The 17th Sunday in

Ordinary Time

26 July 2009

Saint Andrew & Saint William

Catholic Church in Verona, Wisconsin

Today the Church’s Lectionary (the book that contains a collection of

Scripture readings appointed for Christian or Jewish worship on a particular day
or occasion) steers us on a short liturgical detour. Over the next five Sundays the
Church presents us with the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. The Gospel of
John is one of four canonical gospels (in addition to Matthew, Mark and Luke),
meaning that it is part of the Canon of Sacred Scripture – those books and letters
that the Church identifies as authentic Sacred Scripture inspired by the Holy
Spirit. Of the four canonical gospels, those written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke
display a high degree of similarity in content, narrative arrangement, language,
and sentence and paragraph structure. As a result, they are described as the
Synoptic Gospels, meaning that they were written from the same point of view
(the Greek syn- meaning "together with", and optikos having to do with vision).
In contrast to the Synoptic Gospels, the fourth canonical gospel – the
Gospel of John – differs greatly in structure and language. Despite its poetic
differences, however, the life and teaching of Christ we hear from this gospel are
just as clear and authentic. For example, while the Synoptic Gospels recount the
Last Supper with Christ’s institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the
Gospel of John does not. Instead, John’s Gospel devotes all of chapter six to
Christ’s teaching on the Eucharist. In the Liturgy of the Word today, we begin
to hear about Jesus and the Eucharist in the Gospel of John, chapter 6, starting
with the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fish.
The great miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Fish, whereby
Jesus feeds "about five thousand in number," is only the beginning of what we will
witness Christ do and say concerning Himself and the great mystery of His Love
in the Eucharist. May we pray and reflect today and over the next five weeks with
the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, and grow in our understanding and deepen our
faith as the Church of the Eucharist.

Introductory Rites
Hymn at the Procession – 705
Come, Ye Thankful People, Come Tune: ST. GEORGE’S WINDSOR

Kyrie eleison Chant Mode III

Gloria in excelsis A New Mass for Congregations
Carroll Thomas Andrews

Lord Jesus Christ…receive our prayer.

Opening Collect
The Priest prays the collect. All respond, Amen.

Liturgy of the Word

Reading I II Kings 4:42-44

They shall eat and have some left over.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 145

Columba Kelly, O.S.B.
Reading II Ephesians 4:1-6

There is one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Gospel Acclamation A. Gregory Murray, O.S.B.

A great prophet has risen in our midst.

God has visited His people.

Gospel Reading John 6:1-15

Jesus distributed to those who were seated.

Homily Rev. William F. Vernon

Pastor

Liturgy of the Eucharist

Hymn at the Offertory
For the Fruit of All Creation Tune: AR HYD Y NOS
Sanctus et Benedictus Mass for the City
Richard Proulx

Memorial Acclamation Mass for the City

Richard Proulx

Great Amen Mass for the City

Richard Proulx
 Communion Rite
The Our Father Traditional Chant

Priest: Deliver us, Lord…our Savior, Jesus Christ

Lamb of God Richard Proulx

Song at the Communion – 525
Gift of Finest Wheat Tune: BICENTENNIAL

Hymn of Thanksgiving – 700

Now Thank We All Our God Tune: NUN DANKET ALLE GOTT

Prayer after Communion

Concluding Rites
Final Blessing and Dismissal

Organ Postlude

Musical Remarks
Over the past few months at Saint Andrew’s and Saint William’s we have been
singing the Kyrie eleison ("Lord, have mercy") in the Penitential Rite at the
beginning of Mass. Today is a rare occasion where there was not enough room in
the leaflet to include the Greek text and the English translation above the music.
Usually, there is room to list the words Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison
with "Greek" above them in parentheses. While it is true that the Roman
Catholic Church has (and maintains) a long and rich heritage of Latin language
in the liturgy, the Kyrie eleison is one of the rare instances of Greek language used
in Mass. If fact, when we see the words Kyrie eleison we are actually seeing the
transliteration of Greek words and Greek alphabet into Latin words and Roman
alphabet. The Greek text in Greek characters would appear like this:

(Greek) Κύριε ἐλέησον, Χριστὲ ἐλέησον, Κύριε ἐλέησον.

(Latin) Kýrie, eléison; Christé, eléison; Kýrie, eléison.
"Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy."
On occasion, the Kyrie eleison may also be used as a response to the General
Intercessions, replacing "Lord, hear our prayer".
Currently, the Kyrie eleison is commonly sung with a single repetition of the
text, so that the pattern is AA BB AA. Traditionally, however, each phrase would
be repeated twice for a total of three instances of the phrase: AAA BBB AAA. In
either case, the final phrase of the Kyrie eleison is nearly always sung differently,
according some modification of the melody. This may be because the final phrase
would lead immediately to Gloria in excelsis chant. Dozens of chant settings of
the Kyrie eleison exist, each one with differing complexity. There is no doubt that
this ancient and precious music provides timeless beauty, coupled with the
ancient and precious texts with which is has imtimately developed since the
earliest days of liturgical music. -B. G.
Permissions: Glory to God music by Carroll Thomas Andrews © GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved,
reprinted with permission, Onelicense.net #A-715895. Psalm 145: The hand of the Lord feeds us music by
Columba Kelly, O.S.B. © GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission,
Onelicense.net #A-715895. Gospel Acclamation music by A. Gregory Murray, O.S.B. © GIA Publications,
Inc. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission, Onelicense.net #A-715895. For the fruit of all creation
text by Fred Pratt Green © Hope Publishing Company. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission,
Onelicense.net #A-715895. Sanctus et benedictus, Memorial Acclamation, and Great Amen from Mass for the
City. Music by Richard Proulx © GIA Publications, Inc. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission,
Onelicense.net #A-715895. Lamb of God music by Richard Proulx © GIA Publications, Inc. All rights
reserved, reprinted with permission, Onelicense.net #A-715895. All other selections in the public domain.