Column, Guest Author, Read
The memories are still vivid, even though it was a long time ago. Having been born in 1956, I’m just old enough to remember the confusing and tumultuous era of “the changes” that came after the Second Vatican Council, particularly regarding the Mass. One elderly...
Column, Guest Author, Read
Beneath the Sistine Chapel’s soaring ceilings, strangers from across the world stand transfixed, their faces tilted upward in unified wonder. Some weep openly, while others gaze in silent reverence. In this sacred space, cell phones are forbidden, and beauty permeates...
Column, Guest Author, Read
Every Sunday at St. Anne Church in Richmond Hill, Georgia, the Hilleary family — mother Michelle, father Brian and five children — receives Communion at the altar rail. “It creates a more sacred space. And it draws your attention to the sacred,” Michelle Hilleary told...
Column, Guest Author, Read
What is “good” Mass music? As a parish music director, I have often pondered this question. The Church gives clear instructions concerning the implementation of music within the Mass. For instance, the Church stipulates that the most important thing to be sung is the...
Column, Guest Author, Read
It’s a popular pastime for Catholics to gripe about the music at their parishes. I should know because I was among those who did so. Instead of continuing the rich tradition of producing and preserving over a millennium of beautiful Catholic music, most parishes...
Column, Guest Author, Read
Along with its sibling “diversity,” “tolerance” has achieved the status of being our culture’s reigning virtue. Given its omnipresence, it is incumbent upon us to be morally serious about its definition and character when applied in the public sphere. The current...
