PRAISING GOD, AND PRAISING HIM WELL

Beloved parishioners,

St. Thomas Aquinas is celebrated for his contributions to Catholic
Theology. Prominent among them are his great works, Summa
Theologiae (Summa Theologica) and Summa Contra Gentiles. These
two theological classics are time-tested and praised by many
Popes and scholars. Thomas Aquinas is also credited for his great
Eucharistic devotion as seen in the hymns he composed in praise
of the Most Holy Eucharist. Commissioned by Pope Urban IV in
1264, Thomas Aquinas wrote the liturgy for the Solemnity of
Corpus Christi (The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ), which we
celebrate this weekend. For evening prayer (vespers) he composed
the Pange Lingua (Sing, tongue, the mystery of the glorious Body),
from which we have the Tantum Ergo (Down in Adoration Falling)
verses sung at Benediction. He also composed the Panis Angelicus
(Bread of Angels), and the O Salutaris Hostia (O Saving Victim)
taken from the third hymn for Lauds (morning prayer), the Adoro
Te Devote (Devoutly I Adore Thee), and the sequence for the
Solemnity, one of the poems chanted before the proclamation of
the Gospel.

I will share the Sequence for this weekend’s Solemnity below,
with a brief invitation:

Sion, lift thy voice and sing:
Praise thy Savior and thy King;
Praise with hymns thy Shepherd true:
Dare thy most to praise Him well;
For He doth all praise excel;
None can ever reach His due.

Special theme of praise is Thine,
That true living Bread divine,
That life-giving flesh adored,
Which the brethren twelve received,
As most faithfully believed,
At the Supper of the Lord.

Let the chant be loud and high;
Sweet and tranquil be the joy,
Felt to-day in every breast;
On this festival divine,
Which recounts the origin,
Of the glorious Eucharist.

The sequence urges us not only to praise God, but to dare to do it
well, with hymns and chants expressing joy and festivity. Because God excels all human praise, no amount of praise can be too much. In fact, they are always insufficient. Since my installation as
Pastor of St. Thérèse, Little Flower, I have tried to celebrate, teach and live the liturgy with the utmost care and reverence.

I have also tried to show how the liturgy is the most IMPORTANT
thing we do as humans, as Christians and as a parish. We might
be excellent at feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and
imprisoned or giving shelter to the homeless, but if we do the
liturgy poorly, we have missed the whole point. The Church exists
first to praise God; and from the praise of God flows all her social
action. We cannot prioritize anything other than the worship we
give to God. And we must give our all to it.

We have mooted for nearly a year the idea of adding an organ to
our single instrument (the piano), in order to enhance our worship
as we seek to give fitting praise to God. We believe having both
instruments would be an addition to our liturgical experience.
However, we have not made any determination on this matter yet.
This summer, we will have the opportunity of renting for a few
weeks an organ we are looking into. The purpose is to try it out to
see if it fits our liturgical space and if it is conducive to our
liturgy. We know that there are divergent tastes and views on the
subject matter as there are parishioners. And we acknowledge
that. But I will be asking parishioners to share their experience
and opinion in a survey after listening to the organ within Mass. I
hope you would be open and prayerful about your response, as
this would be for our collective good and the worship of God, who
excels all human praise.

May Jesus bless you, and may Our Lady protect you!

Fr. Julius