He came to call sinners

Our gospel reading today reminds us that Jesus came to call sinners. This is good news as there cannot be anyone who does not fit into this category. The almost revolutionary nature of this calling by Christ was put into an historical context by Father Mark who reminded us of the multiplicity of rules prevalent in organised religion at the time of Christ. He pointed out that Christ reached beyond all of those regulations (and hierarchical red tape). This was somewhat ironical for Choirboy, the thought that we were hearing this in our own Catholic Church. I think sometimes we forget the true message of the historical Christ and get wrapped up in our own Church's rules and regulations - only a thought ! The Church was rather empty today and the choir severely depleted (the weather was glorious and this is a possible cause). It was slightly frustrating as we had rehearsed some music that most of the congregation were unfamiliar with. Still, there is always next week. MAz was absent with a dislocated knee but we were able to welcome Patrizia who hopefully will sing something for us very soon in Polish !

Entry : - Dear Lord and Father of mankind

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Offertory: - Lord we come to Your table

Sanctus (Newquay Mass # 3)
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and God of might. Heaven and earth are full of Your glory, Hosanna, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in Your name, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, Hosanna

Mystery of faith : - Christ has died
Amen Amen Amen. All glory to Our Lord and King. Songs of praise to You we sing in honour of Your sacrifice; the bread and wine that brings us life. Amen, Amen, Amen.

Agnus Dei (Newquay Mass #3)
Lamb of God, Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us, have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion: - Living Lord

Recession: - Go tell everyone

The boys (and girl) are back in town !

It was great to welcome back Jimmy and Maz to our celebrations today. Maz unfortunately will be moving on soon as she has been posted elsewhere, but there will always be a place for her clarinet at Holy Trinity. The picture shows what happens when you don't build your house on firm foundations - our readings today were all about building our lives on the firm foundation of the message of the gospel. Choirboy toyed with the idea of using the famous hymn 'Rock of ages' today but instead we chose a Wesley hymn for openers. A good version of 'Rock of ages can be found here and a discussion of the origins of the hymn can be found here.

Entry : - The Church’s one foundation

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - In bread we bring You, Lord

Sanctus: - Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith : - Christ has died

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei
Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us. And grant us Your peace

Communion: - There is a longing

Recession: - Colours of day

Corpus Christi

Traditionally this is the 'Run to the Sun' weekend which usually leaves us with great difficulties in getting to Holy Trinity. Despite or in spite of the rain, the Church was almost full for our celebrations. A thoughtful sermon from our ex-footballer Deacon Brian lifted the dampened spirits of those brave enough to make their way to Holy Trinity. Musically we were without Jimmy again (where are you ?) but we managed to get through our celebrations with the addition of Choirboy's Hail Holy Queen and Air I breathe (made famous by Hillsong). Choirboy was even asked by two visitors whether or not we had a CD of our music - perhaps one for the future.

Entry : - Song of the Body of Christ

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Take our bread

Sanctus: - Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith : - Christ has died

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Die: - Newquay Mass III

Communion: - Jesus, Lamb of God

Recession: - Hail Queen of Heaven

Wonderful world !

In a beatiful celebration today we were witnesses to a number of our young parishioners making their First Holy Communion. It was a double celebration as Sunday is the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity - - our patronal feast. The children looked wonderful and a packed church joined in with our joyful liturgy. Mrs Choirboy is responsible for catechising our new Communicants so it was a special day for the Choirboy family. Thanks to John for 'looking after' the Choirboy boys. Musically we mixed old and new and Choirboy reworked Louis Armstrong's 'Wonderful World' to include some more appropriate liturgical words.Hopefully it was enjoyed by all.

Entry : - Walk in the light

Gloria: -

Alleluia : - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - This is my body, broken for you

Sanctus: - Gathering Mass

Mystery of faith
Lord by Your cross and resurrection, You’ve set us free, You’ve set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world (repeat)
Saviour, Saviour Saviour, Saviour
You set us free, You set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Die
Lamb of God, You take away, the sin of all the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us. And grant us Your peace

Communion: - Be still, for the presence of the Lord

Reflection: - What a wonderful world

Recession: - Sancta Trinitas

Chorus Sancta Trinitas
Unus Deus
Miserere nobis (repeat)
1.One God, three Persons, one life in You, Lord. All glory and all power are Yours forever and ever.
Chorus
2. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, our divine mystery. All glory and all power are Yours forever and ever.
Chorus
3. Risen Lord, our redeemer, all our hope is in You. All glory and all power are Yours forever and ever.
Chorus
Amen, Amen.

