Some pithy, perceptive comments from below and elsewhere:

“Our associate pastor at Nativity in St Paul gave a fantastic homily on Pro-Life Sunday. I’m always surprised and disappointed when priests don’t take the opportunity to speak on this subject with so many in pain.”

Isn’t that the key? So many think of this matter as political or “divisive” and avoid the topic for that reason. If we are disciples, though, none of that matters, for the core of the issue is that in an abortion culture, people hurt, and are even in agony. Jesus says, “Come to me” – come to me as you struggle with a decision, come to me as you live through a difficult pregnancy, come to me in your shame, come to me in your grief and guilt.
Do we allow him to say it through us?

I was away from my home parish this weekend, and, because I was somewhere where “say the black, do the red” is kind of taken for granted without it being a “big thing”, my usual inner critic was completely silent.
Wow, what a difference. It allowed the space for the first reading and Gospel to just speak for themselves and hit home, hard.

Another key, revealed. The genius of the Latin Rite liturgy, it has always seemed to me, is in the balance and space it allows. We are gathered, we are in Communion, we worship as one, but at the same time, our uniqueness is respected, we are not to be manipulated (ideally), and space is given in which to be still and listen. That is not just achieved in moments of silence. It is achieved when the ministers at the altar (and in the choir loft..) respect the liturgy and resist the temptation to impose their own personalities upon it and the other temptation to manipulate the congregation so that a certain goal – external participation, a “feeling” of community – is achieved.
And from someplace else, in regard to yesterday’s music menu. Just too good to pass up.

I, too, was told that “All Are Welcome.” I was later given “The Summons”. In fact, someone from GIA threw a tinkling piano at me and said, “You’ve been served!”