Where Has Advent Gone?

It seems as though Advent has just flown by, doesn't it? Even more so, because everywhere we look, there are Christmas ads and Christmas sales. Radio stations are playing Christmas music, every store has Chriatmas decorations, and our email inboxes are loaded with Christmas promotions. In addition, I've noticed this is beginning earlier and earlier every year. This year was the first time that stores were open for Black Friday on Thanksgiving. Now don't get me wrong, I believe in a free country where we can shop whenever we'd like, and if you went shopping on Black Friday to take advantage of some great deals, I commend your thriftiness. We have to be aware though, of what our culture is trying to do. Our culture right now has a desire to take advantage of our material desires and need for instant gratification for the sake of our money. The best way for them to do so is to lure us away from our families and our faith in order to distract us. Some of you might think this is a little too intense, but take a look at Black Friday this year, with many people leaving a day of spending time with their family to buy gifts for themselves. It's as if Christmas has been replaced with Black Friday. It's as if the desire for instant gratification, for Christmas to "be now", to "get things now," has replaced the season of waiting. Where has Advent gone? Once again, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with shopping on Black Friday for some great deals, or listening to Christmas music before Christmas, but we need to be aware of the danger. Our culture has created a "secular Christmas," which has nothing to do with the birth of our Savior. It is completely focused on taking advantage of consumerism. It's important to be aware that we don't let the "secular Christmas" distract us from the "real Christmas," from Christ Himself. The only way we can keep our gaze fixed on our Savior, who is coming, is through the foundation of prayer. As we approach Christmas, let's increase our prayer more and more. So much of our life is lived within the tension of Advent, knowing that our Savior came 2000 years ago, but knowing He will come again. This tension is lived out in our hearts as well. For many of use, we've come to believe in Jesus, yet we can still grow to know and love Him more. We need to continually ask our Lord to "Come!" and the best way is through prayer and the Sacraments. We join with the cry of Israel, who struggled with the temptations of many different idols, to free us from the chains of material desires so we can live in the freedom of life with our Savior, Jesus Himself.

As a suggestion for prayer, I encourage you to check out the "O Antiphons," which are the Antiphons used at Vespers the seven days leading up to Christmas. They've been prayed by our Church since the 8th century, and they are actually the basis for the verses of the Advent hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." For this reason, and also that the refrain echoes the entrance antiphon of the Third Sunday of Advent with "Rejoice!", I encourage music ministers to save "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" for the Third and Fourth Sundays of Advent (and have been taught to do so by the Dominicans). When we think of Christmas, we have a strong sense of musical tradition, but I think we've lost this musical tradition for Advent, which is another reason for a loss of an overall sense of Advent. The antiphons during this time are a beautiful way to open our hearts to our Savior, as are hymns like Conditor Alme Siderum (Creator of the Stars of Night), which I've included below. Come, Lord Jesus!

Entrance Antiphon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (Rorate Caeli) http://youtu.be/tiVRmF7sQjU

"You Are the Light" by Josh Blakesley http://youtu.be/w9fNDuUD1ik

And finally, closing out with the Marian hymn for Advent and Christmas: Alma Redemptoris Mater http://youtu.be/iq5CKlOyeMk

Pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the Journey of Life

The past six months have brought many new steps in the journey of my life, including a new job, a new city, and a pilgrimage to Israel. The past two years I have been very blessed to serve in campus ministry at the Newman Center at the University of Arizona (go Wildcats!). I believe that campus ministry is one of the most critical mission fields, since it seeks to reach out to students and help them grow deeper in their faith during a time that they are bombarded by many voices trying to pull them astray, so I'll always have a passion for campus ministry, and I ask for you to keep all campus ministries in your prayers. I grew tremendously during this time, so my thanks goes out to the Dominican community and the students, in allowing God's love to pour through their love. I have since accepted a position as the Music Coordinator at St. Timothy Catholic Church in Mesa, AZ. Music ministry has always been my primary passion, so I am very excited to be able to focus on serving the Church through music, I hope that God will use my service in this role to lead others closer to Him.

