It’s the most wonderful time of the year again: Advent! We spent our week back from Fatima preparing to wait and pray with Mary as we near Christmas. We each worked hard on our Advent radio shows, which air on South East Radio, Sundays at 8:30PM GMT / 3:30PM EST! These shows will be reflections on the Sunday readings of Advent, both in our own words and through music we’ve chosen. I really enjoyed composing my reflection, which will air in a couple weeks on Gaudete Sunday. If you like an eclectic selection of music, tune in!

I spent some time this week getting an Advent “hymnlet” ready for our daily Mass worship community. The congregation knows a few old standards – sometimes the priest will start “Hail Queen of Heaven” or “As I Kneel Before You” as he leaves the altar. They don’t know many Advent hymns, however; I suppose it is not very surprising, since Advent is a short season, and therefore hosts a smaller repertoire. I am looking forward to teaching a few new songs during this season, and also to singing Fr. Chrysogonus Waddell’s text “O Comfort my People” to the tune of “Bi Íosa im Chroíse!” Fr. Chrysogonus was a great friend of the Notre Dame Folk Choir, and I grew up loving his music. How his work got into Irish hymnals, I don’t know, but I’m glad it did.

At this time of year, it seems as though we rarely spend much time in the office. Nick and I were at Scoil Mhuire three days last week, working on carols and our third 5th Class Mass. (Recorders on “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Get excited.) Emily and Nicole are working on a couple of songs with the Wexford Vocational College (“The Tech”) for their Advent Service next week, in addition to preparation for their next Class Mass. The preparation for You Shall Be My Witnesses continued with the second Parent Leader Tea, for which Emily prepared faith-filled reading materials. There is a lot in the works… which makes me think of Advent again. We spend quite a lot of time preparing for events here, and that, on a grand scale, is what Advent is all about.

Speaking of preparing, the application for Teach Bhríde 2013-2014 is readily available! If you are interested in applying, just send an email to houseofbrigid@gmail.com. And before I sign off, a special shout-out to our lovely visitor from ND Campus Ministry this weekend! We had a great weekend with Tami while she was in town!