Oddwalk Ministries

Category: liturgy

catholicism, Jesus, JesusJusticeJoy, liturgy, ministry, music, prayer, quote, reflection, scripture

Are You Listening?

This year, I (Orin) have been posting on Facebook the little doodles that my parish Children’s Choir creates in their music while we are rehearsing.

As I’ve looked through the music which is turned in, in addition to unicorns, flowers, and other odd scribbles, I also look for signs that they are paying attention during rehearsal – they’ve marked a dynamic for a phrase, or where or where not to breathe, or how long to hold a note, etc.

In addition to speaking of the musical elements of a piece, we do spend a little time speaking about the text of a piece, what it means, why we are singing it, and other facets.  So, I was heartened a few days ago that one singer chose to doodle on this text we had spoken about briefly, on this piece the choir sang on Holy Thursday night a couple weeks ago. They were not only paying attention to me and how we worked on the music of the piece, but on the text too, putting these core words of our faith, taught to us by Jesus Christ himself, in their hearts and souls as well.

When Christ – or his ministers in the here and now – teach us, are we listening with only our ears, or our brains, or are we listening to Christ with our hearts and souls as well?

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Rising from the Ashes

Yesterday, I (Orin) and Shannon had the privilege once again of leading music ministry at the Diocese of Belleville Illinois Chrism Mass.  Here are a couple photos of the Cathedral of St. Peter we took yesterday.

 

 

It was impossible to be there without superimposing the images which all over the media on Monday of Notre Dame in Paris.

We have found out since Monday that much of the structure as well as precious pieces of art, relics, the organ, the windows, and so much more survived, after the worst was rightly feared.  There is much to clean up of course, and much to rebuild — years and years worth of effort will be needed to restore the magnificent building.

The thought of “restoring a church from its ashes” causes me to ponder other churches in similar contexts.  Several historically black churches in Louisiana have been recently set ablaze and need to be rebuilt for instance.  And the Church which is the body of Christ, the people gathered by Christ himself, whether the Church of Notre Dame, or at these Louisiana congregations, or the Church Universal, needs to be restored and rebuilt as well.

It is of course the time of year when we journey from Ash Wednesday to Easter and, hopefully, have considered prayerfully what it is about our own spiritual lives that needs to be, with Christ’s salvific power, raised from the ashes and created anew.  The best time to begin that process was Ash Wednesday itself, of course.  The second best time is right now.

Blessings to all of you on this most holy time of our year.