I Have Been Anointed

This Sunday at the 5:00pm Mass, fifty-three teenagers will be anointed on the forehead with chrism by Bishop Robert Reed, marking their Confirmation into the Catholic faith.

 

Our Worship Band has been hard at work preparing the music for this Mass. Most of our hymn selections are songs that I believe are already familiar to the regular 5:00 congregation, with the exception of one new song which we’ve especially prepared for the Offertory – I Have Been Anointed by Steve Warner, which is hymn #500 in the current edition of our hymnal. If you’d like to familiarize yourself with the song to be able to participate more in singing with us, feel free to listen to it a few times via the video below. 

We’d love if you could sing with us during the refrains. Oh, here’s a thought: if your children are among the teenagers to be confirmed, we’d love it if THEY could sing with us!

 

The text of the refrain goes:

 

I have been anointed with the song of the Lord,

A song of love and compassion, a song to set me free.

God is my rock of salvation, a beacon for my soul.

Hallelujah! Amen! Hallelujah! Amen!

Praise to the rock and the wellspring, creator of my soul.

 

The verse will be sung by our Worship Band’s very own Emmeline Fritz, who is also set to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this December at St. Mary’s in Dedham. We hope our music selections help you experience the movement of the Holy Spirit at this very special Mass.

 

With my peace,

Carlo Serrano, Music Director

Lead Me, Lord

October 13, 2024

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Green Card Fundraiser Status

 

Firstly, I’d like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the very generous parishioners who have contributed to my fundraiser. From here on, I’ll include a weekly update on the funds that have been raised thus far, in addition to my regular post in the Music Director’s Corner. As of the time of this writing, the funds raised amount to $13,324, with a goal of $27,000. I am moved by the overwhelming support I’ve seen from the community. Working at this church has been one of the most life-changing experiences for me, and I hope to stay on for much longer!

 

Lead Me, Lord

 

If you were to ask a musician, “Do you know Ave Maria?”, they’d most probably answer, “Which one?” If you’ve been around the music world enough, you’ve probably heard A LOT of Ave Maria’s. My favorite is one that may not be familiar to most – a Spanish setting of the Ave Maria by William Gomez. There’s a beautiful rendition of it by Latvian mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča. Search for it on YouTube if you have a free moment!

 

Likewise, there’s another Christian song title that may refer to many different songs: Lead Me, Lord. Those of us at St. Joe’s are likely most familiar with the version by John Becker, listed as #739 in the current edition of our hymnal. “Lead me, Lord. Lead me, Lord, by the light of truth, to seek and to find the narrow way…” – yup, that one! But of course, that isn’t the only Lead Me, Lord out there. As my very faithful friends might say, the Holy Spirit juuuust couldn’t keep Its inspiration to Itself, and It just haaaaad to go all over the world inspiring composers across different countries and continents to write more Lead Me, Lord’s!

 

This Sunday’s Gospel speaks about the challenge of following Christ especially when it may not align with what we want, so we’ve prepared songs that speak about following Jesus’ lead. Depending on which Mass you attend this Sunday, you may hear an entirely different Lead Me, Lord. Specifically, these are:

 

9:30 AM – Lead Me, Lord by Gary Valenciano

c/o Ainsley Moran

A poignant, ballad-like setting that asks the Lord to lead “even though at times I’d rather go along my way.” Gary Valenciano is Filipino singer-songwriter (more fondly known as “Gary V” where I come from) who has written some very moving popular Christian songs, with this one being among my favorites. At the Family Mass, it will be sung by Ainsley Moran, an exceptionally talented new addition to our Youth Choir this year. Ainsley is currently in 5th grade at the St. Joe’s school.

 

11:00 AM – Lead Me, Lord by S.S. Wesley

c/o St. Joseph Parish Adult Choir

A reverent, meditative anthem by 19th-century English composer and organist Samuel Sebastian Wesley. The text is beautifully short and sweet: “Lead me, Lord, lead me in Thy righteousness, make Thy way plain before my face. For it is Thou, Lord, only, that makest me dwell in safety.” Yes, you get to hear the word “makest!”

 

5:00 PM – Lead Me, Lord by Gary Valenciano and Lead Me, Lord by John Becker

c/o St. Joseph Parish Worship Band

If you miss the Ainsley version of Gary V’s Lead Me, Lord at the 9:30, you can still catch the Jacob & Carlo version at the 5! And we’ll be ending Mass with the John Becker version in our hymnal, which I think pretty much everyone knows.

 

Oh, here’s a thought… If you wanna hear ALL the Lead Me, Lord’s, you could technically come to all three of these Masses and get a triple fill of the Eucharist!

