“The combination of passivity, consuming, quality, and place has combined to help the phenomenon of the “destination church” emerge.”
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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.
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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Book Review: Any Body There? Worship and Being Human in a Digital Age.
In this book, Reverend Craig Mueller is at once shepherd, mentor, companion, teacher, referee, and something of a Sherpa.
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Martin Luther and the pipe organ in worship (or not).
“The organ in worship is the sign of Baal.”
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Unnecessary Impoverishments: The Psalter/Part 2 (The Entrance Rite)
We always overlook scripture at our own peril. Perhaps it would be to our benefit to be informed by the texts of the entrance antiphons and their psalms as well as those of the Lectionary when doing our music planning, and realize we don’t always have to be driven only by the Lectionary texts.
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Oscar Wilde on St. Francis of Assisi
“Indeed, that is the charm about Christ, when all is said: he is just like a work of art. He does not really teach one anything, but by being brought into his presence, one becomes something.”
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September 29: A day to listen for, a day to listen to angels
On this feast of the archangels perhaps it would be more fruitful to set aside some silent space—today may be the day when God has sent a messenger.
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Composer Arvo Pärt Wins Prestigious Ratzinger Prize in Theology
“Religion guides all the processes in our lives, without us even knowing it. It is true that religion has a very important role in my composition, but how it really works, I am not able to describe.”
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