Songs & Updates for Saturday, January 7, 2017

This Saturday is Epiphany.

Welcome to 2017, and I hope everyone had a safe and fun-filled New Year!

Mass last week was very solid, and probably our strongest in a while. It was great to end the year on a high note. Instrumentalists, I also appreciated the save at the end of Sing of Mary -- I wasn't watching closely enough, and despite my bad direction, you all managed to end the song together :-)

Father's only comment was regarding the transition between the Penitential Rite and Gloria. This took a bit longer than it should have due to the logistics of page turns, etc.. We may want to experiment with having Maggie start the song (and letting everyone else join in a few bars later), and/or making photocopies of the music.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 31, 2016

This Saturday is the Feast of Mary, Mother of God.

Huge thanks to those who where able to sing/play at Christmas Eve Mass last week! I know there were a few issues with the Homily and Eucharist portions, but I appreciate everyone's willingness to jump in head first and try to make everything work. The rest of the program was actually pretty solid, and I hope everyone had some fun pulling it off. If we end up doing a Children's Program again next year, this should give us a better idea of what to expect.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 24, 2016

This Saturday is Christmas Eve.

I wasn't at Mass last week, so I don't have much in the way of updates. Both Eva and Maggie had to call off, so thanks to Jim for running things.

I ran into Tim, the person who's interested in playing piano, on Sunday. As we go into the new year, I'd like to see about bringing him into the fold. Between him and Eva, that'll give us more options and flexibility for keyboard coverage. More on this later.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 17, 2016

This Saturday is the 4th Sunday of Advent.

Special thanks to Eva and Tom for covering instruments last week! We ended up switching out the Psalm for one that was more piano-friendly; there were a few challenges here and there with entrances and Mass Parts, but nothing serious. Of all the songs we did, I think the Psalm and 'Each Winter' were probably the highlights.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 10, 2016

This Saturday is the Third Sunday of Advent.

Mass last week was pretty solid, with the last song being pretty exceptional (check it out below :-). There weren't any major issues, but please do remember to watch for cues so we come in together (and stay together) throughout songs.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, December 3, 2016

This Saturday is the 2nd Sunday of Advent.

Rehearsal and Mass last week were both a bit chaotic (for the record, I did have a plan...), but everything more-or-less came together. We had quite a bit of new(-ish) material to cover. There was a last-minute switch in guitar coverage, with Jonathan playing in Jim's place. Tom also rejoined us after a long hiatus (welcome back!), and the transition to the new book seemed to go off without a hitch. Thanks for bearing with me and the instrumentalists as we got everything sorted out!

On top of that, Father Charlie was pretty sick and was barely hanging in there for Mass. I've heard that a number of events he's involved in this week were canceled, so I'm not sure how this will affect the weekend Masses. It's possible that we may end up with a visiting priest.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 26, 2016

This Saturday is the 1st Sunday of Advent and the beginning of Liturgical Year A.

Mass last week was pretty solid, with only a few very minor issues. Special thanks to Mr. Jonathan for joining us! I also wanted to pass along Mike's compliments -- Mike plays bass at the 11 AM Mass, and noted how much our group has improved since the last time he was here.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 19, 2016

This Saturday is the Feast of Christ the King, and the last Saturday/Sunday of Liturgical Year C.

I wasn't at Saturday Mass last week, so I don't have much in the way of updates (I did help out our counterparts at the 9 AM Liturgy, though :-). It sounds like there may have been some challenges pulling together intros, but I also heard that you guys managed to surprise Father Charlie for his Birthday, so nice job!

Songs & Updates for Saturday, November 12, 2016

This Saturday is the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Nice job last week! There were one or two minor issues with intros, but everything otherwise went pretty smoothly. The Psalm was definitely a highlight of the night -- check it out below if you missed it.

Songs & Updates for Saturday, October 29, 2016

This Saturday is the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time.

We were a little short on instrumentalists last week, but ended up with a nice group of singers. Mass was overall pretty solid, and it was nice to 'keep things simple' for a change. Thanks to everyone who was able to be there!