Bouncing off the walls over here on a beautiful spring-like day...

I am all discombobulated today, but in the best way possible. I mean, I don't even have an image to go in this post, and yet I don't care, and I'm all giddy. :0 I'm working the evening shift, and even that hasn't dampened my spirits.

The morning started out with a chirpy Anne greeting me in bed and asking how the Worship Committee meeting went last night, since I got back after she was already asleep.

"I came to see you when I got back, Lovey, but you were already sound asleep. I gave you a kiss."

"I did not feel your kiss, Mommy!"

She was quite outraged.

"Whenever you come into my room, Mommy, you need to say: 'Anne, Anne wake up!'"

Yeah sure. I'll make sure and do that next time. ;-)

But back to the point, the Worship Committee meeting went *splendidly*. Nobody was cranky, huzzah! We talked about Holy Week. As ever, I am SO looking forward to the Triduum, and plan to attend all of the liturgies. Fr. Joe is hosting a get-together for us on Holy Thursday night. :) And the Easter Vigil will be magnificent.

Interestingly, we do not have any Catechumens this year, and so there will be no RCIA component to the Vigil Mass. We do have 2 Candidates for Confirmation, but apparently if there are not also Catechumens, it is against the rubrics to just confirm those Candidates at the Easter Vigil. They will receive the sacrament with the rest of the Confirmation class in May. Intriguing, yes?

So, I got home, had a lovely evening with Mike and Henry, and woke up this morning to a chirpy Anne. Check. Then I got ready and set off for work. The sun is shining and the temperature here is incredibly mild. Spring is coming!

As I was driving along, praying a rosary, I noticed a bird fall to the ground. Naturally, sensitive-disposition person that I am, I panicked:

"Oh gosh, that poor bird! Does he have a broken wing?! I hope...Oh. There's another bird right there with him. Right. Nobody is hurt. Let's give them some privacy!"

Yet another sign of spring. :0

So, I got in, and because I'm working the evening shift tonight, I technically have comp time coming to me. And so I took advantage of that opportunity to do something that is a LONG time in coming.

*big suspense!*

It's not exactly a secret, because we've been talking about it for months. But let's just say it's podcast related, and I'm so excited about it that I can hardly sit still. Stay tuned for more details tomorrow during Tea Time with Tiffany!

Details tomorrow, but no actual *product* until next week, just fyi. Let's just say that Tiffany has some serious technical magic to work behind the scenes to make this dream a reality. Anybody know if there is a patron saint of audio editing?! I need his or her contact information please.

I mean it. Leave it in the comments. :0

"We've done it the same way for 40 years." Adventures with the Worship Committee :0

Happy Tuesday of Holy Week everyone! I wanted to share my experience on my parish's new Worship Committee, since I'm very excited about it. As decor is one of the items that is on our list to discuss, to the left is another photo of our altar on Palm Sunday, and yes, on the far end of that shot there is Anne, in motion, moments before I grabbed her and hauled her to my side. Such is my lot in life at Mass these days. ;-)

At any rate, I arrived last Thursday with my liturgy Sourcebook, a pen, and a notepad, a full five minutes early, like a true nerd. There was a decent crowd there, just over a dozen people in all, and I recognized most of them from either the music ministry or from Mass generally. Turns out a large contingent of them were from the parish Ladies Sodality. I can never attend the Ladies Sodality, because their meetings are on a night that Mike teaches. Mike has also wondered whether or not I'd be the youngest person there by...quite a lot. :)

I don't think he's wrong, but that wouldn't discourage me. :) At any rate, since I can't attend that group, it's especially nice that I'm able to be involved in this way. So, we get started, and this was really just a meet-and-greet type of session. For the rest of the liturgical year, Fr. Joe is planning to not make any sweeping changes and just see how things go, since he's so new. Beginning in October, our group will start to meet regularly to plan for the new liturgical year. And he gave us a schedule.

*angels sing!*

I love schedules. :0 In October, we'll meet to discuss the feast of All Saints/All Souls, and plan for a Memorial Mass to pray for those who died over the course of the year. We'll also discuss the feast of Christ the King. In November we'll meet to discuss Advent and order Christmas flowers. In December we'll meet to discuss Christmas. And so on.

So for each of these items, we'll discuss the options within the liturgical norms. We'll discuss decorations, if applicable, and scheduling. So, Mass times, in the future, will be on the table. This is where a bit of resistance came in. :) Some members of the Ladies Sodality DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE THE MASS TIMES. They feel very strongly about this. :0 Fr. Joe acknowledged that changing Mass times is no easy feat, and he does not take the task lightly. And so perhaps they will stay the same. But it only makes sense to evaluate the number and timing of weekend Masses to assess whether or not a different schedule would be more practical and appropriate. There were some frowns over this, but we were able to move on. ;-) The scheduling of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion was also a bit of a controversy, who knew? There were a number of people present who feel like more stations for reception of the Eucharist need to be set up. I'm not certain that I agree with that, so here's to exploring this more in the future. :)

And so next year, we will all be able to discuss Lent and the Holy Week liturgies. I received a few comments about what I noted for our upcoming Holy Thursday liturgy, and I appreciate them, truly. In all honesty, this is what I suspected anyway. To put it in a nutshell, my feeling on this issue is that I am no liturgical expert right now. I'm going to let that be worked out on its own, by the proper authorities. I'm just along for the ride and to learn this year. Next year, as a member of this committee, I will have a say in things, and yes, I am very much a fan of more traditional interpretations. :) Ironic, coming from "the young one."

"Father, isn't it so nice to see *such young people* like Tiffany involved in the parish?"

Who is this lady, I love her?!?!! She's my new best friend at Mass.

*beams*

How is your Holy Week proceeding, dear reader?