Pentecost

50 days after Easter is the feast of Pentecost - the birth of the Church. Ordinary men transformed by the power of the Spirit. As Father Mark put it, the love of the Father poured out for the Son in the form of the Holy Spirit - a power that can transform our lives today. In the liturgical sense, things are happening thick and fast as next week will be our patronal feast and the day that a number of our young parishioners make their First Holy Communion. Yesterday, was first Reconcilliation (confession to us older types). Mrs Choirboy was in attendance as she and Pat A have been the chief catechists for this group. Mrs Choirboy took over from Pat O'C who thankfully is back with us after her illness. We were also blessed with the presence of Father Baruti from Tanzania to tell us first hand of the impact of Tukae (one of our parish charities). We were able to hear how our small efforts are having a big impact in the Tanzanian Highlands. Finally we were all given gifts of the Spirit as mass ended (pieces of paper distributed by the children). Choirboy's youngest must have been blessed for having cycled over a snake this aftern0on which was quietly dozing, he picked it up not once but twice before Choirboy confirmed to him that it was an adder and that it was well and truly alive ! Phew.....


Entry: - Breathe on me breath of God

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Offertory: - Blessed be God

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass # 1

Mem Accl: -
Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life
Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (repeat)


Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass # 1

Communion: - Come Holy Ghost

Spirit of the living God

Recessional: - As I kneel before you

Confirmation

In an emotional (for the choirboy family) service at St Austell, choirboy's only daughter ( a regular member of our music group) was confirmed at St Augustine's at St Austell in addition to a dozen other young people from St Austell, Newquay, Perranporth and St Mawes. Why St Austell ? Well, it's a long story but in the words of Fred Pontin, you need to 'Book early'. In the beautiful Church of St Augustine (you are very lucky, St Austell people), the music groups of Newquay and St Austell combined to produce a liturgy that illuminated our celebrations and also provided some challenging guitar work for Paul and myself- - Jimmy is holding the fort back home. In celebrating confirmation, Bishop Christopher also reminded us of the importance of the feast of the Ascension and reassured the confirmands that the Holy Spirit would guide them to the Father. He also defined Christianity as being about what Christ stood for and how, with the help of the Spirit we should make this the focus of our lives.

Gathering Veni Sancte Spiritus

Entrance Breathe on me breath of God

We shall draw water

Gloria Millenium Mass (Paul Inwood)

Alleluia Easter Acclamation (Dean)

Confirmation Come Holy Ghost

Veni Sancte Spiritus

Bidding Prayers Lord in Your mercy hear our prayer

Offertory Be not afraid

Holy Holy Holy, Holy

Amen We lift our hearts

Lamb of God Jesus, Lamb of God

Communion Behold the Lamb

Reflection I can feel You moving in me

Recessional Go out to the whole world

More love, more power

Can you handle it ?

The challenging message from Deacon Brian today was 'Can you handle it ?' - that is the message of truth that Easter has delivered, of the risen Christ. Furthermore are we ready to proclaim that truth ? Are we ready to bring the reality of that message to our community, not only within the confines of our Church building but within our local community in Newquay and then throught the county and the country ?

Musically our liturgy followed the post Easter liturgy that we have been using and added more mellow reflections for communion and a rousing Allelulia to finish that went on for a verse longer than planned ! We were also treated to a rousing Amen from young Danny and the noise of his toy guitar punctured the solemn atmosphere much to the amusement of many parishioners. Our choir was depleted with holiday committments and Joyce has been unwell - we hope she is back to full fitness soon !

Entry: - Gather us in

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Alleluia No1 verse 2

Offertory: - Blessed be God

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass # 1

Mem Accl: -
Dying you destroyed our death, rising you restored our life
Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (repeat)
Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (repeat)

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass # 1

Communion: - Song of a young prophet

Abba, Father send Your Spirit

Recessional: - Alleluia, sing to Jesus

I am the way

We would have had the beautiful hymn 'I am the way' based on this very well known piece of today's gospel. However, Choirboy was surprised that no one in the choir knew it and it was consigned to the 'one to be learnt' pile. It has in fact been around since the late 70s and it was during Choirboy's youth in the Charismatic Renewal when he first heard it. Written by Mary Barrett, it can be found in Laudate but also in the originnal 'Songs of the Spirit' hymn book. Never mind, we previewed another tune that was probably unfamiliar to most of the congregation - 'Air I breathe' written by Michael Smith is well known within the Christian worship community. Choirboy found it quite by accident on iTunes sung by a worship community in Australia - well worth a listen.

