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05 Oct 2014 - Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

Love songs are apparently a dime a dozen. And they often end quite badly. Scripture contains love songs that match the dire endings of contemporary lyrics. By our choices, we can sing a new song unto the Lord with a brighter conclusion.

sing song

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Remain in my love

Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion - Sample homilies to be adapted for your use

Sacrament: Marriage Readings: Song of Songs 2:8-10, 14, 16; 8:6-7; 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:8a; John 15:9-12 He popped the question, and she responded with an enthusiastic yes. And from that moment they know a profound joy, the realization of a longing that has been growing maybe from the first time they met. It grew from a simple attraction into a romance as they dated, and blossomed into a young but real love, deepening until now they realize that the time was right for their love to express itself in a lifetime commitment. "Remain in my love." Stay in this embrace, N. and N. This is the love each of you learned in your families, in your mother and father's arms, as children in your homes, but a day-to-day lifetime of remaining in love, of constancy, tolerance, self-sacrifice, selflessness, and care. This is the love that has brought you—and will continue to bring you—life, happiness, and meaning. This is a noble love, a holy love, a way of life that surpasses all others. This is the same love that the Father and the Son share. Remain in that love. Hold it tight. If only we could remain forever in each other's arms, or in the perfect bliss of the womb! Too soon the child pushes away from the breast, slides off their mother's lap, and tries out new things—good things, like crawling, walking, driving, starting a career, and leaving the nest, now a man or woman in her or his own right. Too often, though, on the way to independence and adulthood, he or she may confuse love with sexual passion and happiness with the pursuit of selfish pleasure, something won at the expense of others. Too frequently she or he will hear the message, "Me first," but feelings and thoughts such as these are not love. They are not part of the embrace to which you are called. Jesus told his friends—and us—to love one another as he loved us on the eve of his passion and death. He was held in the love of his Abba, his father, who, like Abraham, was willing to sacrifice his most precious son, Isaac. Now Jesus was about to "lay down his life for his friends," wrapping each of us in love's sometimes painful embrace. In the years to come you two will, indeed, experience good times and bad, and over the years you will be getting to know each other more intimately than you do now. If you remain in Christ's love, if you hold each other in his love, you will be letting go of anything within you that keeps you from giving yourself away to the other completely. If you remain in Christ's love, if you hold each other in his love, you will be letting go of anything within you that keeps you from giving yourself away to the other completely. They say, "Charity begins at home," but true love can never remain there. "Love," Paul writes to the faithful in Corinth—and to us—"does not seek its own interests." The love that the two of you have for one another isn't some private possession, to be hoarded, or kept only between the two of you. It is of course, very intimate and personal, yet all the same, it is a gift that you first received from your families. It is a gift and hope you share with the people you have invited to this celebration. It isn't just "N. and N.'s" love; it is the love of God—it is God, calling you, through the voice of your beloved, out of yourself, out of your fears, calling each of you to give yourself completely, body and soul, in good times and in bad, calling you both to embrace your world, to reach out and give yourself unstintingly to others, especially to those in need. Remain in God's courageous, generous, and embracing love. This is the love in which Christ bids us to live, the kind of life he asks us to embrace. It is the love in which your friends and family wrap you today. It is the same love that this church, this community of believers gathered in the Spirit's love for millennia, embraces and blesses in its rituals. It is the mystery of God's love at work among the two of you, which we celebrate today. This is our faith. This is the faith of the church. And we are so very proud and happy to profess it through you, with you, and in you, held as we are in the embrace of Christ Jesus our Lord.

Authors Thomas Johnson

sacrament Marriage Song of Songs 2:8-10, 14, 16; 8:6-7 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:8a John 15:9-12

