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Paul Couturier
2/21/2009 2:44 AM UTC
Craig, Lent is a time when someone like you is most needed!!!!! Please reconsider!!
sparklelight
1/31/2009 4:38 PM UTC
I cannot access the chatroom however so far the show is very informative
The Tinker’s Café
10/27/2008 11:55 AM UTC
It's good to see someone with a sense of humor!
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Host Commander Craig and his guests talk about being Catholic in our interior lives and in the public square! "Serious but high energy and funny." -- Sean McGaughey, Catholic New Media Roundup "One of the best shows on BlogTalkRadio!" -- listener KarenO
CATHOLIC RADIO 2.0!
Date / Time: 7/5/2009 5:30 PM UTC
Category: Religion
On this holiday weekend, we'll take a look back at some of the great interviews and comedy that have made up the first seventeen months of Catholic Radio 2.0! You'll hear from the Courage apostolate to men and women with same-sex attraction, Deal Hudson, Fr. Joseph Fessio, Jeffrey Tucker and Todd Flowerday, Joe Eszterhas, Lorraine Murray, "Deacon Bill", and Fr. Alexander Ignatius Jones, ex-SSPX. Hurry! Don't be late! I can hardly wait! We'll go dancing in the dark, waltzing through the park, and reminiscing.
Date / Time: 4/30/2008 2:28 PM UTC
. . . for John Michael Talbot and his monastic community, hit with a catastrophic fire. JMT reports (hat tip: Amy Welborn):
Last night [Monday, 4/28] the sleep of the Brothers and Sisters of Charity, Monastic, was interrupted close to midnight as a raging fire burned our Chapel and Common Center to the ground.Viola and I were the first on the scene as I saw the orange/red glow through our hermitage's back windows. Upon arriving we found there were no hoses capable of stopping the raging flames. I ran up the hill and woke up the community, and we started the almost futile task of spraying down the part of the Common Center that had not yet burned and retrieving anything from inside we could still find.Although I have seen some house fires, I have never seen anything this big. The flames reached high into the sky. The smoke was very dense, as was the heat. Despite this, our people ventured into the smoky building to retrieve whatever they could reach. Some of us suffered from smoke inhalation. I spent a lot of time trying to get people out of the building before it exploded into flames. We finally surrendered to the inevitability that our Chapel and Common building were going to burn to the ground before the fire company could get to us.After 30 to 40 minutes the firemen and women began to arrive, followed soon after by the fire trucks and water trucks. Four fire companies responded and did heroic and valiant work at saving the other buildings from being consumed. We are most grateful for our volunteer fire departments!We lost some most valuable things in the fire. Our community archives were lost and all of the books in our library. The Troubadour stockroom and inventory were lost to the flames. All of the various awards received were melted in the intense heat of the fire. We have some back-ups from computers, but nothing current. It is our hope that most of this is covered by our insurance.God gave members various words or locutions. I shared that God is stripping us back to what is really essential to our way of life and that we will rebuild with greater efficiency, but in stone. Someone got the image of Gideon, who was repeatedly told by the Lord that he needed fewer men, but men well-prepared for battle. Another said that she got a word that God is with us through this trial. These served to inspire us and to keep our spirits hopeful and filled with faith, hope, and love. I believe we may have lost some buildings, but He will make us stronger for going through this together.For the immediate future we will pray at our Portiuncula Chapel, which was untouched by the fire (as was most of our Prayer Garden). We will use some vacant hermitages for common meals and community meetings. Another will serve as a temporary office. Many have offered their homes and guest houses to us, but we will get by and keep the praying heart of the Hermitage alive in the months ahead.Eventually we will have to rebuild. We will rebuild with stone and earth in a way that is environmentally "green." At that point we may ask for donations from our benevolent benefactress. We are humbled and grateful beyond mere words for the outpouring of offers to help with food, housing and other things.
Back in 2002-2003, when I was recovering from a suicide attempt and returning to the faith, JMT's music, so deeply rooted in Scripture and prayer, helped me a great deal. My prayers (and asking for yours) are the least I can offer in gratitude.
Date / Time: 4/30/2008 2:19 PM UTC
I'm sorry I'm so late in posting this, but immediately following the program Saturday, I had to address a minor family crisis.Thank you, Fr. Fessio, Todd Flowerday, and Jeffrey Tucker, for an informative and enlightening hour. And thanks to the listeners and downloaders for joining us.Here are links to the documents, books, and music discussed on the program:Church Documents
Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy), Vatican II document, December 4, 1963
Musicam Sacram (Instruction on Music in the Liturgy), Sacred Congregeation for Rites, March 5, 1967 General Instruction on the Roman Missal, 2002 Redemptionis Sacramentum (Instruction on certain matters to be observed or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist), Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, March 25, 2004 Summorum Pontificum (Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio), Benedict XVI, July 7, 2007Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops of the World to Present the Motu Proprio on the Use of the Roman Liturgy prior to the Reforms of 1970, July 7, 2007
Books, Articles, etc.
Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, "Benedict and Beauty," April 25, 2008Fr. George Rutler, "The Spirit of Vatican II," review of A Challenging Reform: Realizing the Vision of the Liturgical Renewal, 1963-1975, by Abp. Piero Marini, First Things, March 2008, p. 181.
Todd Flowerday
Jeffrey Tucker
But wait, there's more!
Original Air Date: 4/26/2008 9:00 PM UTC
Date / Time: 4/23/2008 9:06 PM UTC
Date / Time: 4/23/2008 6:30 PM UTC
No, he doesn't mention the show, and he doesn't say he's going to lay the smackdown on that jobroni Jeffrey Tucker, but in a Catholic Sensibility post on the papal liturgy in Washington last week, Todd Flowerday articulates a major source of his disagreement with Tucker and other proponents of the "Reform of the Reform" movement:
Indeed, it’s amazing to me that so many professional musicians would not be aware of a few basic principles in playing. First, it’s about the arrangement. We can be grateful for the post-Tridentine western musical tradition for writing it all out for us. Great composers can take a simple tune and craft it into a symphony. You never hear Vaughan-Williams laid out in lavender for taking guitar tunes and turning them into pieces like Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus.When it’s not about the arrangement, it’s about the players. The greats are great because their music is profound, and often that means it’s difficult to play. Bach in the hands of a tyro is pretty awful. And if that was all you heard of Bach, you’d probably dismiss his music along with the players of it.I feel like I’m wearing out the word, but it really is about context. Context, context, context. Context in liturgy means prayer. And prayer is not always aligned to high levels of musical skill. In such cases, sacred music works in spite of a lack of quality, not because of it. It’s more than telling a struggling musician or assembly, “Well, your heart’s in the right place.” You aspire to excellence because the liturgy deserves it, but as one saint put it, “Do not allow yourselves to be offended by the imperfect while you strive for the perfect.”Chant failed as pre-conciliar Catholic music for two reasons, I think. Laziness and a lack of prayer. I sang in a chant schola once and I will tell you it is darned difficult to achieve a good unison sound from a non-auditioned cross section of parish singers. I learned a lot from our director. But after eight months, I still thought we had a long way to go. If a chant advocate tells you this music is easy: just sing a line and go … they don’t know.I think the connection of language and prayer is important. Sacrosanctum Concilium alluded to this many times, and it’s why the world’s Catholic bishops accepted the vernacular after the Council. It’s also why weak English works better than Latin for most all American Catholics: it makes a connection through perception. We’re literally praying twice: the texts as well as the music. Without an understanding of Latin, even a basic one, music with Latin texts is praying once. (Unless it’s just listening to a performance.) It’s an emphasis on the musical sound and the style of the singing. And I suppose one could sing any words, any language, any nonsense words. If nobody in the schola or pews would know the difference, what would be accomplished? The same thing, pretty much. My chant director took time with not only Latin pronunciation, but also Latin meaning and how to interpret the text with prayer.So instead of Haugen, I see the bile spewed on the “appalling” instruments of non-white musicians. Jeffrey Tucker again: Blues and jazz – intended to appeal to African Americans? What about those African Americans who sing in chant scholas, are accomplished singers, are working to actually compose excellent sacred music? What about white folk and Hispanics who sing and play blues and jazz?Just because chant musicians keep to plainsong and polyphony doesn’t mean other people don’t find great enjoyment in more than two musical styles.The criticisms I’ve read strike me as grossly ignorant. It’s about the basic principles. Question one: was the music itself good? Most people can’t bear to affirm anything as good outside their narrow musical taste. (Yes, taste!)Was the non-classical music arranged properly? And did the listening critics hear the authentic arrangement, or were they stuffed away in the press box or in the tv studio, or listening to a less-than-professional feed from a media outlet? I ask this last one because I don’t know. I didn’t watch and listen to these Masses. I’m not accustomed to being a spectator at liturgy. If I couldn’t go, why would I filter the experience through a tv or computer screen?Was the music bad because the players were not top-shelf? Or were they nervous, distracted, or just mixed up? Lots of possible problems there: not getting the best people, a lack of leadership, a lack of preparation, to name a few.And lastly, what was the context in worship? I read that Fr Neuhaus has a hissy over the music. What was he doing at a papal liturgy yapping on tv and not praying? Is this a sporting event or is it the celebration of Mass?