In May, I was blessed with the opportunity to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with my girlfriend, Paige Dowler, and her family. We went with a pilgrimage group that was led by one of the Franciscans in Israel. I want to preface everything I say about the pilgrimage by saying that simply visiting the Holy Land doesn't make you any more holy, and never visiting the Holy Land doesn't prevent you from a special holiness. There are have been many Saints who never had the opportunity for a Holy Land pilgrimage. What a Holy Land pilgrimage allows though, is the opportunity to bring the Word of God more alive in our hearts in being able to visit the places that the events in scripture took place. This opens up a specific and vivid way that God can speak to us and draw us closer to Him.

One of the most powerful places for me was the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth. It was moving to visit the location where the angel Gabriel visited Mary to bring her the news of God's plan for salvation, and where Mary's "yes" allowed God to become man to save all of humankind. Where Mary, the New Eve, out of her own free will, surrendered her own will in uniting it to God's plan to bring the Word of God to become flesh. During my time of prayer in this Basilica, I felt Jesus move in my heart a sense of joy in welcoming me to the actual place he grew up. There's a certain depth to a friendship when you welcome a friend into the house you grew up in, not that it's necessary for a friendship, but it becomes much easier to reach that depth. This is what I experienced, moving me to then reflect on the areas of my life that I've surrendered to my relationship with Jesus and what areas I can still unite to God's will. More than anything though, that joy and excitement from God in my heart stuck with me.

Towards the end of the pilgrimage, we had the opportunity to have Mass in the Tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Once again, God spoke in a unique way, in particular during communion. During most of the Mass, since the altar is within the inmost part of the tomb, we could not see the presider. To distribute communion, he had to come out of the inner tomb to the area we were standing, and in that moment, I was struck with the mystery of the Eucharist. Even though Jesus told his disciples that he was going to die, His disciples never completely understood why until after the resurrection. It was through the lens of the resurrection that they finally understood the cross. Through the lens of the cross and resurrection, they finally understood the Last Supper, what he meant by "This is my body...do this in memory of me." (Lk 22:19). The disciples then went forward in faith and spread the love of God and the message of the Gospel with the Eucharist as their source. In this moment, of seeing the Eucharist, our Lord Jesus himself, really, truly, and fully present as much as he was the day he walked out of that tomb 2000 years ago, struck my heart profoundly. Even more powerful, is the realization that during every Mass, that moment of Jesus's death and resurrection 2000 years ago enters back into time, and we witness that very moment. This Mass was an encounter with the place and time of our redemption. The glory of God left me in awe of the profound truth of our Catholic faith and opened my heart to the realization that he desires for us to passionately share the incredible gift of the Eucharist, the love of God that pours from the death and resurrection of our Lord present in the Mass.

This time of pilgrimage and change has guided me to reflect on my entire life, in particular an experience that radically changed my life exactly 20 years ago. My dad became sick with an unusual environmental sickness, and the rest of my family and I also contracted new symptoms like allergies and asthma. We realized that this was most likely due to carbon monoxide poisoning, and the only solution for us was to move from our comfortable Denver suburban home away from everything and into the mountains. This confusion at the time drew my entire family closer to God, turning our lukewarm faith into complete reliance on God. The interesting part is that this all happened during World Youth Day '93, when Pope John Paul II (soon to be canonized), along with half-a-million pilgrims from all over the world visited Denver. Since then, numerous ministries and movements of the Church have grown out of Denver, representing fruits of the Holy Spirit during this time. I remember being frustrated that I couldn't go to World Youth Day to see the Pope, and instead had to pack my belongings into boxes. What I realize now is that God was moving us, not only physically but within our hearts, to prepare my family to follow Him. (Check the ministries my sister and brother-in-law, Cristina and Cristóbal Almanza, serve in: Heroic Media and Austin Catholic New Media)

Twenty years later, I realize that life itself is a pilgrimage. We are, after all, called the "pilgrim Church" during our life here on Earth. Sometimes it takes us 20 years and a trip overseas to understand an illness. But sometimes, it only takes an open heart to the voice of God, to trust that we are following Him with our whole heart and that He's guiding us in this journey of life.