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Hymn hits discordant tone

18 Aug 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist praises the Lord, who "put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God." A committee putting together a new hymnal for the Presbyterian Church (USA) has run into criticism rather than praise for dropping a popular him when the song's authors refused to change a phrase about the wrath of God.The original lyrics of "In Christ Alone" say that “on that cross, as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.” The Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song wanted to substitute the words, “the love of God was magnified.”The song’s authors, Stuart Townend and Keith Getty, objected, so the committee voted to drop the song. Critics say the proposed change was sparked by liberals wanting to take God’s wrath out of the hymnal. The committee says that's not true.Instead the problem is the word “satisfied,” which the committee says refers to a specific view of theology that it rejects. Debate over “In Christ Alone” is a mix of church politics, the touchy subject of updating hymn lyrics, and rival views of what Jesus’ death on the cross meant."People think that we’ve taken the wrath of God out of the hymnal,” said Mary Louise Bringle, a religion professor and hymn writer who chaired the hymnal committee. “That’s not the case. It’s all over the hymnal. The issue was the word ‘satisfied.’ ”That term was used by the medieval theologian Anselm, who argued that sins offended God’s honor and therefore someone had to die in order to satisfy this honor. The 15-member committee rejected this view and voted 9-6 to drop the hymn.The Rev. Chris Joiner of First Presbyterian Church in Franklin, Tennessee agrees with the move. He said some of his church members are fans of the song and will be disappointed that it was dropped. But the song's words don’t work, he said. “That lyric comes close to saying that God killed Jesus,” he said. “The cross is not an instrument of God’s wrath.”Homily hint: “The one who sings, prays twice,” Saint Augustine is commonly quoted as having said. His actual words differed, but the quote does help us understand why congregations care so much about their music. Hymns move us while they instruct us. Surveys show Catholics have their own concerns about the music used in worship. Make sure your own community is actively working to enhance its offering of liturgical music. Source: An article by Bob Smietana for USA TODAY

Crucifixion presbyterian church usa wrath of god in christ alone chris joiner mary louise bringle atonement satisfaction stuart townend keith getty presbyterian committee on congregational song jesus christ cross hymns

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Homily stories

03 Jun 2012 - Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Cycle B

For those of us over a certain age, the minute we hear Paul referring to the disciples as sons of God as he does in today’s second reading, we feel the urge to break out into a refrain of “Sons of God,” a popular 1970s Communion song that was etched in every young Catholic’s memory: Sons of God: Hear His Holy word, Gather around the table of the Lord Eat His Body, drink His Blood And we’ll sing a song of love Allelu, allelu, allelu, alleluia. Hymns, prayers, chants, and songs are essential primarily because they are lasting. Indeed, they often become a lifeline to our faith. Consider the case of Servite Father Lawrence Martin Jenco, who was held hostage for 564 days in Beirut in the 1980s: Deprived of company for much of his capture with no reading material and little if any light, he spent his time reciting psalms, prayers, and Bible verses he had memorized as a young boy. In Bound to Forgive, the book he wrote about his time in captivity, Jenco said it was his faith that sustained him, and in turn it was a host of simple prayers and verses stored in his memory bank that helped sustain that faith.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

hymns prayers chants song lawrence martin jenco

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Homily themes

17 Apr 2011 - Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Cycle A

I gave my back to those who beat me . . . my face I did not shield . . . . The lectionary selects a passage from Isaiah's third Suffering Servant song in order to illustrate how Jesus was also a suffering servant of God. Like Isaiah, Jesus knew what was going to happen to him and faced it anyway. Like the prophets, Jesus steeled himself for his final journey and the consummation of his life, knowing God was with him in his final trial: "When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51). Like Isaiah, he does not resist the insults and blows directed at him: "Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, 'Prophesy!' The guards also took him over and beat him" (Mark 14:65). Because of their faith in God, believers can be laid low; because of their faith in God, believers are exalted and raised up. Homily points The gospel writers spend a disproportionate part of their testimony on the Passion and death of Jesus. We might consider why. Matthew's Passion uniquely focuses on the assessment of blame in the stories of Judas, the average citizen, and the religious leadership. If everyone is to blame in the death of Jesus, in what is our hope? The blood of Jesus is poured out for the forgiveness of sinners and not their condemnation. In this we trust.

