May 2026

The month of May certainly looks to be a very busy month! This past Friday, the 1st of May, the St. Joe’s School celebrated its annual Grandparents’ Day, which is arguably THE biggest school event each year. Then this Sunday, May 3rd, we have a First Communion Mass at the 11am, and then two Confirmation Masses at 2pm and 5pm. On May 10th, the 6th Sunday of Easter and Mother’s Day, we’ll have our traditional crowning of Mary in Mary’s Garden, right after the 9:30am Mass. On May 14th, we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord, and on May 24th, we celebrate Pentecost (special music plans for that!). Finally, at the end of the month, on May 31st, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and on that very same day there will be two more Confirmation Masses at 2pm and 5pm. So, loooootsa stuff this month!

 

I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you about another part of my job that may not be as visible within the parish. In addition to my role as music director of the parish, I also direct the St. Joe’s School choir, which sings for the All-School Masses that typically take place on the first Friday of each month, as you may have noticed if you’re one of the regulars at daily Mass. And then there’s the non-religious part of my work at the school that occupies a very fulfilling chunk of my time – playing piano for the St. Joe’s School musicals. The school does three musical productions each school year: one in the fall, one in the winter, and one in the spring. For this year’s spring musical, our 5th graders will be performing DreamWorks’ Madagascar Jr. on May 7th and 8th, at 7:00 PM at the school’s Kennedy Center. So yes, that’s another thing on my radar this busy month of May. If you’re in the area and you’d like to see some talented 5th graders doing a school musical, please consider coming to our production of Madagascar Jr.

 

With my peace,
Carlo Serrano, Music Director 

Good Shepherd Sunday

The 4th Sunday of Easter has been nicknamed “Good Shepherd Sunday,” due to the Gospel reading about Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Before Vatican II, Good Shepherd Sunday used to fall on the 3rd Sunday of Easter, until the Church decided to push it back by a week, so that we could hear more about Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, such as the one on the road to Emmaus last Sunday. Doesn’t that just make you glad that the Church revised the Lectionary that way? I mean, who doesn’t love hearing about the risen Christ appearing to the disheartened disciples on the road to Emmaus, right?

 

This Sunday, as you might expect, the Responsorial Psalm is the very well-known Psalm 23. If one were to ask me, “could you guys sing The Lord is My Shepherd?”, my first thought would be, “umm, which one?” ‘Tis a text that has been put to music in so many ways by so many composers from so many different times and places. If you’re a regular at the 11:00 AM Mass, you may have heard our Adult Choir sing the setting by Thomas Matthews. In terms of settings which are in our hymnal, the most familiar one is Marty Haugen’s Shepherd Me, O God. There’s also The King of Love My Shepherd Is and Christopher Walker’s Because the Lord is My Shepherd, both inspired by Psalm 23.

 

As far as more modern settings go, I recently encountered this moving song entitled Still Waters by Christian artist Leanna Crawford, based on Psalm 23. In addition to it’s beautiful, soaring refrain, I was drawn to it by a particular lyric that goes, “Write Scripture on your heart for when you need it, ‘cause anxiety hates Psalm 23…” If you’d like to hear this song, our Worship Band’s very own Emmeline Fritz will be singing it at the 5:00 PM Mass this Sunday.

 

With my peace,
Carlo Serrano, Music Director