How to not “save the liturgy”
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time I used to believe that I was nothing like the Pharisee in today’s parable—righteously smug as he measured his piety against the “rest of humanity”—until I realized I... Read More
Sunday of the Word of God—a renewed emphasis on scripture
On September 30, 2019, Pope Francis declared in an apostolic letter that “the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is to be devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the Word of God”... Read More
Attuning ourselves to the needs of others
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time I spent three months in Panama City, Panama, trying to learn Spanish. There are parts of the city that cater to tourists, where streets and sidewalks are clean... Read More
Emphasizing the highpoint of the Mass
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Being grateful to God is the core of our faith. We see this embodied in the great prayer of thanksgiving, the Eucharistic Prayer, which is described as the... Read More
Singing with our ancestors in faith
Miriam collapsed on the seashore, her 86-year-old legs burning with pain and covered with mud. After seven days of evasive maneuvers on limited rations, she and her people had been trapped between the... Read More
Nurturing a servant attitude in liturgical music
Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time When I was eight, I joined the choir at my parish in Los Angeles because I was certain a talent scout would discover me and make me a... Read More
Do we care more for the liturgy than Lazarus just outside our door?
Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time There is a painting by 20th-century American artist Osvaldo Louis Guglielmi at the Milwaukee Art Museum titled “The Christening.” When I first saw it, I couldn’t take my... Read More
One body, many roles
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time A common liturgical rule that almost every community breaks at some point is having a person serve in more than one liturgical ministry within the same Mass. You... Read More