Can we be salt and light?
5th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A Following on his underlying teaching of the beatitudes from last week, Jesus says to the crowd and to us this week: You are salt and light meant to glorify God by being … Read More
Who is advocating for those in need?
4th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A You’ve seen wall art and throw pillows displaying the word “blessed.” “Grateful and blessed,” “Too blessed to be stressed,” or just plain “Blessed!” It’s good to feel blessed, but that’s not the … Read More
Bonded to Christ’s Mission
3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year A Last week we looked at why you should celebrate the Rite of Reception now so baptized Christians becoming Catholic can be brought to the eucharistic table without delay. In these Ordinary Time … Read More
Deepening the unity
2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – A With only five and a half weeks before Ash Wednesday, you will want to make sure some important things get done now before you take a quick breather. One of these is receiving … Read More
Understanding sacred silence
33rd Sunday Ordinary Time – C One significant element in both music and liturgy is silence. In musical performance and in ritual prayer, silence is more than the absence of sound or a passive pause in action. It is the … Read More
The climax of the liturgical year
32nd Sunday Ordinary Time – C My piano teacher taught me that getting the notes right wasn’t enough to make music. I had to keep in mind the musical “line.” Every piece typically begins with a theme, builds it to … Read More
Presenting the sequences
31st Sunday Ordinary Time – C One way the church highlights the preeminence of the Easter season in the liturgical year is by prescribing two special sung texts called sequences to bookend the season on Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. … Read More
The Sacrifice of Praise
30th Sunday Ordinary Time – C In the spirit of progressive solemnity, let’s look at texts that are only sung at the most important days of the liturgical year. These texts do not accompany any ritual action because the singing … Read More
Following “Progressive Solemnity”
29th Sunday Ordinary Time – C Not everything that can be sung should be sung, nor should it be sung the same way every time. We need to follow a principle of “progressive solemnity.” Think of it like musical dynamics … Read More
What you don’t sing
28th Sunday Ordinary Time – C We’ve focused on what to sing from the Mass ordinary and propers. Let’s take a look at what you don’t sing. This happens mostly in Advent and Lent. For some background, we turn to … Read More