#174: Saying Yes to God, One Sunday At a Time: A Conversation with Every Sacred Sunday - a podcast by National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM)
from 2021-10-18T10:00
Let’s face it. Many pastoral musicians encounter the sacred Liturgy differently than a congregation member. We’re truly, deeply into the activities that facilitate prayer for others, especially with music. As we know, it’s a beautiful, humbling, blessed calling, but it does mean we can become distracted. Now, at this point, I’ll only speak for myself when I say that I’ve struggled to be truly present for the Liturgy, especially during the Liturgy of the Word. I’ve been so focused on the psalm- is my cantor ready, don’t forget to add an extra measure between the refrain and the verse so the cantor can catch her breath, did I ever tell the violinist that we’re adding that extra measure? And what is the second reader doing, coming up to the ambo already? The cantor is on her way over for the psalm! Will the presider help and gesture for the reader to sit? Wait a minute, is the presider’s mic still on?
You get the idea.
Today I had the gift of speaking with Kassie Manning. Kassie is the co-creator of Every Sacred Sunday, a Mass journal intended to help all Catholics absorb the readings and cultivate their own scripture study and prayer habit. Now, you might be saying, “Amanda, I already pray regularly. Why would I need this?” I will say that this Mass journal has truly changed my faith. A fellow pastoral musician recommended it to me after I saw it at her church when I played a funeral there. Every Sacred Sunday has allowed me to stay focused on weekends after playing the fifth liturgy of the weekend, hearing the fifth homily of the weekend.
Now, before we get into the interview, I want to say that this episode is not sponsored by Every Sacred Sunday! But it is a great opportunity to sit and reflect and say: how often do I take time for myself to sit, be still and listen to the Word of God, especially in the midst of me helping others to pray through music? How can I deepen my own prayer experience?
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