From the Organ Bench

Psalm 67
My most shocking birthday was the ninth one. It started on a snowy day. My mother had asked me to do dusting that morning. I didnt mind that chore. I rather enjoyed it. I was fascinated with the grains of wood and the patterns of lines and knots in the walnut baseboards trimming the grand stairway of our house. I had not thought about dusting much until that day. Why was there dust on the stairway? I had just cleaned it the week before and had captured the little particles in my rag. Then, as I studied my cloth and looked at the hall table, laced with the sprinkles of dust, a great rush of dread overcame me. I was doomed to dusting for the rest of my life. Those little dust balls would mysteriously haunt me as long as I lived. No amount of Old English Furniture Polish, would ever eliminate them. As sobering as that realization was, it was only a prelude to the afternoon epiphany. The snow had stopped falling. I was ready to play in it. As I was making a snowman, in the front yard, the neighbor boy came out of his house. He had on new boots, a new scarf, and a new sled. He was always showing off and he was a heathen. My skills at evangelization were soon to be activated. The mission field for a young Catholic girl in the 1950s, living in a neighborhood of Southern Baptists was treacherous territory. Today is my birthday, I proclaimed. So? So, it is special. I was born on the feast of St. Sylvester! So, why didnt your parents name you Saint Tweety-Bird? I did not like it one bit that he was laughing at me. This was cause for some serious sermonizing. In the most somber tone I could muster I continued. Well actually, I was born in the evening. So actually, I was born on the Vigil of the Naming of Jesus and the Circumcision of the Lord. Little girls should never speak of the C-word to 12 year old boys. He laughed so hard at me, I thought he was going to choke on his new scarf. You dont know what you are talking about, he hooted out. Yes, I do. Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple and he got his name and a geometry award for being part of the Trinity! Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple to get his ^&*^ chopped off!, he fired back. I was shocked at the foulness that came out of his mouth. Packing a tight snowball,

I pelted him with it. He picked up his sled and walked down the street, laughing all the way. Todays feast, The Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, is relatively new in the Roman Church. January 1st was celebrated as The Circumcision and Holy Name of Jesus. From the 15th century until 1960, the emphasis was on the Holy Name of Jesus. The 1960 calendar designated Jan.1st as The Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord and the Octave of the Nativity. In 1962, Pope John XXIII simply called it The Octave of the Nativity. Pope Paul VI declared the day as a World Day of Peace in 1974. Psalm 67 is a short prayer for prosperity. Simple. Direct. Rich in meaning. May God be gracious to us and bless us And make his face shine upon us. My your ways be known upon the earth, Your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise you, O God; May all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, For You rule the peoples justly A nd guide the nations of the earth. May the peoples praise you, O God; May all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, And God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, And all the ends of the earth will fear Him.

Delma Rouleau Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God 1 January 2012.