Liturgical Year B, the one that we started this past Advent, is really off to a weird start.

First, Advent was the shortest it could be. The 4th Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve shared the same date. We basically lost an extra week of Advent.

Next, we lost an extra week of the Christmas season. When I came home from playing seven Epiphany Masses on Sunday and told my 2.5-year-old that the Christmas season was over tomorrow, and there’d be no more presents… well, let’s just say she wasn’t amused.

Now, we’re in a short period of Ordinary Time before the start of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 14. At last weekend’s liturgies, the cantor gave what’s called the Epiphany Proclamation – or the Announcement of the Moveable Feasts. We celebrate Easter on March 31.

Over the next few weeks, we are going to sing some familiar hymns of the post-Conciliar era. You’re going to notice repetition, which helps us build music into our parish’s repertoire