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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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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

    A Nice Hymn In Spanish
    In my humble opinion, this is a really beautiful hymn in Spanish. If I practice diligently, I’ll be able to pronounce all the words properly. If you’re someone who’s interested in obtaining a melody only version (suitable for your congregational ORDER OF WORSHIP) you can steal that from this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Music List” • 21st in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Our choir returns on Sunday, 24 August 2025. Some have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for it, which is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the spectacular feasts website. When it comes to the feast of the Assumption (15 August 2025), I have uploaded the music list for that Mass—but not the “bi-lingual” Mass in the evening (Spanish, Latin, and English) which has completely different music.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Entrance Chant” • 21st Sunday Ordin. Time
    You can download the ENTRANCE ANTIPHON in English for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) which is coming up on 24 August 2025. Corresponding to the vocalist score is this free organ accompaniment. It’s set in a melancholy mode, but if you heard my choir’s female voices singing it your soul would be uplifted beyond belief. If you’re someone who enjoys rehearsal videos, this morning I tried to sing it while simultaneously accompanying my voice on the pipe organ.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Solemn “Salve Regina” (Chant)
    How many “S” words can you think of using alliteration? How about Schwann Solemn Salve Score? You can download the SOLEMN SALVE REGINA in Gregorian Chant. The notation follows the official rhythm (EDITIO VATICANA). Canon Jules Van Nuffel, choirmaster of the Cathedral of Saint Rumbold, composed this accompaniment for it (although some feel it isn’t his best work).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“What will be the results of this innovation? The results expected, or rather desired, are that the faithful will participate in the liturgical mystery with more understanding, in a more practical, a more enjoyable and a more sanctifying way.” [Enjoyable?]

— Pope Paul VI (26 Nov 1969)

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