5th Sunday of Easter, Year A

What we sang 

• Entrance:   Seek Ye First - Karen Lafferty
• Gloria:  Peruvian
• Psalm:  - spoken
• Gospel acclamation:  Alleluia, alleluia Give thanks ... Fishel
• Offertory: - instrumental
• Communion:   Servant Song - Richard Gillard
• Sending:  Hail Queen of Heaven

What I'd like to have sung:

The Celtic Alleluia, and in particular some of its verses.    People in Ireland do know this, but for some reason it's hardly every sung.    Maybe they just don't like the word "celtic" - people overseas don't realise how much some Irish despise this term, which is a catch-all for a whole collection of sub-national groups today.

And I'm sure there's another hymn I know with "The Way, The Truth and the Life" in it - can't think of it any more though.

HQOH was put on because it's May, so "Mary's month" in the northern hemisphere.

Palm Sunday, Year A

What we sang 

• Entrance:   All ye who Seek a Comfort Sure - African arrangement
• Psalm: - we didn't
• Offertory:   Hosanna - Carl Tuttle
• Communion:  Soul of my Saviour
• Sending:   All ye who Seek a Comfort Sure  -   again!

What I'd like to have sung

No one in Ireland seems to have heard of the W Jabusch "The King of Glory" which is in my mind as the classic for Palm Sunday.   The classic here is "All Glory Laud and Honour" - but I'm not keen on it myself.

Our African community picked music this week, so the choices are from their repertoire combined with what they think of as the core Irish hymns.   The repetition of the opening hymn at the end, instead of the planned African one was a last minute thing - I didn't quite understand the reason, sometimes you just have to go with things!

5th Sunday of Lent, Year A

What we sang 

• Entrance:   Christ be Beside Me
• Psalm:      We didn't
• Offertory:  Be Still and Know
• Communion:   instrumental only
• Sending:     Here I am Lord

What I'd like to have sung

No real favourites this week.    Our line up wasn't at all challenging:   expected a school choir for three hymns, but they had to cancel at short notice, and our main musician for the day is busy learning material for Holy Week, so we didn't want to push her with anything new.   So old-standbys, which could be sung with minimal instrumental support.

4th Sunday of Lent, Year A

What we sang 

• Entrance:   Here I am Lord - Dan Schutte
• Psalm:       The Lord's my Shepherd - CRIMOND
• Offertory:  Open my Eyes Lord - Jesse Manibusan
• Communion:   You are Near - Dan Schutte 
• Sending:          Amazing Grace
• Impromptu afterwards:   A Mother's Love is a Blessing

What I'd like to have sung

Today it looked like we weren't going to have a musician, so the first-cut list was based on what I had backing tracks that I think the congregation would sing to without strong leadership.   (We haven't tried unaccompanied since moving to the new building.)

However it turned out that a strong musician was available after all, so we switched off the CD player, and she had a sense of using "You are Near" instead of the instrumental "God of Mercy and Compassion" that was planned.    Didn't try to change any of the rest at short notice, though.

City of God fitted the readings a little better, but we thought it was a little too cheerful for Lent, and also because the parish mass included a memorial for the brother of one of our leadership team - a lovely man who's done an incredible amount for the parish.

And I wish I'd had a backing track for something appropriate for Mother's Day - must keep an eye out for that.

3rd Sunday of Lent, Year A

What we sang 

• Entrance: How Great Thou Art
• Psalm: we didn't
• Offertory: I Will Give You Living Water - Maddec
• Communion: Only a Shadow
• Sending: Our God Reigns

What I'd like to have sung:

There's a setting of today's psalm "O that today you would listen to his voice, harden not your hearts" in my head, and looking at the files on my computer I see that I've never been able to find out where it came from. But there are verses, the first one starts "Let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us hail the God who is our saviour;". Mmm, must search more on this.

Also, I was remembering Frank Andersen's "Come to the Water" - although it's only somewhat related.

And there must be some hymns about of Moses striking the rock at Horeb - it's such a good story that I'm sure some hymn-writers have worked with it.

The overall tone was a little more cheerful and not as Lent-ish as I would have liked, but we're likely to head that way next week.

2nd Sunday of Lent, Year A

What we sang 

• Entrance:   How Great Thou Art - Stuart Hine
• Psalm:       Not sung
• Offertory:  My God Accept my Heart this Day - Bridges
• Communion:   Céad Míle Fáilte Romhat
• Sending:          As I Kneel Before You

On holiday from the regular parish this Sunday - they'll get my company tomorrow for St Patrick's day instead.    So went to an inner city church.   Thoughtful sermon about looking for truth vs looking for love, which was linked back to the day's scripture.    I couldn't see any links in the hymns though.   But people have started singing, which is a big step up since I was last there a couple of years back.

What I'd like to have sung:

Shine Jesus Shine.    Well maybe not exactly liked - it's a bit too charismatic for my tastes.   But this is the one day when it's such a fantastic fit for the readings that it seems almost compulsory.

The psalm:  there's a Frank Andersen (I think) setting of "May your love be upon us O Lord as we place our hope in You" lodged in my mind.    Can't find the music for it, but it's what I wanted to sing this week.

1st Sunday of Lent, Year A

What we sang 

• Entrance:   Christ be Beside Me
• Psalm:  Spoken
• Offertory:   Instrumental
• Communion:  Ubi Caritas
• Sending:  Bind us Together

What I'd like to have sung:

The psalm:  I've known an arrangement of Create in me a New Heart (it feels like) forever.   Never found it published anywhere, it must be one that travelled "through the ether" back in the 1980s.   I did once see a cowboy version of it on YouTube -and tried to put that sound out of my mind ever since!      And though I've sung some fancy Miserere settings in choirs, none of them have the same impact on me as the English words do.

Also, while I was listening to the readings yesterday, John Foley's Turn to Me kept coming to mind, more for the tone of it than any particular words.    It's been a while since I was in a parish with the musical resources to pull it off, so it's definitely one that I miss.

6th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year c

What we sang 

• Entrance:  Christ be Beside Me
• Psalm:  We didn't   :-(
• Offertory:  we didn't - instrumental
• Communion:  A Mhuire Mhaithar  (last minute subsititution)
• Sending:   Brother Sister Let me Serve You

What I'd like to have sung:

Not a lot of obvious choices in my repertoire this week:   To Do Your Will is one possible oldie.
We were going to teach David Haas' Prayer for Peace using a recording, but technical challenges got in the way (someone has "borrowed" the cable). Tracking it down will be a challenge for this week.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

This is the first in an occasional series of posts "What we sang, vs what I'd like to have sung".

Sometimes it will be based on my own parish, sometimes on other places that I happened to be visiting that day.

What we sang 

• Entrance:  Here I am Lord 
• Psalm:  none 
• Offertory:  Eat this Bread - the Taizé one
• Communion:  A Place at the Table
• Sending:   Go Tell Everyone 

(Yes, we sang Mass parts, aka "ordinays" too.  They're essential, but a lot less interesting, and not worth listing each week.)

What I'd like to have sung: 

• Bring forth the Kingdom 
• A Place at the Table 
• I am the Light of the World
• Christ be our Light
• I Yahweh Have Called You