My Garden

For those of us who enjoy gardening, this time of year is always a busy time. Things are blooming, and the recent rain brought an abundance of weeds. Like our gardens, we must remember to extract from our lives that which is not beautiful or healthy to the growth of life. Sin, like a weed, will choke out the strongest of flowers, making them unhealthy and weak. I love the newness that Spring brings to my yard, and at times I am so inspired by God‘s gifts, that I will occasionally write about them. The following is a short poem that I wrote last year while sitting among my flowers in the early morning hours of dawn. I hope it inspires you to enjoy the beauty of God‘s creation.

My Garden

My garden isn’t perfect, but you must understand

that every flower that you behold

was planted there by hand.

There’s trees and shrubs, and bulbs and things,

and weeds of every kind,

and some I do not recognize that some bird left behind!

To watch the busy hummingbird that lands to take a drink -

It’s wings a-flutter as it tastes the honeysuckle pink,

is time well spent, as moments spare

the watcher from his task,

for every moment spent therein, is a moment spent relaxed!

I could not see a flower, and not bend in to smell

the fragrance of the heavens - here, God does surely dwell!

I ponder all the sacred gifts the Master gave to share.

How truly sad the world would be, if flowers were not there!

“Are Those Bells I Hear?”

Last weekend a family came up to the choir loft to show their little girl the organ. I could see the excitement in her eyes as she sat at the console and looked at all the tabs and buttons in front of her. It is for that reason that I decided to write about the organ this week. The Holtkamp Organ was installed some time in 1949-1950 as a 10 rank (set of pipes) instrument. Originally, the organ did sit in the loft, but was brought down to the sanctuary in 1985. In 1992, the organ was restored again, adding electric wind chests. The Harry Ebert Organ Co. completed the work on the new console, and restored the “Zimblestern," which in German literally means “Cymbal Star” and consists of a metal or wooden star or wheel on which several small bells are mounted. When the wheel rotates, the bells create a constant "tinkling sound." Most often, this sound is used for celebratory music such as the Gloria, the opening and closing hymns at Mass, or to announce the bride as she begins her walk down the aisle at weddings.

The organ that you presently hear underwent a major restoration in 2006, in preparation for its move from the sanctuary back to the choir loft. New ranks were added to complete what now is a grand instrument with 17 ranks of pipes. So, the next time you think you hear bells, just remember -- it‘s just the organ!

Gift of Finest Wheat

”As when the shepherd calls his sheep, they know and heed his voice; So when you call your family Lord, we follow and rejoice.”

“Gift of Finest Wheat” has become a staple at Masses in churches all over the world. Written by Robert E. Kreutz (1922-1996), it was first performed at the International Eucharistic Congress in 1976, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There is hardly a church congregation that is not familiar with its melodic passages. This weekend we celebrate “Good Shepherd Sunday."

On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, we are asked to pray for more vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. Without priests, there is no Eucharist. Each day a priest is asked to be present in prayer and in person to many. We must always remember to pray for them, and to support them. It is from their hands that we receive the Bread of Life! May Mary, Queen of the Clergy, obtain for us many holy priests.

Ave Maria

Throughout May you will hear prelude music dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Truly, one of the most beautiful and prayerful compositions ever written is the beloved "Ave Maria." Most of us are familiar with the melody by Franz Schubert (1825). Anyone who has ever attended a wedding in the Catholic Church has heard it played as the bride places a flower at the Mary altar. What most of us probably don‘t know, is that the melody was originally written to accompany lyrics to Sir Walter Scott‘s (1797-1828) poem, "The Lady of the Lake." The poem was then translated into German, and the "Ave Maria" prayer used. Its accompaniment is written in "triplets" with melody written to follow a straight "4" meter. The vocalist who sings it must have good lung capacity to sustain its long phrases and passages.

The Bach/Guonod version of “Ave Maria” began as two separate songs. In 1722 Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the music for "Prelude No. 1" in C Major, from "The Well Tempered Clavier." 137 years later, Charles Guonod, a French composer, wrote the melody we know as the "Ave Maria" over Bach‘s original composition. The two songs compliment each other perfectly and beautifully. This version of the "Ave Maria" contains the entire prayer sung through the song, unlike Schubert‘s version, where both verses must be sung in order to hear the second verse of the prayer.