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Do you remember the meaning of the literary term onomatopoeia? In case you’ve forgotten, it’s a word that sounds like the object it describes. Words like oink, meow, wham, sizzle, and my personal favorite: yackety-yak are examples of onomatopoeia. There are times when music, including sacred music, has an onomatopoetic quality; they sound like what their words are describing. For example, there are songs that describe the crucifixion featuring hammer blows in the background, and songs about the resurrection and ascension that feature notes soaring up the scale. The best way to understand musical onomatopoeia is to listen to examples of it. So, consider the eight examples of sacred music I present below, which powerfully take up the very sound of what the words are describing. N.B. The clip...

“This generous outpouring of grace unites me to you in a special way, as I am also particularly united to all victims suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 virus.” LACROSSE, Wisc. — Cardinal Raymond Burke issued a personal statement via Twitter Saturday night, thanking his doctors, all those who have offered prayers on his behalf, and especially God “who has brought me to this point of healing and recovery.” Coming a week after the last public update on his health, Cardinal Burke’s tweet provided another positive sign that his condition has improved since being placed on ventilator Aug. 14 due to complications from COVID-19. He said he now faces an “intensive rehabilitation.” “I have been transferred out of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and settled in a hospital room where the...

This Sunday’s readings teach a proper understanding of God’s Law and its relationship to our hearts. The readings go a long way toward addressing the false dichotomy that many set up between love and the Law, as though the two were opposed; they are not. If we love God, we want what He wants and love what He loves. The Law describes well what God wants and loves. Indeed, the Law is letting love have its way. God is Love and His Law (no matter how averse we are to “rules”) is ultimately an expression of His love. In all the readings today, God asks—even commands—that we let love have its way. Let’s look at four teachings on the relationship of Law to God, who is love. I. The PROTECTION of the Law – Note that the text from today’s first reading frames the Law and the obedient hearing of it i...

VATICAN CITY — Superiors general of apostolic institutes that exclusively celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the traditional form of the Roman rite plan to meet next week to discuss Pope Francis’ new decree limiting the older use of the sacred liturgy. The meeting follows the release in July of Traditionis Custodes (Guardians of the Tradition), Francis’ apostolic letter issued motu proprio that limits celebration of the older form of the Latin rite. Father Andrzej Komorowski, superior general of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), said the superiors were gathering “to exchange points of view and to see what we can do together.” He added that the idea came from the local superiors of traditional institutes in France soon after the publication of Traditionis Custo...

Today, we celebrate one of the great Doctors of the Church and most popular saints in all of Catholicism – Saint Augustine of Hippo. His influence on the Catholic Church has spanned the ages, 1600 years of encouraging faithful Catholics to study and know their faith. He has also brought countless sinners to the faith with his amazing conversion story chronicled in his book, The Confessions. If you have never read it, I would highly encourage it. The quotes below come from the book, Living the Mysteries – A Guide for Unfinished Christians by Scott Hahn and Mike Aquilina. It is a book that I use to give to the people in the RCIA program when I worked in parish ministry. It is a perfect book to read during the Mystagogy period, the stage after the Easter Vigil – a time when our new Catholics ...

Aug. 28 is the memorial of St. Augustine, bishop and doctor of the Church. He’s one of the most influential Church Fathers and theologians in history. Who was he and why is he so famous? Here are 10 things to know and share … 1) When and where was he born? St. Augustine was born in A.D. 354 in Thagaste, Numidia (modern day Souk Ahras, Algeria) into an upper-class family. His father — Patricius — was a pagan, though he converted to Christianity on his deathbed. His mother — St. Monica — was a Christian and raised Augustine in the faith, though he was not baptized until he was an adult. He was of mixed-race ancestry, with ancestors including Phoenicians, Berbers, and Latins. He considered himself Punic. Latin seems to have been his first language. 2) How did he become aware of sin? As ...