I believe it was the great Gene Autry who once sang “Back in the saddle again/ Out where a friend is a friend/ Where the Longhorn cattle feed/ On the lowly gypsum weed/ Back in the saddle again.” While I honestly cannot tell you what most of these lyrics have to do with anything, or even what a gypsum weed is, I can tell you that after a full week of parish work, a weekend full of musical responsibilities, and an upcoming week packed with meetings, the House of Brigid is officially back in the saddle again after Ireland’s Christmas holidays.
This weekend marked the first time that all of the parish choirs have been back in session in the New Year. This means that we returned to our normal schedule of assisting with three different masses. While this was the normal schedule, the weekend was anything but normal. On Saturday night, we arrived at the parish to find the power out. This proved to be providentially ironic as all of the music we had planned for the evening dealt with images of light and darkness. However, singing Christ Be Our Light in a completely dark church surrounded by an unseen yet fully present congregation will certainly stand out as a special memory from this year.
The power remained off for the remainder of the weekend, but it’s up and running again today. It’s a good thing too, because we have a busy week ahead. Tonight marks the third confirmation preparation session for the parish program You Shall Be My Witnesses, which is being coordinated by Jessica and Clarisa. On Tuesday, Carolyn and I will meet with the diocesan retreat team to help plan this year’s confirmation retreats. We will also be going to Kennedy Park School tomorrow and Wednesday to begin rehearsing music for the Confirmation service itself. It’s a busy week ahead, but it’s good to be back.
