I eventually came to hear in the recounting of that marvelous Genesis story the essence of the Resurrection: that the heart of God desires nothing more than light and life and love.
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Author: Alan Hommerding
Alan Hommerding has been with World Library Publications (WLP) since 1991, most recently as Liturgical Publications Editor for the WLP division of GIA Publications. He is also a composer of numerous published choral and instrumental works, and is well-known as an author of hymn texts. Alan has served the North American Academy of Liturgy as convener of the liturgical music seminar, and as a member of the executive group for the Catholic Academy of Liturgy. He has been a regular contributor to the PrayTell blog since 2016.
The Lenten Bucket List
Ultimately, I believe there is one item on the discipleship bucket list: to be a more faithful disciple. Everything else is frosting, or gravy (neither of which I’ve given up for Lent), or what have you.
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The Social and Religious Context That Made Billy Graham Possible, and a Future Billy Graham Impossible
“[T]he Christian church in America isn’t immune to the forces shaping the rest of public life.”
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Liturgical Composers’ Forum Celebrates Its Twentieth Anniversary
Attendees are invited to submit new (not published) pieces ahead of time, which are then anonymously reviewed by the group. After each, an opportunity is given for comment and/or critique by the whole group.
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Disciples, not merely exegetes
As it is easier to build monuments than to build a better world, it is far easier to be an exegete than a disciple.
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Unnecessary Impoverishments Part 5: Our Own War on Christmas
No matter how bright, or loud, or shiny, or sweet, or comfy we make a celebration that remains at the surface details, it will be a river “a mile wide and an inch deep.”
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Spiritual, Religious, Media, and Music
“The combination of passivity, consuming, quality, and place has combined to help the phenomenon of the “destination church” emerge.”
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Unnecessary Impoverishments Part 4: Quenching the Tuneful Spirit (or…a Tale of Two Texts)
“… this is what I call the ‘pasta’ approach to hymn tunes: that, by and large, the tunes don’t contribute all that much, since it is the text that provides the real flavor, the ‘sauce’ of the hymn.”
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Putting On—and Wearing Out—Christ (November, meet Easter)
“I increasingly believe our Christ-clothing needs to be stored right next to the play clothes and the work/chore clothes.”
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Unnecessary Impoverishments: The Psalter/Part 3 (The Communion Procession)
“When we objectify human persons, we limit them unnecessarily, and we also impoverish our own opportunities to come to know them more deeply, thoroughly, and wholly […] how much more is this true when we are speaking of the Word-made-Flesh, made truly and substantially present again in the sacrament?”
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