Indeed, it’s amazing to me that so many professional musicians would not be aware of a few basic principles in playing. First, it’s about the arrangement. We can be grateful for the post-Tridentine western musical tradition for writing it all out for us. Great composers can take a simple tune and craft it into a symphony. You never hear Vaughan-Williams laid out in lavender for taking guitar tunes and turning them into pieces like Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus.When it’s not about the arrangement, it’s about the players. The greats are great because their music is profound, and often that means it’s difficult to play. Bach in the hands of a tyro is pretty awful. And if that was all you heard of Bach, you’d probably dismiss his music along with the players of it.I feel like I’m wearing out the word, but it really is about context. Context, context, context. Context in liturgy means prayer. And prayer is not always aligned to high levels of musical skill. In such cases, sacred music works in spite of a lack of quality, not because of it. It’s more than telling a struggling musician or assembly, “Well, your heart’s in the right place.” You aspire to excellence because the liturgy deserves it, but as one saint put it, “Do not allow yourselves to be offended by the imperfect while you strive for the perfect.”Chant failed as pre-conciliar Catholic music for two reasons, I think. Laziness and a lack of prayer. I sang in a chant schola once and I will tell you it is darned difficult to achieve a good unison sound from a non-auditioned cross section of parish singers. I learned a lot from our director. But after eight months, I still thought we had a long way to go. If a chant advocate tells you this music is easy: just sing a line and go … they don’t know.I think the connection of language and prayer is important. Sacrosanctum Concilium alluded to this many times, and it’s why the world’s Catholic bishops accepted the vernacular after the Council. It’s also why weak English works better than Latin for most all American Catholics: it makes a connection through perception. We’re literally praying twice: the texts as well as the music. Without an understanding of Latin, even a basic one, music with Latin texts is praying once. (Unless it’s just listening to a performance.) It’s an emphasis on the musical sound and the style of the singing. And I suppose one could sing any words, any language, any nonsense words. If nobody in the schola or pews would know the difference, what would be accomplished? The same thing, pretty much. My chant director took time with not only Latin pronunciation, but also Latin meaning and how to interpret the text with prayer.So instead of Haugen, I see the bile spewed on the “appalling” instruments of non-white musicians. Jeffrey Tucker again:
Blues and jazz – intended to appeal to African Americans? What about those African Americans who sing in chant scholas, are accomplished singers, are working to actually compose excellent sacred music?
What about white folk and Hispanics who sing and play blues and jazz?Just because chant musicians keep to plainsong and polyphony doesn’t mean other people don’t find great enjoyment in more than two musical styles.The criticisms I’ve read strike me as grossly ignorant. It’s about the basic principles. Question one: was the music itself good? Most people can’t bear to affirm anything as good outside their narrow musical taste. (Yes, taste!)Was the non-classical music arranged properly? And did the listening critics hear the authentic arrangement, or were they stuffed away in the press box or in the tv studio, or listening to a less-than-professional feed from a media outlet? I ask this last one because I don’t know. I didn’t watch and listen to these Masses. I’m not accustomed to being a spectator at liturgy. If I couldn’t go, why would I filter the experience through a tv or computer screen?Was the music bad because the players were not top-shelf? Or were they nervous, distracted, or just mixed up? Lots of possible problems there: not getting the best people, a lack of leadership, a lack of preparation, to name a few.And lastly, what was the context in worship? I read that Fr Neuhaus has a hissy over the music. What was he doing at a papal liturgy yapping on tv and not praying? Is this a sporting event or is it the celebration of Mass?
Remember that Todd and Jeffrey are my guests this Saturday on "Catholic Radio 2.0!" on BlogTalkRadio.
Date / Time: 4/23/2008 3:38 PM UTC
CNN.com reports the passing of one of the chief practitioners of what is now known as "soft rock." I went to imeem to listen to one of Davis' biggest hits, "Cool Night." It's a quintessential example of that era and sound: a painstakingly arranged and immaculately produced recording of a perfectly crafted but completely innocuous song. This is what I was listening to in what we now call my "tween" years, when AM Top 40 radio still existed. This song and countless others served as novocaine in the midst of the disco and new wave that dominated the charts in illo tempore.The soft rock genre undoubtedly inspired much of the contemporary music sections of the GIA and OCP catalogues. And be assured that if John Michael Talbot had not converted, he would have had a hit record not unlike "Cool Night."Having said that, I can say that "Cool Night" is still soothing after almost 30 years. You will feel no pain listening to it. In fact you will feel nothing at all.
Date / Time: 4/23/2008 3:36 PM UTC
No official announcement from the Vatican, but the Birmingham Mail says it's a lock.Posted by Commander Craig at 4/23/2008 06:11:00 AM
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