I cannot believe that it is December already. Most of the spare time in the past few months has been spent poring over numbers, the annual ritual with the budget. This is such a large place, and the budget is over a million. It takes a while to figure it all out and apportion things properly. The final draft is an act of faith. We cut $180,000 in spending for next year. Donations are up, but expenses are way up.
This is a great day to stay indoors. The weather is nasty.
Advent is a beautiful season, my favorite. I can hardly wait to hear the “O” Antiphons again. Conditor Alme Siderum, Rorate Caeli are among my most loved melodies. I especially love the text of the Rorate.
My Advent reading so far has included “The Strangest Way” by Robert Barron and “Redeemer in the Womb” by John Saward.
We did TWO settings of the "O" Antiphons on Sunday I ("Veni Emmanuel"; "Christ, Circle 'Round Us"). We did "Conditor Alme" for Sundays I and II, and we're doing "Rorate" for Sunday IV.
Incidentally, for Sunday IV, the "Rorate" (and then some) is the antiphon for the Introit, and the beginning of Psalm XIX is its verse. SO:
We're doing the "Rorate Caeli" as a Communion responsory, and for the offertory at 10:30, the choir is doing Beethoven's "The Heav'ns are Telling" (The Worship of God in Nature).
BMP