When I was twelve years old, a teenage kid working the ticket booth at the movie theater told me I could pass for seventeen. I developed early and I had the curves to attract attention. But although I may have looked older than some of my peers, emotionally I was far behind them. I was…
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Applause In Church Is Not Always A Bad Thing
If there is one thing you can get both sides to agree on in the liturgy wars, it is that applause in church is a bad thing. I heard the argument made once that any time there is applause in church, it is a sign that the liturgy has been derailed. Applause is for performances;…
Read MoreA Fry Pan Can Be A Holy Thing
Over the weekend we had a memorial service for my grandmother. When it was all over, the family went to her apartment and looked through her things. Each of us was able to go home with items that belonged once to her. And I’m reminded of the wisdom of a faith that manifests the spiritual, the…
Read MoreWe aren’t losing people because of worship. We’re losing them because we’re hypocrites.
There’s a blog post making the rounds right now about the dismal record of churches, both mega- and traditional, to retain their youth into adulthood. The author and all the commenters have their pet theories about why this is–the age-old argument between “worship isn’t relevant” (i.e. it’s too traditional) and “the worship is too contemporary”…
Read MoreA Ministry Manifesto
If you only ever share one post I write, this is the one. Because this is important. We need you. And yes, I mean you. You think you aren’t good enough to join the choir. You are. You say you’re tone deaf. You’re not. We’ve known a man who actually was…and he learned to sing.…
Read MoreOne for the Catholics: Talk To Me About Confession
I have a question for you today, my Catholic readers. What is your experience of the sacrament of Reconciliation? See, I have this vision of the sacrament, in which it can be so much more than it generally turns out to be. In my vision, it’s a back and forth, a conversation that takes the…
Read MoreGuest Post: Blessed Are The Clean of Heart (This Little Light of Mine Blog Tour, Week 6)
Dan Quinn was the youth minister, and thus my “boss,” the year I led music for our local Life Teen program. Today, in the context of the Beatitude calling us to be “clean of heart,” he reminds us about an old practice many of us don’t give much thought. * If you would ask your Catholic grandparents…
Read MoreGuest Post: Blessed Are The Merciful (This Little Light Blog Tour, Week 5)
Today I welcome blogger, columnist and author Sarah Reinhard to the blog. Her charm and humor shines through everything she writes, and today’s offering, in which she really digs down to the heart of a lived faith, is no exception! * The Rubber Meets the Road with the Merciful So often, I love the thinking, theory…
Read More7 (sort of) Quick Takes…including a cute video
___1___ Alex is a great kid, but he can’t find diddly squat. Wednesday night, as we were getting ready for choir practice, was no exception. He couldn’t find Julianna’s backpack, even though he was standing right beside it. A couple minutes later Nicholas shouted (because what other volume is there?), “MOMMY I CAN’T FIND MY…
Read MoreAlive Again
Michael and I went to the Newman Center for Mass last night. That wasn’t how the day was supposed to be. I was supposed to be at 10:00 Mass across town, with the choir and my husband. I was supposed to conduct an a cappella piece and sing harmony on the psalm. But Nicholas’ illness…
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Kathleen M. Basi 