Congratulations to Fr. Klekas

It was an honor for us to sing for another new priest's First Mass and our third since 2015. Fr. Patrick Klekas is shown here blessing his parents at the end of the Mass at Immaculate Conception in Sparks. He and Fr. Eduardo Gutierrez-Sandoval received the Sacrament of Holy Orders from Bishop Randolph Calvo on Friday night at St. Teresa of Avila in Carson City. Please pray for them, as well as all our priests and for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life!

And Down The Stretch We Come

You can be forgiven for not remembering the name of the horse that won yesterday's Preakness Stakes in Baltimore. War of Will got some justice after being forced to slow up in the controversial Kentucky Derby by winning the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. But stealing the show was Bodexpress ("boh-dee" express), who got caught up in a snafu leaving the starting gate, threw his Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez to the ground, and ran the entire race riderless...and didn't finish last. Twitter took to Bodexpress right away.

This is now the home stretch of our season, and we don't have distractions like riderless horses to get in our way. We have plenty of time to prepare for it with our next Mass not until Pentecost which is Sunday, June 9 at Holy Spirit Mission. After that, however, we have 3 Masses in 8 days, or 4 in 14 counting Pentecost:

• First Mass of (soon-to-be) Fr. Patrick Klekas on Saturday, June 15 at Immaculate Conception Church in Sparks, 9 AM (likely an 8:15 call time);
• Trinity Sunday at Assumption in Truckee (snowless this time, we hope!) on Sunday, June 16, 9 AM (also likely an 8:15 call time); and
• Corpus Christi at the Mission with a guest FSSP priest saying a High Mass on Sunday, June 23, 8:30 AM (7:45 likely call time).

We got this.

Fun Fact: I thought Nevada didn't have any horse racing tracks, especially considering you can bet on horse races all across the country at any sportsbook. But each year in Ely, there is horse racing associated with the White Pine County fair in mid-August, and a card in Elko for its county fair just before Labor Day. More info here.

Another First Mass Opportunity

From Kathy. Please contact her if you haven't done so already:

I was contacted...by Rev. Mr. Patrick Klekas [above, courtesy of the Diocese of Reno], a transitional deacon, who will be ordained to the priesthood in June.  He has asked us to sing for his first Mass on Saturday, June 15, at 9 AM at Immaculate Conception Church in Sparks. He has heard a lot about us from Fr. Joe Walsh, whose first Mass we sang for last year, and he assures me that, if he is assigned to a local parish (never a sure thing), he will want us around a lot. Mid-June is always a busy time, but I'm asking that you please make a special effort to do this.  It is so important to support any priest who wants the traditional music of the Church.  Will you please let me know of your participation as soon as possible, so that I can give him an answer? Thank you!

Pax Christi, 

Kathy

While we're speaking of the rest of our schedule, unless you hear something to the contrary, it looks like we will not, repeat, not be singing at Our Lady of Tahoe on Saturday, May 11.

Chocolate Carpooling

(The Giant Prospector near the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory. Photo credit: Denita Graham, RoadsideAmerica.com; HT to Reno-Tahoe Living on Facebook)

We at RPC greatly appreciate the willingness of the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory to let us use the unpaved portion of their parking lot to facilitate carpooling to nearby Holy Spirit Mission when the church will be crowded for Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday Masses. The only condition is that they ask us not to use the marked, paved spaces right in front of the store, a reasonable request. Perhaps we can repay the Nugget with a purchase or two; they can certainly use the business.

If you're interested in carpooling with another member or members from the choir to HSM, bass Bill Cotter has volunteered to help coordinate this. Please don't call/email Kathy; you know how not busy she is. You can conceivably walk to HSM from the Nugget lot on the shoulder of Old Highway 395, but even though the traffic volume is nothing like it was before I-580 was built, the speed limit remains 50 mph, so use your own discretion.

Upcoming Chant Education Events

This is not intended to be an exhaustive list. If you know of any others, mention away in the comments.

• As she does every year, Kathy will be attending the CMAA's annual colloquium, this time in Philadelphia the week of July 1-6 (how appropriate! Independence National Historical Park is worth the visit, as is the Ben Franklin Institute. But watch where you park!).
• Kathy asked me to make mention of two chant courses at the western end of the Keystone State occurring just before the colloquium. Pittsburgh's Duquesne University, a previous colloquium site, will offer both Chant Intensive and Laus in Ecclesia during the week of June 24-28. Read more about them here after scrolling past the colloquium info.
• That same week, and closer to home, Corpus Christi Watershed and the FSSP are hosting their annual symposium (what's the difference between a colloquium and a symposium? The symposium is intended for choir directors or those who want to become directors, but others are welcome.) in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, registration appears to have ended as of March 31. Our new friends from St. Bridget's in Las Vegas say they intend to be there, but it's a much shorter drive for them than us.

(Related: CCW is holding a fundraiser to keep its site operating past Good Friday (April 19). It has been quite a useful site for me over the years, especially with its sound files and PDFs of chants.)

The Passing Of Another RPCer

Kathy has informed us that Art Hakes, a former choir member, has died. She learned of that via Jan Walker, a friend of Art's and a former member herself.

Please pray for the repose of Art's soul. His funeral will be at the Carmelite Monastery in Reno on April 12 at 10:30 AM.

For him and his soul I post Psalm 130:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; LORD, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication.
If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered.
I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word.
My soul waits for the LORD more than the sentinels wait for the dawn.
More than the sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the LORD,
For with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption.
And he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.

Making the Most of a Tough Situation

Kathy put a good deal of miles on her Honda in the last week, driving from Reno to Henderson and back to see to her daughter Marli (between her parents above), who broke both bones of her forearm last week. It's going to be a long recovery for her, and her violin playing will have to wait a while. Please keep her in your prayers.

I mentioned last year that Las Vegas had a single Catholic church that offered Extraordinary Form Masses, namely St. Bridget. While tending to Marli, Kathy went to their 10 AM Sunday Mass and got to hear their teen Schola Cantorum Sancta Brigida, directed by Andrea Leaf. Kathy said their music was relatively basic but done quite well. Take a listen to them yourself, either on the web site above or on their Facebook page.

Could a road trip to Las Vegas be in our future? You never know. In any event, it's always good to make the acquaintance of another chant and polyphony choir in the Silver State. God was able to bring this opportunity out of Kathy and Marli's difficult situation; again, please pray for her.