suffering servant song

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Exploring the word

11 Dec 2016 - Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle A

Singing in a choir, I feel a little sorry for the Easter season. Yes, it has its music, same as any other part of the church year. But once Pentecost arrives, we forget the hymns of Easter and don’t really miss them. Few people enjoy Easter music in their homes or play it on their iPods. The songs of Advent and Christmas, however, are different. Not only do we sing them in church and play them willingly in our homes: They follow us around the mall and are featured in seasonal movies and television specials. Bands of roving singers show up on our doorsteps, in our hospital rooms, or mysteriously burst forth in pre-arranged “flash mob” concerts intended to surprise and delight. The music of this season is so beloved, many people choose it as the soundtrack of December and beyond. On Gaudete Sunday, we can be forgiven if our mood gets rosy. By this point in the season, the apocalyptic tones of early Advent give way to singing and dancing. It’s the lame who dance, by the way, and the mute who sing. What Sister Pam Smith calls “Almost” Sunday is described by prophecy in mystical terms: It’s a party where the marginalized members of society take center stage and teach us all how to celebrate. Moreover, in their restored wholeness they demonstrate why we celebrate. The mute are ready to sing and the lame to dance: Are we? When John wonders aloud if it’s time to celebrate, Jesus gives him a long list of prophetic signs to consider. What was lost is found. What has been missing is restored. Where there was sadness, now there’s nothing but joy. Where hope had evaporated, new life rejuvenates it. It would be hard, therefore, to separate the singing from this season. Happy people whistle, and people in love burst into song, at least according to the musicals. Music is the sound of celebration, which is why every party has a soundtrack and every wedding reception includes dancing. Of course, there are Scrooges and Grinches in each season who resist the invitation to celebrate. Some of us also endure personal circumstances out of which joy may be difficult to muster. That was true of the communities Isaiah and Jesus were addressing. The kind of joy Gaudete Sunday expresses is not merely about happy feelings and good times—which some of us have this season, and some of us may not. “Almost” Sunday reminds us that God knows the restoration we all seek and need, every broken and unfinished aspect of our lives and our world. That kingdom, the reign of wholeness and hope, is on its way. Related scripture links Possessing our souls in patience: Luke 21:19 [KJV] Other harvest meanings and metaphors: Exod. 34:22; Ps. 126:5-6; Prov. 22:8; Isa. 9:2; Hos. 8:7; 10:12-13; Matt. 9:37-38; 13:36-40; John 4:35-38; 1 Cor. 9:10-11; Heb. 6:7-8; Rev. 14:14-20 The virtue of Christian hope: Rom. 5:1-5; 8:24-25; 12:12, 15:12-13; 1 Cor. 13:13; Heb. 3:12-15; 6:11-12; 11:1 Catechism links Faith and doubt: CCC 26; 142-175; 2087-2089

