaptation fitted this Sunday's different verse. It has a memorable refrain and a suitable energy.