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“A much greater source of anxiety to Us is the style of action of those who maintain that liturgical worship should shed its sacred character, who foolishly say we should substitute for sacred items & furnishings ordinary common things in daily use.” —Pope Saint Paul VI (14 Oct 1968)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Homily: 15th Monday in Ordinary Time (St. Kateri)

Guest Author · July 14, 2014

DMITTEDLY, THE FIRST READING from the Prophet Isaiah might be rather hard to understand. One can more or less sum up his message in the following way: the Prophet is condemning the people of his time for their apparent exactness when it came to the offering of the sacrifices and observance of rites. But they failed to observe God’s other commandments which had to do with love of neighbor, especially when it came to concern for widows and orphans and other unfortunate people. Failing to do these latter things made their religious practices useless in the eyes of God.

Now it might not be too hard to apply some of these ideas to our own lives. It isn’t too hard to imagine how a person might be faithful and exact when it comes to going to Church and Mass on Sunday, but be very remiss in their practice of charity or love of neighbor. Needless to say, this is a case where we want a person to be doing both.

*       *       *

TODAY IS THE FEAST OF ST. KATERI, the First Northern Native American to be canonized. She was a member of the Mohawk tribe, and was canonized in 2012. This was a very special event for all Native Americans especially in our country and in Canada. De facto she lived in both counties and both countries have shrines in her honor. She was very faithful to the practice of her religion and also to the virtue or practice of love of neighbor during her short life of twenty four years.

In the Gospel, Jesus tells us how following Him might even cause division between a person and members of one’s own family. I would say that Jesus tells us this to forewarn us in case it does happen. It isn’t something that we want to happen, but can for a variety of reasons. If it does, we have to be prepared to face and accept it. Unfortunately it seems to happen more in our day than it used to. It often happens when some members of our family give up the practice of their religion. It is usually difficult to say what one should do, and often there isn’t much one can do, except to pray.

St. Kateri’s conversion to Catholicism caused distress in her community, so much so that her confessor feared for her safety and urged her to flee. She fled under cover of night to a Christian village two hundred miles away near Montreal, Canada. There on Christmas Day, 1677, she made her First Communion. Even there, she had to face opposition. She resisted the idea of marriage, wanting instead to found a convent, but that did not work out. She did make a public vow of chastity, however. Soon after she fell ill and died at the age of twenty-four.

St. Kateri grew up in very unlikely circumstances of ever becoming a saint. But she did. I am sure there were many uncertain days in her life. Apparently her spirituality or way of life was very simple. It was just total dedication of herself to Jesus. We too can do that. We don’t have to do it all our life all at once, we just have to do it day to day, and not even that; just moment to moment.


We hope you enjoyed this homily by Fr. Valentine Young, OFM.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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President’s Corner

    15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    This coming Sunday—13 July 2025—is the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). All the chants have been conveniently assembled and posted at the feasts website. The OFFERTORY, Ad Te Levávi, is particularly beautiful.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Music Director Job • $80,000 per year
    Our readers will be interested in this job offering for Music Director at Saint Adalbert’s Basilica, located 40 minutes from where I live. My pastor was recently elevated to this basilica. He is offering $80,000 per year, plus benefits. I’m told Saint Adalbert’s Basilica is utterly gorgeous and contains one of America’s most magnificent pipe organs. It would be fantastic to have a colleague nearby!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplest “Agnus Dei” Ever Published
    Our choir is on break during the month of July. I needed a relatively simple “Agnus Dei,” so I composed this setting for organ & voice in honor of Saint René Goupil. It has been called the simplest setting ever composed. I love CARMEN GREGORIANUM (“Gregorian Chant”), especially the ALLELUIAS, INTROITS, and COMMUNION ANTIPHONS. That being said, some have pointed out that certain sections of the Kyriale aren’t as strong as the Graduale or Vesperale. There’s a reason for this—but it would be too complicated to explain at this moment.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“To suggest, even loosely, that Catholics walk a more or less similar path to God as other religions drains martyrdom of its meaning. Why give up your life for Christ when other paths may get us to the same God? Such a sacrifice would be senseless.”

— Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

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