8th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A, 2011)

Sunday, 27 February 2011

 

Entrance	All my hope on God is founded
Kyrie	Kyrie Eleison from Missa Ubi Caritas (Bob Hurd)
Gloria	Missa Ubi Caritas
Psalm	Ps 61 (Martin Hall)
Gospel Acclamation	Alleluia Mode 2 (Plainchant)
Preparation of the Gifts	Seek ye first
Sanctus, Acclamation, Amen	Assisi Acclamations (Nick Baty)
Agnus Dei	Lamb of God II (mcb)
Communion	In God alone (Taizé) & Ps 127 (Bévenot)
Postcommunion	Quaerite primum regnum Dei (W.A. Mozart)
Recessional	Lord, for tomorrow and its needs

 

Today’s Gospel reading gave us some memorable phrases, not least of which was

Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be gven you as well.

We found two contrasting musical settings, firstly in the well known modern hymn setting (in yet another fine choral arrangement from the RSCM collection Sing with all my soul), and then in the polyphonic setting by the young Mozart.

He wrote it at the age of fourteen, as part of the entrance examination for the prestigious Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna. Legend says that it took him a mere half an hour of the allotted three hours. Although at least one critic maintains that the outcome shows the young composer’s failure to master an unfamiliar idiom, to my ear Mozart’s genius transcends the straitjacket, and gives us a little gem that looks forward to, say, the Clarinet Concerto rather than backwards to Palestrina. At any rate, that’s how we tried to sing it.

The unifying theme behind the first reading, the Psalm and the Gospel reading was encapsulated in the psalm response: In God alone is my soul at rest. Both our entrance hymn and our Communion processional song reflected on these words.

Also in today’s Gospel, the words

So do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself

prompted the choice of an old favourite for our recessional hymn.