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Views from the Choir Loft

“Homily for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany” (EF) • Father Valentine Young, OFM

Jeff Ostrowski · January 13, 2021

The following is by Father Valentine Young, OFM, a faithful Catholic priest who died on 17 January 2020. It was delivered sometime between 2013 and 2020. To learn more about Father Valentine, please scroll to the bottom of the page.

*  PDF Download • READINGS IN ENGLISH
—Taken from the Saint Edmund Campion Missal [LINK].

ACK in 1981, I observed my 25th anniversary as a priest. At the time, I was stationed at a Navaho Mission in Kayenta, AZ. My younger sister offered to take care of all the arrangements for me to celebrate the occasion at my home parish, Sacred Heart Church in Bellevue, KY. She reserved the school hall for the reception after Mass and did all the work in getting the invitations and other preparations done, including the food, etc.

Today’s Gospel: But for her, it somewhat turned out like today’s Gospel—because a lot more people showed up that she ever expected. She was afraid they were going to run out of food. (I didn’t know anything about this at the time.) She only told me later how she prayed to the Blessed Mother all during the reception that they would not run out. As far as I know, they didn’t run out and it turned out to be a glorious event. The Blessed Mother made sure there was enough food.

Mary and our needs: As we are beginning this New Year it might be good for us to remind ourselves of what an ADVOCATE, or what a ‘provider’ we have in Mary. I might ask you, “When is the last time that you prayed the Memorare?” Do the younger people even know what I am talking about? I’m referring to this prayer:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.

Learning from Mary: I think it goes without saying that the problems we face today are a lot more serious than not having enough wine for a wedding feast or enough food for a silver jubilee celebration. To me, it is almost ironic that on the one hand our country is enjoying great material prosperity in many respects: Many people have never had it so good. On the other hand, we are living with perhaps one of the biggest political “messes” we have ever experienced. I hesitated to use that word (mess) to describe our political situation, but my limited vocabulary doesn’t enable me to think of any other word to describe the current political situation. If anyone has a more polite word to describe this, please let me know.

Mary is still with us: And yet I feel Mary is still with us, provided we do what she told the CHIEF STEWARD to do. She told him to do whatever Jesus told him to do. And that is what she is telling us. And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know what that is: It’s right in front of you. It is doing the next right thing that God puts in front of you to do. It is doing that next right extra thing that God may be inspiring you to do, like that extra Mass during the week, that extra Holy Hour, that extra rosary, that extra fasting and/or act of penance.

Conclusion: I may not like or even agree with the idea of people wanting to enter our country in an illegal way. And yet I have to feel sorry for them for having to live in circumstances which seem to be forcing them to be doing this. And one question I cannot answer is: why have I been so blessed and spared such hardships? I didn’t do anything to deserve it. I do think God is expecting something ‘extra’ from those of us so blessed. Ask Mary to inspire you as to what you can do to show your gratitude and maybe also be able to help others in the process. +

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Valentine Young SERMON, Wedding Feast Cana Last Updated: January 21, 2021

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

19 May 2022 • “Trochee Trouble”

I’m still trying to decide how to visually present the “pure” Editio Vaticana scores, using what is (technically) the official rhythm of the Church. You can download my latest attempt, for this coming Sunday. Notice the “trochee trouble” as well as the old issue of neumes before the quilisma.

—Jeff Ostrowski
16 May 2022 • Harmonized Chant?

This year’s upcoming Sacred Music Symposium will demonstrate several ways to sing the CREDO at Mass. This is because—for many parishes—to sing a full-length polyphonic CREDO by Victoria or Palestrina is out of the question. Therefore, we show options that are halfway between plainsong and polyphony. You can hear my choir rehearsing a section that sounds like harmonized plainsong.

—Jeff Ostrowski
14 May 2022 • “Pure” Vatican Edition

As readers know, my choir has been singing from the “pure” Editio Vaticana. That is to say, the official rhythm which—technically—is the only rhythm allowed by the Church. I haven’t figured out how I want the scores to look, so in the meantime we’ve been using temporary scores that look like this. Stay tuned!

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“I would hope there is a place [at Mass] for the avant-garde in the same way I think there has to be a place—and we have to be careful with this—a place for Jazz and a place for Evangelical and all of that. […] On theological grounds, I do think we need interaction with the culture at the level of high art or at the level of more commercial pop culture.”

— Fr. Anthony Ruff (22 June 2016)

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