Authors Alice Camille

gaudete sunday Music singing song celebration wholeness Hope

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Exploring the word

25 Dec 2018 - Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Cycle C

The feast of Christmas is something to sing about. If we really understood the wonder of this day, we couldn’t keep ourselves from singing! Maybe that’s why more songs have been written for this season than any other. Think about it: How many Thanksgiving songs do you know? (“God Bless America” doesn’t count!) How many songs for a happy birthday? Just one. Except for a few moviemakers like Tim Burton, nobody puts much talent into composing songs for Halloween. When you move all the way around the calendar, the most celebrated and widely sung-about day of the year is this one. Although there have been a lot of hymns composed about Easter, not to mention some bunny songs, they will never monopolize the malls and seduce hip-hop artists and rock stars to write one of their own. Christmas alone has that power to transform the secular landscape and bathe it in the sound of caroling. “Sing to the Lord a new song!” the psalmist urges us. We do that nearly every year, but we also sing the familiar old ones that have been around for centuries. This is the season of the trumpet voluntary and the hand bell choir, the harp and the harpsichord. I’ve even heard “Joy to the World” on steel drums, and we’ve all been subjected to “Jingle Bells” barked by a dog chorus. Saint Francis of Assisi would have gotten the joke; after all, he was the one who put live animals in his crèche scene. Gloria in excelsis deo How can we keep from singing? Even the angels couldn’t; we sing our Gloria at Mass in remembrance of their gracious chorus before the shepherds to whom they first deliver the news of Christ’s birth. When the news is this good, even the sound of running feet is beautiful, according to Isaiah. Maybe that’s how musicals got started: The more excited a character in a drama gets, the more natural it is to assume he or she is bursting with the urge to sing it out. Maybe this is why so many of us sing in the shower, too, as all of our negative ions are clicking into positive ones under the refreshing influence of the water. Happiness is a very singable state of mind and heart. When we’re full of joy, we don’t care how off-key we may be or who may be listening. The prologue of John’s gospel that we read today isn’t properly a song, although much of it is written in verse. But it is part counterpoint, part harmony with another passage of scripture composed in a poetic style. You can imagine them being read in alternating verses: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “The earth was a formless wasteland.” “All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.” “Darkness covered the abyss.” “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” “And God said, ‘Let there be light.’ ” “A man named John came to testify to the light.” It’s clear from even this brief comparison that the evangelist was imitating the creation story in his gospel, to emphasize the new world coming into being in Christ. We can hear the melody of Genesis breaking through like a song almost out of range in John’s gospel. Even at the conclusion of these passages we hear the perfect chord being struck: “God looked at everything he had made and found it very good.” “From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace.” John the troubadour In the musical Godspell—and let’s just point out that the gospel has been set to music a lot in the past generation, as folk music in Godspell, rock opera in Jesus Christ Superstar, and bluegrass in The Cotton Patch Gospel—John the Baptist is portrayed as a shofar-sounding troubadour. The shofar, a somewhat unmusical ram’s horn, was originally used at Mount Sinai to announce the arrival of God and later sounded famously by Joshua to blow down Jericho. Later it was adapted for less catastrophic purposes as a call to prayer. When John is introduced blowing the shofar in Godspell, we are invited to consider all the meanings of that horn: Prepare the way of the Lord! The mortal city is coming down! Get on your knees! The testimony of John in scripture, even though it isn’t sung, retains this sense of unity and counterpoint with the ministry of Jesus. Both proclaim the coming of the Kingdom and the need for repentance. But while John focuses on the urgency of the ax laid at the root of the tree, Jesus beckons us with healing power and the forgiveness of sin. This is a song for two voices: We can imagine John singing a deep and warning bass and Jesus bringing up the noble tenor. Applying the word The Christmas homily Preaching Christmas is a little like talking about ardor: Just kiss the girl, already! Lots of folks come home for Christmas, “home” meaning church as well as to their families, and now is not the time for an exploration of the theology of the Incarnation. The warmth of family, the wonder of snow, the softness of colored lights, the holiday feast, the excitement of gift-giving and the crèche scene are going to be more effective preachers under these circumstances than we are. A little humility is in order here: No matter how good you are, you’re not going to top the spread at Grandma’s. Capitalizing and focusing on the best elements of the season, like the backdrop of music that is an ever-present part of the magic, will give the Christmas proclamation staying power to follow the assembly home and through the Octave. Invite them to sing the rest of the liturgy with you, conscious that we are in harmony with the angels and all creation as we join in the unending hymn of praise. Related scripture links Music in scripture: Exod. 15:1-21; Judg. 5:1-31; 1 Sam. 16:14-23; 2 Kings 3:14-15; Ps. 149; Eph. 5:18-20; Col. 3:16 Creation story: Gen. 1:1-31 Shofar usage: Exod. 19:16, 19; Josh. 6:1-20 John and Jesus strike a chord: Mark 1:2-4, 7-8, 14; Matt. 3:1-2, 7-12, 4:12, 17

Authors Alice Camille

song singing joy darkness Light Praise hymns Music

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Homily stories

25 Dec 2018 - Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (Christmas), Cycle C

Why is it that Christmas carols, the same ones we sing year after year, mean so much to us? I hear "Silent Night," and I think of setting up the creche in the family grocery store. I hear "O Holy Night," and I remember being thanked by an elderly couple from their window after going caroling through the neighborhood. And "Adeste Fidelis" always reminds me of carrying the infant Jesus to the crib at Midnight Mass. It is precisely the memories that are attached to the carols that make them so powerful to us. These memories are part of our Christmas traditions. These traditions are part of the parcel of faith that has been handed down to us. We add to it and then we hand it on to others—to family, neighbors, friends, and, as important, to those bereft of all that has been handed on to us. When we have been given so much it becomes essential that we share it with others. It is more of a gift than any of the wrapped presents we will open. The music of this season sounds out of place in July or at a funeral or instead of our anthem at a baseball game. But the reality of what we celebrate today is for every single day of our lives. It is never out of place to share God’s loving presence with others. The Light and the Word born into our world has been memorialized in hymns and carols since the angels sang “Glory to God in the highest” that first Christmas. But it lives on through our actions today and every day.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