Entry: - Meekness and Majesty

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Alleluia No1 verse 2

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - This is my body

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass #1

Mem Accl: -
Dying You destroyed our death, rising You restored our life. Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (repeat) Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory. Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass #1

Communion: - Be still for the presence of the Lord

Breathe

Recessional: - Mine eyes have seen the glory

The Lord is my shepherd

It was a funny day in the musical sense for choirboy on this the 4th Sunday of Easter. Apart from the fact that he forgot a chord change in the Holy Holy, Jimmy's guitar lost its tuning for some reason and no matter what he did it could not be rectified. We were grateful to Kath for stepping in as Mary enjoyed a break and we said goodbye to Veronica for the time being as she returns to Switzerland (she will be back in the summer). A surprise sprinkling of Holy water left us with an unforseen musical gap but our junior members (in this case Jamie) managed to add joy to our closing hymn with the shakers. In the absence of a pastoral letter from the bishop, we were reminded by Father Mark of the importance of prayer in our lives and the purpose of silent reflection - to listen to the Lord.

Entry: - Praise my soul the King of heaven

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Alleluia No1 verse 2

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - One bread, one body

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass # 1

Mem Accl: -
Dying You destroyed our death, rising You restored our life. Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory (repeat) Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory. Come Lord Jesus come, come again in glory

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass #1

Communion: - The Lord’s my shepherd

Recessional: - You shall go out with joy

Did not our hearts burn ?

Our gospel story of Jesus meeting two of the disciples on the road to Emmaus prompted choirboy to think whether or not he recognises the presence of Christ in the world around him. Whilst pondering this thought, Father Mark reminded us of the true living presence of Christ in the Eucharist, present in our Church. He also gave us the bleak statistic that Church attendance has halved in the last 20 years - this is one of choirboy's hobby horses, the connundrum of falling attendance at Church. Too many distractions ? Lack of practice ? Lack of faith ? Don't feel it is relevant ? Not interesting/stimulating ? Certainly in Cornwall, where Catholic schools are few and far between we are at a bit if a disadvantage to start with. A fact that was brought into sharp relief when choirboy visited a brand new Catholic primary school on saturday for a muscial event. Wow !

Choirboy must have been well and truly distracted this morning as he made a hash of the first reading and even forgot the chords to one of his compositions. Still it didn't spoil the enjoyment for a couple from Wigan who thought that the music was fantastic - well done choir !

Entry: - All are welcome

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Alleluia No1 verse 2

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Take our bread

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass # 1

Mem Accl: -
Lord by Your cross and resurrection, You’ve set us free, You’ve set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world (repeat)
Saviour, Saviour Saviour, Saviour
You set us free, You set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass #1

Communion: - Be still for the presence of the Lord

Be still and know that I am God
Recessional: -Thine be the glory

Wrong number, wrong time

No, the title is not because today is the second Sunday of Easter despite being the first after Easter Sunday. For some time we have been using the Laudate hymnal at Holy Trinity but as we only have one music copy, the musicians have been using the Celebration Hymnal where appropriate. Obviously the hymn numbers are not the same in each book and this is a frequent recipe for confusion. Today was a case in point as choirboy put the wrong Laudate number on the choir's music sheets and on the boards at the front and the side of Church. Fortunatley Mrs Choirboy spotted the error before we launched into the opening number. However, determined not to be saved by his eagle-eyed wife choirboy decided to announce the number for the gospel acclamation (in case of confusion) but gave the completely wrong number and merely enhanced the confusion already present in many people's minds.

The clocks of course went forward last night and although to choirboy's mind not widely publicised, the Church was full and there were only a few regulars missing. Our own Sue, however, failed to make provision and had to sneak in shortly after the start of mass - better late than never Sue !

Entry: - We come tell our story

Gloria: - Gloria

Gospel Acclamation: - Alleluia No1 verse 2

Credo/I believe

Offertory: - Take our bread

Sanctus:- Newquay Mass #1

Mem Accl: -
Lord by Your cross and resurrection, You’ve set us free, You’ve set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world (repeat)
Saviour, Saviour Saviour, Saviour
You set us free, You set us free. You are the saviour of the world. You are the saviour of the world

Amen: - Amen, Amen, Amen
We will sing of Your love forever. We will sing Your praise forever Amen
Amen, Amen, Amen

Agnus Dei: - Newquay Mass #1

Communion: - There is a longing

Recessional: - Lord of the dance

Thank you

In this immediate post-Easter post I would like to thank all members of our choir, musicians and parishioners for their support and contributions to our Easter celebrations. Hopefully, through our music worship we are not only augmenting the prayer and worship life of our community, but also bearing witness to the risen Lord in our lives.
Alleluia !

