We Give Thanks and Praise

The NPM convention is coming to an end. At least for me.  I will be heading home tomorrow.  It has been a good experience and I feel like I have a better feel for what has been happening in the world of church music.  As often happens there were far more workshops I would have liked to attend than there was opportunity. 

Tonight we gathered for Eucharist.  The music was wonderful, as one might expect.  It is particularly moving that the whole assembly would sing in parts.  It makes for a great sung prayer.  The Eucharistic Acclamations came from Christopher Pardini's New Century Mass.  They were festive and easy to pick up.  I also liked Michael Joncas' communion song, "Sacramentum Caritatis." The refrain was in Latin and while perhaps a little long was easily singable and by the last couple of verses I was able to sing it by memory. 

I am glad I was able to be a part of this convention and I am sure that it will enliven my ministry both in the parish and in the diocese.

NPM Day 2

Today was another fun day at the National Meeting of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.  We began with morning prayer.  Today is the memorial of St. Scharbel. Following the example of the fifth-century St. Maron, Sharbel lived as a hermit from 1875 until his death. His reputation for holiness prompted people to seek him to receive a blessing and to be remembered in his prayers. He followed a strict fast and was very devoted to the Blessed Sacrament. When his superiors occasionally asked him to administer the sacraments to nearby villages, Sharbel did so gladly.

The reading was sung in Arabic. 

The Plenum (keynote) of the day was Fr. Michael Joncas speaking on the connections between liturgy and life.  He took as his basis the hymn O sacrum convivium.  O sacrum convivium! in quo Christus sumitur: recolitur memoria passionis ejus; mens impletur gratia; et futurae gloriae nobis pignus datur. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. (O sacred banquet! in which Christ is received, the memory of his Passion is renewed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory to us is given. Alleluia.)

He spoke about the life of the disciple as memory (the memory of his Passion is renewed), present life (the mind is filled with grace), and future (a pledge of future glory to us is given).  He linked these to quotes from the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of Vatican II.

I went to workshops on the use of technology and music for the RCIA.  Tomorrow is the day in which the publishers present their "showcases" which highlight a lot of their new music. Should be fun - lots of singing.

Day 1 - NPM convention

Yesterday was Day 1 of the National Convention of the National Asssociation of Pastoral Musicians.  This organization has 7,500 members with 67 chapters and 2,000 parishes represented.  The National Convention brings together over 2,000 members to learn, sing and pray. 

The events started in the morning with various tours of local interest.  I had not signed up for any so spent a quiet morning in my hotel.  The first event I attended was a showcase by Tony Alonso and Marty Haugen about a new collection of psalms they had put together. Containing new and old music it sets psalms for the various Sundays of the year but also for the responsorial psalms for the solemnities and feasts.  It includes psalms that are not set often so should be a good resource for use on those days, especially.

The keynote was by Fr. Ronald Raab who works in a parish in downtown Portland.  The parish has a strong social justice outreach to respond to the needs of its community.  Fr. Raab took each of the four parts of the Mass and reflected on our call to holiness as it is revealed in his community.  It was very inspiring and moving.  One moment that really caught my attention was his sharing about a litany that his community uses on the streets of the neighborhood when a murder takes place.  It is a prayerful witness and as he says, "a prayer that we never have to use this litany again."  What a different experience from my own.

In the afternoon I took part in a reflection on the new translation of the Roman Missal with Cardinal DiNardo, Msgr. Richard Hilgarten (ex. director of the Secretatiate for Divine Worship of the USCCB) and Fr. Robert Webster.  It was designed for and primarily attended by clergy so offered a unique perspective.  It was organized around the questions, "what went well?" "what surprised?" "what challenged?"  Not the kind of presentation that looked for solutions so it is hard to summarize but it was interesting.

Today, we begin with Morning Prayer and then a keynote by Fr. Michael Joncas entitled: "Disciples at Worship: Connecting Liturgy and Life."

National Association of Pastoral Musicians

I am in Pittsburgh for the National Convention of the NPM. It is five days of workshops, speakers, special interest sessions and concerts.  I am looking forward to updating my knowledge and understanding of what is new and trending in the area of liturgical music.  I know several of the speaker so it should be a good week.  I will update as possible as we go along.

Happy Sunday!

I got  up early this morning (5 a.m.!) to see our Jr. High students off on their mission trip.  As I watched the activity around the bus and all of the food and drink that was being packed I thought of today's Gospel.

"Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits.  He instructed them to take nothign for the journeybut a walking stick - no food, no sack, no money in their belts.  They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic."

There is a tale of among the Hasidim that challenges our tendency to weigh ourselves down on our journey. 

An American tourist visited the home of a famous Polish rabbi.  The visitor was astonished that the rabbi’s home was only a simple room filled with books, plus a table and a bench.  “Rabbi,” asked the tourist, “where is your furniture?”  “Where is yours?” inquired the rabbi.  “Mine,” replied the puzzled American.  “But I am only passing through.”  “So am I,” said the rabbi, “so am I.”

The Feast of Blessed (soon to be Saint) Kateri Tekakwitha

Today is the Feast of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, the lily of the Mohawks.  I visited her tomb several years ago in Northern New York.  Found in a small side chapel of a simple mission church. 

Blessed Kateri will be canonized by Pope Benedict on October 21 of this year.  I wish I could be in Rome for the celebration which should be colorful to say the least.

St. Jean de Brebeauf one of the North American Martyrs wrote the lovely Huron Carol.  Here are two versions.  One is a version in the original (now extinct) language of the Mohawk, Wendat (Wayendot).  The other is in English in a lovely setting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=znsKhhRSx5g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3D-m-PwKVsM

The "God Particle" in sound

Over at the Pray Tell blog Fr. Anthony Ruff has posted some examples of "sonification" of the Higgs Boson.  It is a tool used by researchers to add another layer to their analysis.  Check out the article and the sound clips.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10385675

Here is the musical notation and some "arrangements."  What do you think?  I find them rather interesting.

http://news.discovery.com/space/listen-to-the-higgs-boson-120710.html

An interview with Fr. Jeremy Driscoll, OSB

Here is an interveiw with Fr. Jeremy Driscoll who is a professor at the Pontifical Atheneaum of St. Anselm in Rome.  San Anselmo (as it is called) has both a faculty in Sacramental Theology and the Pontifical Liturgical Institute.  It is a good little primer on some of the issues around which there is some contention today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nkoaLfR_iCg

Eucharistic Procession

When I was a kid, the Catholic Community of St. Cloud, Minnesota, celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi with a major procession which began at the park near the hospital and ended at the track next to the North gymnasium of Cathedral High School where we had benediction.  Along the way people would decorate their houses, sometimes rather elaborately.  We had a band playing as we sang hymns, the Knights of Columbus serving as an honor guard and the Bishop carrying the Blessed Sacrament under a beautiful canopy. 

During our Turning Our Gaze to Christ event a few weekends ago we processed with the Blessed Sacrament along Center Street in Rochester, Minnesota as we moved from morning Mass at St. John the Evangelist Parish to the Civic Center where the event was to take place.  A small room was set aside for adoration throughout the event.  It was a great witness of faith to the city.

Back again

Sorry for the long delay in updating posts.  Life and liturgy intervened.  We had a wonderful Easter season and are now settling into the more relaxed summer reality.  The Diocese of Winona celebrated the ordination of Fr. Jason Kern on the Feast of the Sacred Heart at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Winona.