carols song traditions hymns memories

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Exploring the word

08 Oct 2023 - Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

How many love songs does the world need? If you can come up with a number, then maybe you’ve never been in love. The great songwriting duo John Lennon and Paul McCartney had an argument over this equation. John was tired of composing songs he deemed repetitive and frankly irresponsible in a world so in need of a challenging message. Paul responded by writing "Silly Love Songs," with its lyric: “Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs. /And what’s wrong with that?” The song repeats an ecstatic series of “I love yous” and a question sung in tones of wonder: “How can I tell you about my loved one?” Most of us would agree with McCartney that “Love isn’t silly at all.” Truth is, silly is the last word we might use to describe most love songs. Painful is more like it. Songs about love tend to break down into several familiar categories: 1. My Sweetheart Died and Went to Heaven; 2. My Sweetheart Left Me for Someone Else; 3. My Sweetheart Doesn’t Know I Exist; 4. I Really Blew It with My Sweetheart This Time; 5. I Sure Miss My Sweetheart. Perhaps the most infamous category of love songs is the one found in every country-western jukebox. It’s the Somebody-Done-Somebody-Wrong song, infused with weepy lyrics about broken hearts, empty rooms, cold nights, and sympathetic bartenders. While we may think about this genre as “made in the U.S.A.,” ballads of love gone wrong have been popular since the Greco-Roman empire, at least. As we listen to the story of the Vineyard Song the prophet Isaiah wrote in the eighth century B.C., we realize that the story of love gone wrong is as old as love itself. My friend had a vineyard Granted, the Vineyard Song is a bit on the unconventional side when it comes to love-gone-wrong story lines. It’s about a guy besotted with, well, a vineyard. The vineyard is a metaphor, of course; if you follow it through you see this guy does for his vineyard what every lover tries to do for the beloved. He chooses his vines with utmost care: He wants only the best. He picks the most fertile site to plant them. He clears away all obstacles, spares no effort in turning the soil to provide these vines with the perfect rooting ground. He builds a watchtower to keep a lookout for predators. He even goes ahead and constructs the winepress for the harvest he anticipates. This fellow does everything right. He has every reason to be hopeful of success. He waits only on the grapes to ripen. He is not at fault when the inexplicable failure emerges: The grapes arrive; they are inedible. The poor fellow is beside himself. His grief and outrage are about equal. He spends his frustration on the hillside, scene of his former hopes, breaking down the protective hedges and walls, allowing predators to trample and devour the results of his labor. He throws his tools away, allows nature to take its course and to cover the site of his humiliation with brambles. Bitterly, he calls for the clouds to withhold rain from his once-ideal growing site. The despair Isaiah describes is the very familiar anguish of the somebody-done-somebody-wrong song. And God is the vineyard owner, and we are the ones who done God wrong. Hear another parable The Vineyard Song was evidently a popular theme in Israel. Psalm 80, our responsorial psalm today, echoes the story of God and Israel, the beloved vine. God uprooted this vine from Egypt and gently carried it to safety on the far side of the Jordan. God cared for the vine until Israel’s infidelity exposed the nation to the attack of wild countries on the prowl. Israel accuses God of abandoning the community to danger, but we who know all about love-gone-wrong songs know better. When someone is unfaithful, love becomes as vulnerable as a house of cards. Jesus tells the story of the vineyard yet again in a parable delivered before the chief priests and elders. This time, he casts his present audience of religious leaders into the song in the roles of tenants hired to work the land. In this updated version of the old love song, it’s the vineyard owner squaring off against the tenants, not the vines themselves. There is no indication of the walls of the property not being sound, or the vines being at risk, or the grapes being soured. It’s the religious leaders themselves who stand between the rightful owner and his harvest. These wretched tenants are even willing to kill the owner’s son to remain in possession of the grapes. Some of us may feel relief that, when Jesus tells the story, the religious leaders are cast in the role of the bad guys. Thank goodness: We don’t get the blame this time! If somebody done somebody wrong, it wasn’t us. But alas: Who is in charge of the vineyard today if not for us? We are the community charged with the responsibility of the gospel and the riches of the kingdom of heaven. If the harvest is not being delivered to its rightful owner today, whose fault could it be but yours and mine? This song ends on a note sad enough to be eligible for the country-western jukebox. The Kingdom will be removed from the custody of bad tenants and given to better ones. That’s certainly the way the song finishes in Jesus’ day. But how will it end in ours? Applying the word Think about these things Saint Paul invites us to step up a little higher than the tenants in Jesus’ version of the Vineyard Song. He urges us to turn toward whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, and worthy of praise. Turn, in other words, toward the God of peace. If we do, we might fill the world with a few more love songs. And what’s wrong with that? Related scripture links Vineyard images: Ps. 128:3; Prov. 24:30-34; Sir. 24:17-21; Isa. 16:10; 27:2-9; Jer. 2:21; Ezek. 15:1-8; 19:10-14; Hos. 10:1; John 15:1-10 Catechism links Vineyard: CCC 755 Garden of virtues: CCC 1803

Authors Alice Camille

love songs vineyard song parable of the wicked tenants

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