Alleluia, He is risen

Finally we have arrived in the liturgical and the spiritual sense. Renewed with the joy of the resurrection we celebrated on Easter Sunday in a Church so gloriously filled that people were on the altar, in the aisles, the sacristy and the confessional. What an act of witness to the risen Lord !

Our Holy week celebrations began on Holy Thursday with the Mass of The Lord's Supper - to choirboy's mind one of the most beautiful and poignant celebrations in the liturgical calender. In a stark contrast to Easter Sunday, the Church was 3/4 full but we enjoyed the liturgy as we marked the beginning of the most important 3 days in our liturgical year. It marked the use of 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' (modified by choirboy and augmented vocally by Jimmy and Paul to great effect) as part of our continuous musical motif over the Easter period. We sang it during the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, the veneration of the cross on Good Friday and communion on Easter Sunday. 'Will I see You again' is a choirboy composition based on what he imagines St Peter is thinking having denied Christ - it featured some great guitar work by Paul.

Holy Thursday March 20th 2008

Entry - Song of the body of Christ

Gloria - Glory, glory, glory to God

Gospel Accl - Plymouth Alleluia

Washing of feet – Knocking on Heaven’s door

Offertory – This is my body

Mem Accl - Lord by Your cross and resurrection

Holy Holy – Gathering Mass

Amen – A-men, we lift our hearts


Communion – Let all mortal flesh

Will I see You again (song of St Peter)

Transfer of Eucharist – God to enfold you/Tantum Ergo

In a simple Good Friday liturgy, we invoked Our Lord to answer our pleadings using a simple muscial construction that was also used during the Vigil.

Good Friday

After each prayer the cantor intones: -

C Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer
R Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer
C Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer
R Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer
All Lord in Your mercy, hear our prayer

Veneration of the Cross

Knocking on Heaven’s door
When I survey the wondrous cross

Communion: - Soul of my Saviour/Sweet Sacrament Divine

Our Vigil started in the Church Hall and the ceremony went smoothly inspite of events trying to conspire otherwise (a dodgy paschal candle being the chief culprit)

Gloria – Misa de Angelis 467 L498

Alleluia – Plymouth Alleluia

Rite of Blessing of Water
Baptised in water


Sanctus – Gathering Mass

Memorial Acclamation - Lord by Your cross and resurrection

Amen – Amen – A-men, we lift our hearts

Agnus Dei – Burntwood Mass

Communion - Alleluia sing to Jesus
There is a longing in our hearts

Recessional – Jesus Christ is risen today

And so to Easter Sunday and an uplifting and joyous celebration of the resurrection. The Church literally rocked through the Creed and once again we sang 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' as the drudgery of 'Battle is O'er' was soon forgotten. In a reflective piece redolant of perhaps a different worship environment, we sang the moving 'More Love, More Power' with great lead guitar from Paul and synthesiser from Choirboy's only (and much loved) daughter, Caitlin - fantastic !

Entry Jesus Christ is risen today 322 L267

Gloria Glory, glory , glory to God 406 L532

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia

Credo/I believe

Offertory This is my body 730 L627

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (i)

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross

Amen Amen – We lift our hearts and voices

Lamb of God Newquay mass (i)

Communion Battle is o’er

MORE LOVE, MORE POWER

Recessional Alleluia #1

The final countdown

The title is not a prelude to the camp rock hit of the same name by Europe (can you remember anything else by them ?) but to the most important week in our liturgical calender. Palm Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week and Choirboy has lifted the picture from another blog where the picture is headed with the apt title 'The Week that changed the world'). Our liturgy was dominated by the two themes of Palm Sunday - the blessing of the palms and the reading of Our Lord's Passion.
On the musical side of things Mary was well enough to return to the organ (although I have learnt that Ray has been in hospital and is now fortunately recovered). Choirboy once again played the psalm on the organ but I fear it was a bit too much for Father Mark - a bit over/melodramatic. It certainly is a powerful and moving psalm with the despair of the psalmist showing through the words. Perhaps we wil modify it next year ! Now we gear up for the Easter Tridium but we will not be singing the Sanctus or Agnus Dei from the Misa de Angelis at the Vigil. This would be a shame but I must assure you dear readers that the glorious Misa de Angelis has received a reprieve from the butchery that would have befallen it had we tried to sing it - Phew !!!!!
Finally, Paul tells me he is getting a new guitar (everyone should have at least three guitars). This is a great coincidence as choirboy himself is convinced that he needs another guitar and has embarked on the tortuous journey of convincing the redoubtable Mrs Choirboy that this is indeed the case. This will not be an easy journey for choirboy but he is prepared to be strong in the face of adversity.