The Church, to which we are all called in Christ Jesus, and in which by the grace of God we acquire holiness, will receive its perfection only in the glory of heaven, when will come the time of the renewal of all things (Acts 3:21). At that time, together with the human race, the universe itself, which is so closely related to man and which attains its destiny through him, will be perfectly reestablished in Christ (cf. Eph. 1:10; Col. 1:20; 2 Pet. 3:10-13).

Christ lifted up from the earth, has drawn all men to himself (cf. Jn. 12:32). Rising from the dead (cf. Rom. 6:9) he sent his life-giving Spirit upon his disciples and through him set up his Body which is the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation. Sitting at the right hand of the Father he is continually active in the world in order to lead men to the Church and, through it, join them more closely to himself; and, by nourishing them with his own Body and Blood, make them partakers of his glorious life. The promised and hoped for restoration, therefore, has already begun in Christ. It is carried forward in the sending of the Holy Spirit and through him continues in the Church in which, through our faith, we learn the meaning of our earthly life, while we bring to term, with hope of future good, the task allotted to us in the world by the Father, and so work out our salvation (cf. Phil. 2:12).

Already the final age of the world is with us (cf. 1 Cor. 10:11) and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way- it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect. However, until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells (cf. 2 Pet. 3:13) the pilgrim Church, in its sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God (cf. Rom. 8: 19-22)....

For if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the Most Holy Trinity--all of us who are sons of God and form one family in Christ (cf. Heb. 3:6)--we will be faithful to the deepest vocation of the Church and will share in a foretaste of the liturgy of perfect glory.[25] At the hour when Christ will appear, when the glorious resurrection of the dead will occur, the glory of God will light up the heavenly city, and the Lamb will be its lamp (cf. Rev 21:24). Then the whole Church of the saints in the supreme happiness of charity will adore God and "the Lamb who was slain" (Rev 5:12), proclaiming with one voice: "To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever' (Rev 5:13-14).

- Lumen Gentium, "The Pilgrim Church"

Ultimately then, what is the meaning of life? To love and grow closer to Love Himself. Let us continue on this pilgrimage of life and seek to love God and one another, longing for the day we are fully united with Him in Heaven.

Music and Liturgy

"[Good music] make[s] the liturgical prayers of the Christian community more alive and fervent so that everyone can praise and beseech the Triune God more powerfully, more intently and more effectively.” - Pope Pius XII, Musicae Sacrae Disciplina (On Sacred Music) (1955)

First of all, on behalf of Catholic liturgical musicians, I want to apologize. A lot of us don't know what we're doing sometimes. And that's probably why you either don't like certain types of music for Mass, especially contemporary worship, or you don't understand the importance of certain songs throughout the Liturgy... and you think that the cross-clap is a healthy spiritual practice. Both point back to one thing - lack of training and/or care towards liturgical music.

Lately, I've encountered a lot of people in discussing music for Mass, especially with the new Roman Missal translation. I've encountered many people throughout my life that think that you can just pick whatever music you want for any point in the Mass, for example, "Why can't we just play this other song in place of singing the Psalm?" Some people like this free-wheeling attitude, because it's "fresh" and "exciting." Others have criticized the use of certain types of very appropriate, liturgical, prayerful, Catholic music because it "isn't the way liturgical music should be." They think that it should only be one type of music, whether that be Gregorian chant or organ-led hymnody, because it's the way music for liturgy has always been.

What is common from both sides of criticism is a misunderstanding of the music's function in the Liturgy. If we're walking out of Mass on Sunday criticizing the music, we're missing the point. The music's role is to serve the Liturgy. It's not for entertainment or to make us feel good, and it's not to make us feel more holy than we are. It's to guide our hearts into prayer with God. That's all any music for the Mass, whether Gregorian chant or contemporary worship, should do. As a side note, I won't take away from the fact that our Church teaches that Gregorian chant is "specially suited for the Roman Liturgy." (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 116) Why though? Because it easily lifts the heart into prayer with God, regardless of who is "leading worship" or what songs are selected for the Liturgy. I'll admit, there are many who misuse their role in music ministry by turning it into a stage. Let's pray for those who do. It's been a problem throughout the Church's history. Let's remember though, that the Liturgy at one point didn't have guitars, pianos, organs, even Gregorian chant. What the Liturgy had though, was the Eucharist, and everything should point to that Sacrament. The next time we go to Mass, let's allow whatever music is played to guide our hearts into prayer.

