Tuesday, July 26, 2016

You *Do* Know Jack

Welcome future tenor Jackson Delacruz to the world! Big congratulations to happy parents Ricky and Leslie.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Cathedral Liturgy Update

While this document from today's St. Thomas Aquinas Cathedral bulletin is intended specifically for its parishioners, I post it here because it has relevance to us in RPC. We will continue to sing at the Cathedral's 5 PM Masses. I submit it without further comment.

FROM THE RECTOR'S DESK 
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 
May the Lord give you His peace. As many of you are now aware of, changes will be taking place in the Liturgies here at the Cathedral. This letter is an explanation of these changes and why they are taking place. 
Nearly two months before my return to the Cathedral at the end of 2014, I received a letter from Bishop Calvo explaining issues that needed to be addressed by me as the Rector and one of them was the state of the Liturgy. After I was physically present in Reno, we began to dialogue and discern on how to address the liturgical needs of the Cathedral. It was and still is his goal that the Cathedral be a place for all Catholics in Reno to feel at home in the liturgy. I also share that vision and goal and decided to do everything possible to make that vision and goal a reality. 
In order to keep the vision and goal the Bishop and I have for the Cathedral liturgies alive, we made the decision to hire a music director who with the cantors and organists would select and organize the liturgical music and report directly to me for approval and modifications as needed. This also meant expanding our selections of liturgical music which is what led to implementing Breaking Bread, published by OCP. Research done by our new music director Amy Bruskotter, showed that there are 133 hymns in common between Breaking Bread and the St. Michael Hymnal. Instead of eliminating, we are adding to our richness in music. 
There is a standard for Cathedral liturgies and I believe that we will be in full compliance with those standards when people walk through our doors and see that we are offering high quality liturgies that will nourish every spiritual preference. 
Beginning with the weekend of JULY 31/AUGUST 1, Breaking Bread by OCP and its selection of Mass Settings will be introduced to the following Masses: Saturday at 5:00 PM, Sunday at 7:30 & 9:30 AM. The St. Michael Hymnal with its traditional chants and sung Mass propers will continue to be used on Sundays at the 11:30 AM & 5:00 PM Masses. Also twice a month from September or October until the end of May, the Regina Pacis Choir will continue to sing music in Latin at the 5:00 PM Sunday Mass. 
If any of you wish to discuss this or any other issues with me, I will be happy to meet with you, however, only in person and in the privacy of my office. Please call me at (775) 329-2571 Ext. 101 or send an e-mail to rector[at]stacathedral.com so we can setup [sic] an appointment. 
May the Lord continue to bless you with His peace and please know that in a very special way you are in my thoughts and prayers every time I pray and every time I am privileged to celebrate the Holy Mass. I humbly ask for your prayers that I may be a good shepherd to all of you. 
In Christ and Holy Father Francis,
Fr. Jacob Carazo, OFM Conv., Rector

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Up In The Air

How's this for a coincidence? One of bass Mark Deutschendorf's many hobbies is riding roller coasters, including (shown here) "The Legend" at Holiday World, Indiana which he visited last month, among others. Mark says he had to drive five hours back to St. Louis to catch his Southwest flight home to Reno.

Well, guess who was taking the same flight? Yep, Kathy Reinheimer, on her way back from the Sacred Music Colloquium in St. Louis! All those in favor of sending Mark to the colloquium and Kathy to the roller coasters next summer, please comment!

Mark told this to me and former bass JP DeChambeau at a recent Reno Aces game that featured leadoff hitter Jack Reinheimer. No relation to Kathy, as far as we know.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Ad Orientem Pushback, or This Is Why We Cannot Have Sacred Things

Photo of Fr. Francisco by (who else?) Gwen Linde.

I suppose it was too much to hope that Cdl. Robert Sarah's recommendation to return to ad orientem worship be received with open arms. His Eminence elaborated further earlier this month in a talk called "Towards An Authentic Implementation of Sacrosanctum Concilium".

To be fair, His Eminence was not mandating ad orientem worship, merely explaining that it was not forbidden. Reactions, however, have ranged from indifference to out and out defiance of the Prefect of the CDW. Here are but a few:

Battle Over "Ad Orientem" Mass Heats Up at Vatican

Shocking Developments From Westminster

Showdown in Arkansas over "Ad Orientem"

Letter from USCCB Commitee on Divine Worship on "Ad Orientem"

While RPC does not exist necessarily to promote ad orientem worship, we certainly support anything that makes the Sacrifice of the Mass more sacred than profane.