Entry All glory laud and honour 16 L229

Kyrie

R. Psalm My God, my God, why have You forsaken me

Alleluia Praise to You, O Christ, our Saviour (V1)

Offertory Gifts of bread and wine

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (iii)

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross

Amen Amen – All glory to Our Lord and King
Songs of praise to You we sing
In honour of Your sacrifice
The bread and wine that brings us life
Amen, Amen, Amen

Lamb of God Newquay mass (iii)

Communion The servant king

Eat this bread

Recessional Give me joy in my heart

5th Sunday of Lent - any room will do ?

On this the fifth Sunday of Lent, Father Mark told us of the story of Brian Moore and his 'story' about 'The room'. You can read it here: -

http://www.stagnesalumni.org/BriansEssayTheRoom.shtml

Whatever you think of the origins of this tale and there is some controversy (http://www.snopes.com/glurge/room.asp), it is a powerful testimony that should make all of us think about the nature of our lives and how we live them.

On the musical front in the absence of Mary who was ill, choirboy had to make a last minute change to the music liturgy. However, despite our depleted numbers our music went well and we sang the psalm which choirboy had set to music for the organ. Let's hope Mary is better next week, thanks to Kevin for the guitar stand (and good luck in Norfolk).

Entry Gather us in
Kyrie

R. Psalm With the Lord there is mercy
And fullness of redemption

Alleluia Praise to You, O Christ, our Saviour (V1)

Offertory All that I am

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (iii)

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross

Amen Amen – All glory to Our Lord and King
Songs of praise to You we sing
In honour of Your sacrifice
The bread and wine that brings us life
Amen, Amen, Amen

Lamb of God Newquay mass (iii)

Lamb of God, Lamb of God
You take away the sin of the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us
Have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion I am the bread of life

Recessional Freely freely

Emergency ward 10

How apt that on this Sunday we heard of the healing of a blind man by Jesus as one of choirboy's offspring has been in hospital and in need of the same divine help. He was swiftly followed into the local hospital by Jimmy's son - the previous week Paul's daughter had been unable to play her bass because of illness. There must be something about playing the guitar at Holy Trinity !
The picture on the left comes from
http://www.scripturepics.org/gallery/
The site has some fantastic pictures which will probably feature regularly on this blog ! Back to the music - we managed to complete our new mass setting again and added a new Amen which choirboy thought went well. Unfortunately it foxed the Deacon who launched into an alternative Amen !

Entry: - Gather us in

Kyrie

Alleluia: - Praise to You, O Christ, our Saviour (V4)

Offertory: - Gifts of bread and wine

Holy Holy: - Newquay Mass (iii)

Mem Accl: - Lord by Your cross

Amen Amen All glory to Our Lord and King
Songs of praise to You we sing
In honour of Your sacrifice
The bread and wine that brings us life
Amen, Amen, Amen

Lamb of God: - Newquay mass (iii)


Communion: - The Lord’s my shepherd

Recessional: - Walk in the light

Surrenderment

Wierd word but this is the title of a beautiful song written by our own Louise and sung in her own inimitable way as part of our celebration of the 3rd Sunday in Lent. Of course the theme of this song was about surrendering to the will of Our Lord and giving ourselves to Him. Such were the power of Louise's words that at least one member of the congregation was reduced to tears. Accompanying Louise on guitars were choirboy and Paul with Jimmy on the djembi drum. There was a resonance with our gospel reading and Brian's sermon - again the theme being the giving of ourselves to Christ. The map shows Samaria as one of the main characters in today's reading was a Samaritan woman. How sad it is that the names on the map are more familiar to most of us as places associated with conflict rather than the sort of message that Christ gave 2000 years ago in the simple act of talking to a Samaritan woman.

Half way through Lent and we have introduced another 'Newquay' mass setting. Fingers crossed for our new Amen next week. Let's hope choirboy remembers to sing it all !