"Our participation in the Liturgy is challenging. Sometimes, our voices do not correspond to the convictions of our hearts. At other times, we are distracted or preoccupied by the cares of the world. But Christ always invites us to enter into song, to rise above our own preoccupations, and to give our entire selves to the hymn of his Paschal Sacrifice for the honor and glory of the Most Blessed Trinity." - Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship, 14

For those who select music for Mass, let's dive even deeper into what the Church teaches about music and the Liturgy. Let's read documents the Church has published, like "Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship" and "Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy)," and also read books like "The Spirit of the Liturgy" by Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI. In later blogs I will dive into the music specific to each part of the Liturgy. Our effort as Liturgical musicians will transform the way that our communities will be able to receive God in the Word and how much they allow the Eucharist to transform their lives.

Links to Documents: Sacrosanctum Concilium Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship

Thoughts on Worship and Engineering

Being an engineering major (I know, I know, it’s ok you didn’t know), a lot of time I was  just thrown complicated equations and expected to apply real life to it.  It was a struggle, with my few music classes giving me a breath of fresh air a few times a week.  I wasn't sure what to do with the equations and engineering principles sometimes, because most of the time they apply to only a certain set of conditions, assumptions, etc.  But sitting in my mechanical vibrations class, I learned about the concept that everything has a resonant frequency, which is the frequency at which an object/thing/whatever-is-being-talked about resonates at its maximum amplitude.  Stay with me here.  So once this “thing” is vibrating at a specific rate that everything about it says, “This is it!” and it goes crazy.  It shakes almost uncontrollably.  Bridges have collapsed because the wind simply caused it to vibrate at it’s resonant frequency.  It’s crazy stuff. So I asked myself, “Everything has a resonant frequency?  Everything?!?”  What about “things” we can’t necessarily see?  …Like our souls?

God created everything so wonderfully.  And through it all, He designed all of it to point back to Himself, so that all that He created can be reminded of how much He loves us.  I know every time I see a breathtaking mountain view or feel the power of the ocean while at the beach, I can’t help but think about how powerful God is and how powerful His love is for each one of us.  And when we recognize the power of God’s love, we are encouraged to open ourselves up to Him to grow into a deeper relationship with Him.  And when we open up to Him, we experience and share in God’s love, the love that poured from the cross.  Yet something special happens in our hearts, our souls, our entire beings when we open up to His love.  Something that is difficult to explain…without the idea of the resonant frequency.

I think we are created with a resonant frequency, and that frequency is the love of God, which is God Himself since God is love.  When we are shaken by that frequency, by God’s love, our entire being resonates.  It resonates far more than when anything else tries to shake us.  That resonance is worship.  So often we make worship out to be something it’s not.  It’s not about the music, the person singing next to you off-key, the hand motions, the light show or lack-thereof, the awkward smell wafting around the room, etc.  It’s the position of the heart, and if that position is open to God.  It’s about resonating with His love, and that’s it.  If we’re wondering why sometimes we just feel like a time of worship was shallow and meaningless for us, maybe we’re simply not allowing ourselves to resonate with God regardless of any externalities.  Many times we bring a lot on our shoulders to worship moments that shouldn’t even be there in the first place, like preconceived notions about what the worship time should be (and if it lives up to that expectation), things that dampen our ability to resonate.  We need to be conscious of these things, and lay them down before God, because He alone can heal, nourish, and sustain.

Next time we worship, I pray that we can open our hearts fully to Him, so that we can fully resonate with His love the way He created us to.  Let’s pray, Lord, help us when we worship to grow in our love for You, so that we can love like You.