Two Faced Shame
Thus far in Lent, we have been exploring the human experience of sin. Deacon Tim and I have set forth some thoughts on guilt and conscience. Fr. Steven, in last Sunday’s homily, addressed forgiveness in ways that more adequately reflect the overwhelming love of God and the centrality of relationship [...]
Guilt and Conscience
This past week we began the season of Lent with the celebration of Ash Wednesday. This is a season that certainly generates no shortage of reactions. The more stereotypical reactions would be akin to groaning and, perhaps, a panicked search for something to “give up.” We instead ought to hope [...]
Lasting Things First
As you can imagine, I draw a lot of my inspiration for life, writing, and composing by observing that of others. This would include God’s Word—usually prompted by the Scriptures the Church offers as guidance each week in the Liturgy. When God is really animating a particular song, verse, saying [...]
Papal Politics
It’s pretty widely understood that talking politics is a great way to start an argument or engender hard feelings. However, that’ll be the topic for this week. Furthermore, I intend to take a side, but I can guarantee it won’t be the side you expect. In our country we have [...]
Strike A Chord, Strike a Balance
As I mentioned in the last bulletin, there are some simple philosophies that I try to stick to in guiding our music ministry. This time, I’ll share some of those, and some of my motivations. To begin with, I’ll acknowledge the “elephant in the room” in liturgical music—there is no [...]
Memories of our 175th Anniversary
With memories of our 175th Anniversary celebration so fresh, I want to take an opportunity to respond to the reactions and feedback the staff has been receiving. I know others around the office probably have much more they could share, but since so much of the response has pertained to [...]
Our Devotion to Mary
Recently, Fr. Steven has used a title for Mary that I had never heard before. Though I don’t think it is technically an “official” title, there is definitely substantial and defensible biblical basis for it. I am not sure whether it was last weekend or some time before that, but [...]
Our Lord’s Divine Mercy
When I heard a few months ago that Chris Tomlin would be giving a concert in Minneapolis, I began a vigilant search for ticket information. Those who know me know that his is a kind of music that has been instrumental to my developing faith, and the form of prayer [...]
“Rend your hearts, not your garments”
This week, of course, we embark on the arduous journey of Lent. It is truly the most difficult discipline that is still widely and popularly exercised among the Church. As a point of clarity, Lenten moderations of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving are not meant to be exclusive to the liturgical [...]
A Sunday For Rejoicing
The third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as “Gaudete Sunday”, or, phrasing it another way, “a Sunday for Rejoicing”. It is so called because it marks the approaching end of our Advent task of preparing for the celebration of Christmas. Incidentally, I’ve been finding Fr. Steven’s homilies particularly helpful [...]
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