Entry The Church’s one foundation

Kyrie

Alleluia Praise to You, O Christ, our Saviour (V3)

Creed Credo/I believe

Offertory In bread we bring You

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (iii)

Mem Accl Lord by Your cross

Amen Amen - We will sing

Lamb of God Newquay mass (iii)

Lamb of God, Lamb of God
You take away the sin of the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us
Have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion Bless the Lord my soul

Louise’s song - Surrenderment

Recessional Oh Lord, all the world

Mission

It was great privilege this Sunday to welcome Father Joseph Udoh from the Missionary Society of St Paul who was making an appeal on behalf of the Kiltegan Fathers and their mission in Africa. He might well have said 'Smile Jesus loves you' for it was in using an anecdote from Fr Anthony Barrett that Father Joseph told us that smiling is a universal language. Consequently with a radiant beam he led us through a joyful liturgy on this second Sunday in Lent. The choir and the congregation sang enthusiastically, our new music went well and choirboy went home happy. However, it could have gone completely pear shaped as Father Joseph and Deacon Brian decided to start mass a full 3 minutes eaerly as choirboy was rehearsing the congregation through our new mass setting. We swiftly launched into the opening hymn, albeit with a handful of wrong notes but a deft recovery by Mary saw us safely through to the finish. With the promise of a new song next week by Louise and the hopeful arrival of Helen's bass, the immediate future is looking bright !

Entry All our welcome

Kyrie

Alleluia Praise to You, O Christ, our Saviour (V2)

Offertory Take our bread

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (iii)

Mem Accl Christ has died

Amen Amen - We will sing

Lamb of God Newquay mass (iii)

Lamb of God, Lamb of God
You take away the sin of the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us
Have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion Immortal, invisible

Lord I am not Worthy

Recessional Shine Jesus shine

Lent - the journey begins...........

We began our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday and if today was anything to go by, it will be an arduous journey for Choirboy. With Jimmy and Choirboy doing their best to encourage a subdued choir and the congregation deciding en masse not to participate, we kicked off our musical liturgy with Marty Haugen's 'All are welcome'. Choirboy really likes this hymn - its music and its sentiment but I think we needed Marty's help for it did sound a bit limp. Still, with the Kyrie to follow it could only get better - one missed F#m later, Choirboy wasn't too sure. It was left to Father Mark to talk to us about the three strands of Lent - fasting, prayer and almsgiving and to relate a short tale about temptation. Ironically it was just after this tale that Choirboy was sorely tempted to have a rant at a couple talking rather loudly - something that seems increasingly prevalent. Never mind noisy children, it's noisy adults who get me going. Phew......

With a new mass setting for Lent, there were always going to be some issues and Choirboy pulled his new Sanctus before mass as he has re-written it (again). Still we managed to sing the new Angus Dei and we didn't murder 'On Eagle's wings' so it all ended on a high, depsite the fact that the final blessing was like the starting pistol of an olympic race as the Church emptied in the blink of an eye before we had even got to verse 3 of our concluding hymn. Still, there's always next week - how long is Lent again ?

Entry All our welcome

Kyrie

Alleluia Praise to You, O Christ, our Saviour (V1)

Offertory O Bread of Heaven

Holy Holy Gathering Mass

Mem Accl Christ has died

Amen Amen - We will sing

Lamb of God Newquay mass (iii)

Lamb of God, Lamb of God
You take away the sin of the world (repeat)
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us
Have mercy on us and grant us Your peace

Communion There is a longing

Recessional On Eagle’s wings (V1-3)

Blaise of glory ?

Today was the feast of St Blaise. Here he is on the left. Blaise is confronting the Roman governor: scene from a stained glass window from the area of Soissons (Picardy, France), early 13th century.

Following mass we had our throats blessed in a rather old and peculiar ceremony which allowed choirboy to offer up a few additional songs whilst the rather slow process unfolded. Knocking on Heaven's Door (plagiarised by Choirby), I can feel You moving in me and Lord I know that You love me were knocked out with gusto by Paul, Jimmy and Choirboy.

Being the last Sunday in Ordinary time before Lent, we were reminded by Bishop Christopher in his pastoral letter that Easter is 'the feast of feasts, the solemnity of solemnities'. So as we prepare to prepare to be the Lord's 'Easter People', we need to revisit the meaning of Easter and review how we live. Not easy !

Entry This is the day

Gloria Gloria

Alleluia Plymouth Alleluia

Creed Credo/I believe

Offertory Take our bread

Holy Holy Newquay Mass (ii)

Mem Accl Christ has died

Amen Amen - We will sing

Lamb of God Newquay mass (ii)

Communion There is a longing

Recessional All the world belongs to You