One of the keys to inviting people to sing is simply that – to invite. Don’t scold the congregation and don’t show your frustration and start saying how you come here week after week to lead them in song and no one sings! This is the wrong approach! Simply invite and affirm them. Remind them that our role at the Liturgy is to practice full, active, conscious, participation as Vatican II tells us. Tell them that it sounds so beautiful to hear their voices singing God’s praise together.
2012 is here! If we look back on 2011 I think we can all say it was a busy year. Most of us spent this last year preparing for the implementation of the New Roman Missal that we received on November 27th of 2011. Now that the Missal has been implemented and our Christmas preparation has come to an end, we can focus on the things that we may need to change in our personal lives or our ministries.
Well there is a countdown going on today and it has nothing to do with 80’s rock bands, but everything to do with the third edition of the Roman Missal. We are only 19 days away from this new translation of the current Sacramentary we use at Mass. So here’s the question … are you ready?! I hope the answer is: “Yes!” If you are worried that you may have forgotten something, let’s start with the obvious.
Although I’ve only been alive a short period of time compared to how long the Church has existed, it is clear to me through studying history that the debate over what music is suitable for Liturgy has been going on for a long, long time. In recent years this musical debate has taken to a new highway, the Internet.
One of the more defining aspects of the Life Teen movement is our reverence for music. We believe that music can be divinely inspired and thus turn our hearts and souls to God. Music has the power to attract teens to Mass in ways that we can’t even understand. Music matters to our Church! This [...]
The 2011 Life Teen Training Convention was four amazing days of prayer, praise, fellowship and community. Nearly 500 attendees, including Priests, Youth Ministers, Music Ministers and Core Team Members filled the convention hall at the Doubletree Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona last week. This year’s theme, Veni Sancte Spiritus, was truly prayed as we celebrated the [...]
“How do you write songs?” In my travels and my meetings with people along the way, it’s one of the questions I am asked the most. Songwriting is hard to explain. I’ve shaped songs like clay pots, molding them on the wheel of my mind slowly and deliberately; other times they’ve shot like bullets out of my pen in a frenzy of inspiration; and some I’ve spent more than two years on, and still haven’t finished. Like children, every song is different, and they are birthed with varying degrees of struggle and joy. So it’s a tough thing for me to write about, because I am still figuring it out myself. How do you answer a question you are still asking?
I’ve always liked the phrase “contrary to popular belief”. It gets your attention. It challenges your knowledge. What follows it can leave you feeling sheepish at your own ignorance or quite edified in your own intelligence. Traveling the globe doing ministry these past 15+ years, I’ve noticed a lot of – we’ll call them “trends” – in conversations with youth ministers. While some of what follows is bound to strike a chord (and probably a nerve) with some of you reading it, remember our primary goal: holiness. If our desire is to grow in holiness and improve the quality of the ministries we offer, we must constantly evaluate where we need to die to ourselves, our short-sightedness and our pride.
In recent months I have received many questions from Liturgical Musicians as to what Instruments are appropriate for Liturgy and which are not? Some people feel that only the Organ is appropriate for the Liturgy while others feel it acceptable to use any instrument that can produce a sound. Whenever a question like this comes [...]