We now enter Ordinary Time in the Liturgical Year. Far from being nothing special, however, Ordinary Time reinforces the orderliness of God’s creation and our place in it. The numbered weeks of Ordinary Time, in fact, represent the ordered life of the Church—the period in which we live our lives neither in feasting (as in the Christmas and Easter seasons) or in more severe penance (as in Advent and Lent), but in watchfulness and expectation of the Second Coming of Christ.The Mass also conveys a sense of order in which each part of the Mystical Body of Christ contributes to the whole. The priest, representing Christ Himself, leads His flock to the heavenly altar and, assisted by the Deacons and attended by the altar servers is the instrument of the re-presentation of Jesus’ great and loving sacrifice. The cantor and/or choir supports the larger choir of the congregation in singing those parts of the Mass belonging to the people (“Gloria,” “Lord have mercy…,” the Psalm Responses, Holy, Holy, the Lord’s Prayer, Lamb of God, as well as, select responses in dialogue with the Priest and hymns) and those parts whereby the people actively listen: the Propers of the Mass: the Entrance, Offertory, and Communion Antiphons.For the Ordinary Time this summer, we will be singing the Heritage Mass setting of the Mass Ordinaries.

As the Lord enters the desert to fast and pray, he invites us to journey with him. This Lent, may we travel to the desert of our souls and find him there, waiting to forgive us, embrace us, and renew us!

SEPTEMBER 8, 2024

The 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
ANTIPHONS, PSALMS, AND HYMNS