28 October 2018, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
Introit: Laetetur cor
Offertory: Let all mortal flesh keep silence, p. 286
Communion: Laetabimur
Recessional: O most holy one, p. 369
Mass XI, PBC p. 58. Credo III, PBC p. 77
The Introit antiphon is again taken from a week IV Lenten formulary (Thursday) in the EF. It is a statement of strong belief in the joy of actively pursuing a relationship with God. It has three succinct phrases:
The Benedictine Fr. Mark Kirby has commented:
How wonderful it was for the man born blind to see light and behold the wonders of the world, something we can enjoy every day. Yet we are so often like that man, blind to the wonders of God's grace and gifts all around us. We seek everything but the Face of God made manifest in His Son, now incarnate in those around us. The brief Mode 2 melody has a tone of confidence and zeal in the similar melodies of the high points over quaerentium and ejus, linking the seekers and the sought.
The Communion antiphon is another chant taken from Lenten week IV (Tuesday) in the EF. It has two quick phrases:
This Mode 2 melody has a strong Lenten flavour with its—IMHO, deliberately—unsatisfactory termination. We are a people in the midst of a journey; we've not yet arrived at our destination. The high point of the melody clearly is salutare tuo, Your salvation. It alone is the source of true joy. The low point, in turn, is over magnificabimur, which mirrors much of the melody of Laetabimur. Like Mary in her Magnificat, we are made great and whole when we praise the greatness of the name of the Lord and recognize and acknowledge our own lowliness—and in that is our joy.