Parish News – Mother Seton Catholic Church

“Inspired by the Gospel, the Fathers of the Church from the earliest centuries stressed that just as St. Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, that is, the Church.”
POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II

Join Mother Seton Parish in the 33-day consecration to St. Joseph
Learn More Here

After the Consecration to St. Joseph

How to Celebrate the Year of St. Joseph

As we devote an entire year to St. Joseph’s honor, we will undoubtedly unlock many special graces not only for the Diocese of Charlotte, but for each of the faithful who increase their devotion to him during this special year. There is no greater model than St. Joseph from whom we can learn how to live virtuously in imitation of Jesus and Mary.

“Devotion to St. Joseph is one of the choicest graces that God can give to a soul, for it is tantamount to revealing the entire treasury of our Lord’s graces,” wrote St. Peter Julian Eymard, “When God wishes to raise a soul to greater heights, he unites it to St. Joseph by giving it a strong love for the good saint.”

Click BELOW for more ideas to celebrate the Year of St. Joseph

Year of St. Joseph

Dear Mother Seton Parish,
I am sharing with you the reasons why our music has been different this past year. The pandemic instantly changed so many things that we came to know as normal in our daily lives. Unfortunately, the liturgies of the Church were not immune from the need to pivot on a dime and in particular, music ministries throughout the Archdiocese had to make necessary and immediate changes in order to keep choirs and congregations safe. To this day, there are many parishes that are not allowing music during Mass. Thankfully, with the guidance of Fr. Lee, our parish has been able to continue to offer music for most weekend Masses.

Because the Archdiocese directed us to prevent congregational singing, we had to find ways to incorporate music without specifically encouraging parishioner participation. As a result, you have not seen the cantors raising their hands to invite parishioners to sing, hymnals were taken out of the pews, worship guides are no longer available at the entrance of the church and quite a bit of new and possibly unfamiliar music has been introduced over the past year.

Sung prayer has been an integral part of the Church’s liturgies from its inception. The Church gives us many beautiful prayers which can be sung during the Mass. You may hear these referred to as “the Mass Propers” or “antiphons”. Just as readings that we hear at Mass change daily, the Mass Propers are scripture or liturgical texts that change from day to day according to the calendar. Included in these Propers are the Responsorial Psalm and Gospel Acclamation with which most Catholics are very familiar. Also included are the Entrance Antiphon (Introit), Offertory Antiphon and Communion Antiphon. How beautiful that our Church offers us prayer and scripture for the entire Mass every day of every year!

This allows us to sing and pray the entire Mass from beginning to end and also gives us the opportunity to be active and conscious participants rather than observers. With the rich history of the Mass Propers available in various and many musical settings, they provided a wonderful option for Mass during the pandemic for several reasons: 1) The Propers are theologically and liturgically appropriate for the Mass; 2) Being relatively brief, they accommodate the abbreviated liturgical action and thereby the length of the mass in order to shorten the amount of time people are in the church together and 3) Because many of the antiphons are unfamiliar, our parish community could prayerfully participate and have exposure to this new music without the temptation to sing along. We all look forward to the time when we can fully use our voices to participate in the Mass, but less congregational singing does not have to mean diminished participation. Remain open to what the Christ and his Church are trying to tell us
and how that applies to our interactions in the world. Pray along from beginning to end during the Mass, listening to the words we are offered by the Mass.

Propers with an openess to what the Holy Spirit will reveal through these ancient and life-changing words. Of course, we all hope for the day when we can sing with no restrictions or limitations. When that day arrives, we will be able to sing with full hearts, not only all the familiar tunes we love, but all the new melodies which supported our prayer during the pandemic.

Amy Massey
02/16/21

Querida Parroquia Mother Seton,

Estoy compartiendo con ustedes las razones por las que nuestra música ha sido diferente este último año. La pandemia cambió instantáneamente tantas cosas que llegamos a conocer como normales en nuestra vida diaria. Lamentablemente, las liturgias de la Iglesia no eran inmunes a la necesidad de girar sobre un centavo y, en particular, los ministerios de música de toda la Arquidiócesis tenían que hacer cambios necesarios e inmediatos para mantener a salvo a los coros y congregaciones. Hasta el día de hoy, hay muchas parroquias que no permiten la música durante la misa. Debido a que la Arquidiócesis nos instruyó a prevenir el canto congregacional, tuvimos que encontrar maneras de incorporar la música sin alentar específicamente la participación de los feligreses. Como resultado, usted no ha visto a los cantores levantando la mano para invitar a los feligreses a cantar, los himnarios fueron sacados de los bancos, las guías de adoración ya no están disponibles en la entrada de la iglesia y se ha introducido un poco de música nueva y posiblemente desconocida en el último año. La oración cantada ha sido una parte integral de las liturgias de la Iglesia desde sus inicios. La Iglesia nos da muchas oraciones hermosas que se pueden cantar durante la misa. Usted puede escuchar estos referidos como “los propios de misa” o “antífonas”. Así como las lecturas que escuchamos en la misa cambian a diario, los propios de misas son escrituras o textos litúrgicos que cambian día a día según el calendario. En estos propios se incluyen el Salmo Responsorial y la Aclamación Evangélica con la que la mayoría de los católicos son muy familiares. También se incluyen la Antífona de Entrada (Introit), la Antífona de la Ofrenda y la Antífona de Comunión. ¡Qué hermoso que nuestra Iglesia nos ofrezca oración y escrituras para toda la misa todos los días de cada año! Esto nos permite cantar y orar toda la misa de principio a fin y también nos da la oportunidad de ser participantes activos y conscientes en lugar de observadores. Con la rica historia de los propios de misa disponibles en varios y muchos escenarios musicales, proporcionaron una maravillosa opción para la misa durante la pandemia por varias razones: 1) Los propios son teológica y litúrgicamente apropiados para la misa; 2) Siendo relativamente breves, acomodan la acción litúrgica abreviada y por lo tanto la duración de la misa con el fin de acortar la cantidad de tiempo que la gente está en la iglesia juntas y 3) porque muchas de las antifonías son desconocidas, nuestra comunidad parroquial podría participar con oración y tener exposición a esta nueva música sin la tentación de cantar. Todos esperamos con ansias el momento en que podamos utilizar plenamente nuestras voces para participar en la misa, pero menos canto congregacional no tiene por qué significar una participación disminuida. Permanezcan abiertos a lo que Cristo y su Iglesia están tratando de decirnos y cómo se aplica a nuestras interacciones en el mundo. Oren de principio a fin durante la misa, escuchando las palabras que nos ofrece el propio de misa, propiamente dicha con una apertura a lo que el Espíritu Santo revelará a través de estas palabras antiguas y que cambian la vida. Por supuesto, todos esperamos el día en que podamos cantar sin restricciones ni limitaciones. Cuando llegue ese día, podremos cantar con el corazón lleno, no sólo todas las melodías familiares que amamos, sino todas las nuevas melodías que apoyaron nuestra oración durante la pandemia.

Amy Massey

02/16/21