If I was back at home right now, I can almost guarantee the focus of the daily grind would be counting down until Thanksgiving dinner with my siblings, smelling my mom’s potatoes and my dad’s stuffing and turkey in the other room, and analyzing every photo in my camera roll for my parents’ annual Christmas album present from all of us. This year is a little different. Still counting down to that Thanksgiving, just in a different time zone. Instead of the annual Thanksgiving traditions, it’s preparing for community dinners and evenings with my amazing roommates, and thinking of the presents I’ll get to give them in only a matter of weeks!
November is the Catholic Month of Remembrance, allowing us to reflect and pray for the souls of our loved ones who have passed away. We kicked off the month on a plane back from Rome, which was INCREDIBLE. And earlier this month, we celebrated our concert for Remembrance with our Newman Vocare Ensemble on the 14th, and it was full of some of the most beautiful music I’ve been lucky to perform (as well as full of orange weather warnings). We’ve had a Book of Remembrance for parishioners to write the names of their friends and family who have passed, and those people are included in our prayer intentions this month.
For this month of Remembrance, I’ve been thinking of my own loved ones, especially my grandparents, a lot. It would have been my paternal grandfather’s 84th birthday this week, and my maternal grandmother’s 79th birthday this upcoming March. Two of the most beautiful and reflective pieces that the choir performed during the Remembrance Concert were titled “Sing Me To Heaven” and “Let My Love Be Heard”. I have to admit, we sounded incredible, and so much of that is a credit to Dominique Cunningham, our director. Those songs and several of the others we sang helped us, or at least helped me, feel really connected to the theme of Remembrance and emotionally connected to my grandparents who have passed. You can find recordings of several of the Remembrance pieces on our Youtube channel and both our instagram (@houseofbrigid & @ndnewmancentre) and the Newman Vocare instagram (@newmanvocare)!
Heading into a holiday season away from home is tougher than I already knew it was going to be. I’m very lucky and excited for my family to visit me, and I know my roommates are excited for their families and friends to visit them as well. I’m so lucky and blessed to be here with Maeve, Teaghan, and Sarah, as well as Katherine, Dominique, and Father Gary. This week on Thursday (tomorrow!), we have an American Thanksgiving Mass at 6pm (18:00) with more music giving thanks to God for our faith and for each other! I’m excited to continue praying for family and friends in these upcoming weeks as we prepare to decorate our beautiful church for the birth of our Lord! Happy Thanksgiving & Happy Advent!