 

With my peace,

Carlo Serrano, Music Director

Perfect Love

October 6, 2024

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Green Card Fundraiser Status

 

As always, I’d like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the very generous parishioners who have contributed to my fundraiser. The first part of the Music Director’s Corner will include a weekly update on the funds that have been raised thus far, in addition to my regular post. As of the time of this writing, the funds raised amount to $12, 802, with a goal of $27,000.

 

As you may have seen in this week’s bulletin, after consulting with our immigration lawyer, we’ve learned that the application process will take a bit longer and cost more than originally estimated. The new target is $27,000 (previously $20,000) due to a backlog in applications, increased government filing fees, and a need to extend my H1-B visa (my temporary work authorization). A rough breakdown of the fees is as follows:

 

Government Filing Fees -  $9,000

Legal Fees - $15,000

Third party recruitment expense - $3,000 

Total cost - $27,000 

 

I am moved by the overwhelming support I’ve seen from the community. Working at this church has been one of the most life-changing experiences for me, and I hope to stay on for much longer!

 

Perfect Love

 

This Sunday’s Scripture readings deal with the sanctity of marriage. As a church musician, one of my favorite types of Masses to serve at are wedding Masses! I haven’t been to a lot of weddings here in the US, but back home in the Philippines, singing at weddings was a very common occurrence for the choirs I sang with. Well, a few months ago – August 24th to be exact – I finally got to direct music for a wedding right here at St. Joe’s! It was the wedding of two of our parishioners, Austin and Bruna, who usually come to the 11:00 AM Mass.

 

So, for this Sunday, I figured I’d have the Adult Choir give Austin and Bruna a bit of nostalgia by singing one of the songs from their wedding. It’s called Perfect Love, written by Kimberly Hill and arranged by Stacey Nordmeyer. This particular arrangement quotes an excerpt from another song, The Love of God, by Frederick M. Lehman. When the choir did this at Austin and Bruna’s wedding, we cut out some parts to shorten it, so that it would fit the length of the Offertory. This Sunday, we’ll be doing the entire song uncut. So if you’re a married couple and you decide to come to the 11:00 AM Mass, we hope this song fills you up with love that you can carry with you all the days of your married life – for better or worse, in sickness and health, in honeymoon days, in days of conflict, and yes, even the days of just lounging around in the house. 

 

With my peace,

Carlo Serrano, Music Director

New Life

September 29, 2024
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The day was a Sunday two years ago: September 25th, 2022. It was the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, like it is this Sunday (coincidence, or God-wink???). That year, the Gospel reading was from Luke 16:19-31 – Lazarus and the rich man. Fr. Joseph Kim, our former Parochial Vicar, gave an inspiring homily where he preached about the importance of making time to listen to people in need, like Lazarus waiting at the rich man’s door. At that time, I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by the many contrasting opinions I found in the music satisfaction survey that we had distributed throughout the parish. My closest friends know how much I struggle to make decisions, so when many voices tell me different things, let’s just say my mind will be debating with itself for days! I wondered if I should ask a Priest for advice, but I was hesitant, cause they always seemed so busy doing, you know, holy things! But then I heard Fr. Joseph’s homily and thought, “Well, he literally just preached about making time to listen to people, so if there was ever a time for me to ask him for advice, it’d be now!”

So Fr. Joseph and I went on a leisurely walk around the neighborhood. He shared about how church life had gone downhill, largely due to the pandemic, along with several other exacerbating factors. And in a sincere, heart-to-heart moment, Fr. Joseph told me that when I was hired to work at St. Joe’s in October of 2021, parishioners looked to that as a hope for new life. It felt like a tremendous request, and I’ve carried that with me ever since. Like you, I want to see this community bursting with life! I’d love to see more people in the pews, in the choirs, in the parking spaces. I’d love to see more enthusiastic teenagers at the Confirmation Masses. I love hearing the joyful bustle of kids in the school playground. I love seeing kids raising their hands and giving such earnest answers to Fr. Bryan’s questions at the 9:30am Family Mass. I love how much bigger the choir sounds at the 11am Mass now. I love how people are starting to say “Good afternoon/evening” back to my friend Kathy whenever she delivers the announcements at the 5pm Mass in her usual charismatic way.

Today, our Youth Choir officially has 10 kids, which is the most we’ve had so far. Our Adult Choir has doubled in size, having welcomed several choir members from St. Bart’s, who have decided to continue the work of music ministry at St. Joe’s. Our Worship Band has two new members – Danielle and Jacob – who have worked so diligently to offer a powerful rendition of David Foster’s song The Prayer, which you’ll hear at the 5pm Mass this Sunday. I wish I could see Fr. Joseph again, invite him to all our Masses, and show him how we’ve all been hard at work to actualize the dream he shared with me: new life.

With my peace,
Carlo Serrano, Music Director