Many of you use books like Magnificat or The Word Among Us. I know you appreciate how they help you to follow the readings and prayers at Mass, both weekdays and Sundays. But, once in a while, we come to days when they just don’t seem to work. The readings we hear at Mass aren’t the ones printed in the magazine! What goes on here? Did the publishers print the wrong texts? Did the lector (or even the priest) turn the wrong page?

The answer: None of the above.

Some days in the church’s year allow a number of options. Publishers of books like The Word Among Us choose one of those options. But the folks in a parish can choose one of the other options. Some of our Masses in special seasons, for example, use a seasonal psalm. It’s a perfectly legitimate option, but it won’t always match up with what’s in the book.

But, then there are other days special to a parish community. The patronal feast for a parish or church. The dedication anniversaries of the parish churches. They’re really highly ranked feasts— almost like Christmas or Easter. We have to pray the prayers for those days. We’re required to use the scriptures given for those days.

We have one of those days this week—the feast of St Boniface, the patron of our parish. We often define him as the person who brought the faith to the German-speaking peoples in the early 8th century. That’s true, but there’s more. He was a missionary—and how we need to be a missionary people in our restless world! He took great care about the sacred liturgy—a priority in our parish as we attend to reverent prayer and God-centered music. We’ll celebrate his feast—and ours—this Thursday, both at 8 am and 5:30 pm. The evening Mass will have some special music.

Take the time that day to join with parishioners in honoring this great bishop and martyr, who, after all, brought the gospel to some of our ancestors. Take the time that day to thank God for the very local blessings of Church.