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