Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Dear Folks,

Are you bored?

One of the greatest conversions in history occurred because of boredom. St. Ignatius of Loyal was recovering from a cannonball to the leg, and bedridden. He was bored. Requesting romance novels, he was instead given a book of lives of the saints. He discovered a love worth living for. A huge part of that was him noticing that in contemplating the life and glory of the saints, that he was filled with lasting peace. Unlike when he filled his time with earthly pursuits that left him bored and empty afterwards.

Fulton Sheen speaks to this when he said, “You will never be happy if your happiness depends on getting solely what you want. Change the focus. Get a new center. Will what God wills, and your joy no man shall take from you.”

Are you bored? Find the love that will never end in the life of Christ.

Pax,

Fr. Mosimann

Dear Folks,

Since I am in the Holy Land as this goes to press, I want to share with you an email. Last week we started singing the Salve Regina as was the custom at my previous parish. After some time of the parish learning the chant, a parish mother wrote me this email which expresses beautifully one of the reasons why I have directed that we sing the Marian Antiphons, especially the Salve Regina.

I wanted to tell you how much I love that we sing the Salve Regina after mass. I love that my kids and I know it by heart now. Today, I had a new reason to love it. We were sitting behind an elderly woman and her adult son. She appeared very infirm and somewhat “not here.” He was wonderful to her, finding the music/readings for her, putting his arm around her at times, etc. He helped her get to communion and back to her seat. Then the Salve started and all of a sudden this beautiful, clear voice rang out—she was singing! I looked up and her son was staring at her with this smiling, gaping, open mouth, just like me, I’m sure. Then her son and I had to stop signing because it’s very hard to sing the Salve Regina with a lump in your throat. We chatted with them after mass and she had a stroke 8 years ago, and doesn’t have much short-term memory, but her long-term memory is very solid. She was telling us about being taught by the Dominican nuns in France during her childhood and how they would always sing the Salve in school. I love how that piece of music ties us to Catholics all over the world, but also to Catholics out of time and place and to Mary. Amazing mass today.

– Mom

Pax,

Fr. Mosimann

Dear Folks,

This week we are going to change the parish prayer song, as happens from time  to time. Because I know my gift is not the composition of music, I have directed that the
prayer be to changed the Salve Regina. This is a prayer that most of you know by heart as the  “Hail Holy Queen….” We will sing in Latin the plainchant version that is very easy to learn. I am grateful for the tradition of a sung prayer in our parish family, and learning the Salve Regina will connect this prayer and our parish family to the entire Church. Our Hymnal says that the Salve Regina dates to 1080 AD.

It will still be sung at the same point in the Mass, as the sacred vessels are being purified and after the communion hymn(s). Given that our parish is under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception, I am delighted to include this prayerful nod to Our Lady. There is a tradition of Marian Antiphons that are connected with the Liturgy of the Hours, and they change to correspond with the liturgical season. Eventually, we will rotate the chants according to the season, but will start with the Salve Regina because it is used during most of the year, is the prayer most familiar to you, and may be the easiest to learn.

If the Latin chant is not your ‘cup of tea’ then do not be afraid to participate by continuing your post communion thanksgiving and prayers with with chant being pleasant earwash. It will take us a little time to learn the chant, as is the case for anytime that we must learn something both new (and in this case old).

And next week I will share with you the experience of one mother’s encountering the universality of this chant.

Pax,

Fr. Mosimann

Dear Folks,

I meant to put this in the bulletin last weekend for Parish Life Weekend. However, I realized that this Sunday is Commitment Weekend, so maybe it’s a better fit here! If you are reading this over a cup of coffee at IHOP, then you may have already signed up for a new ministry. But for all of you who read the bulletin during Mass: purely for your entertainment, not to be actually used by anyone, here are this year’s top excuses given for not committing to serve:

• “I was busy texting during Mass, what are you talking about?”
• “I am busy with Destiny’s Rise of Iron.” (Sorry, inside joke for a few geeks like me).
• “If I sit in the back of the Church and Father can’t see me…. then he isn’t speaking to me.”
• “A unicorn told me to chill out this year.”
• “If there isn’t an iPhone app for it, I don’t do it.”
• “If I can get past Father’s gaze, I won’t feel guilty about doing nothing.”
• “I love volunteering, especially when others do it.”
• “I have no worries, and no responsibilities.”
• “I see these appeals every year, why rush?”
• “I had a vision of Jesus, he told me to pick up my pillow and follow Him.”

with a smile,

Fr. Mosimann