In our recent conversations with Fr. Michael Leonard Hahn about marriage preparation and Fr. Jim Martin about evangelization, both guests referenced the apostolic exhortations of Pope Francis. Many of our listeners were familiar with these documents, but the discussions in these episodes prompted more than one listener to write in and ask, “where do I find out more?” and “how should I be reading and studying these documents?” and even, “what the heck is an apostolic exhortation?”

In today’s episode, we explore Pope Francis’ newest Apostolic Exhortation, Gaudete et Exultate.In addition to surveying what it says, we will also consider its pastoral implications, and why all of us in pastoral ministry should pay attention to these types of documents. To do so, we’ll speak with an expert on this subject, Bill Huebsch, and we’ll hear from the document itself during our Ministry Moment.

As we in the United States look forward to celebrating Mother’s Day this coming Sunday, we in the Church are celebrating “Mother’s Month.” The custom of honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary during the month of May dates back as early as the Thirteenth Century, with special prayers, devotions, celebrations, and – of course – special music.

Today, in place of our customary interview, we are bringing you an audio program from the Open Your Hymnal podcast. Open Your Hymnal, cohosted by Zack Stachowski and Matt Reichert, is a special project aimed at breaking open the best-loved and most-common liturgical music in the Catholic repertoire. Each episode explores one song and features conversation with the composer and, sometimes, special guests. 

To commemorate this Marian month, we are pleased to present today our interview with composer Carey Landry about his song “Hail Mary: Gentle Woman.” Originally released in the 1970s, this song has been a staple of parishes around the world. Yet, though you may know the song well, there are new corners to explore and messages to consider.

Just as the Advent season prepares us for the Incarnation, and the Lenten season prepares us for the Resurrection, we know that the celebration of the Easter season prepares us for Commissioning: “Go, make disciples of all nations.” The Gospel readings of this season serve as a primer in discipleship: the model of the Good Shepherd, the vines bearing much fruit, the command to love one another as Christ has loved us. Yet, though it is, indeed, Good News, spreading the Gospel is hard work! There are many barriers in our way: limits of time and resources, an unfriendly or inhospitable popular culture, and – sometimes the biggest barrier of all – ourselves.

In today’s episode, we explore the topic of evangelization – how do we in pastoral ministry reach beyond those already active and in attendance? What works? What doesn’t? What mindset must we cultivate in order to be successful? We’ll also discuss two subsidiary topics: maintaining healthy balance, and navigating the culture wars being waged within the Church. To do so, we’ll hear from two people renowned for their efforts at evangelization: Fr. James Martin, SJ, and Jean Vanier.

With Easter behind us, celebrations of First Communion and Confirmation underway, and the last remnants of late-season snow storms melting, we can finally let our minds drift with thoughts of summer. While students and families are dreaming of vacation season, with camping trips and time spent at the beach, those who work in pastoral ministry are bracing for wedding season: the planning, the questions, the liturgical struggles, the lost Saturday afternoons, and the never-ending loop of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”

In this episode, we explore the pastoral challenges, opportunities, and implications of marriage celebrations today. To do so, we’ll look at marriage preparation, the changing relationship young couples have with the parish entity, and the navigation of both the universality and particularity of the Church’s celebration. Fr. Michael Leonard Hahn, OSB, helps us examine these topics through the lens of Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on love in the family. We’ll also hear excerpts from the document in this week’s Ministry moment.

One of the major pastoral opportunities facing those of us in ministry is in the area of representation. With increasingly diverse membership, even in rural and outlying communities, there isn’t a parish in existence that shouldn’t be evaluating their practice carefully. As our cultural paradigm shifts from “believing leads to belonging” to “belonging leads to believing,” our success in gathering, leading, and ministering to a community starts with whether the members of that community feel they belong in the first place.

Kate Williams

Kate Williams

In our last episode, Diana Macalintal challenged us to consider the issue of representation when we process and evaluate our liturgical celebrations. In particular, Diana challenged us to ask how much of our liturgical music repertoire was composed by women. In this episode, we explore that challenge more deeply through conversation with two important voices: Sarah Hart and Kate Williams. In doing so, we consider the progress that women composers have made in liturgical circles, the barriers that remain, and we ask, “what, exactly, is the feminine compositional voice”?

Doing real, objective evaluation of our liturgies, especially major celebrations like those during Triduum, is so important, yet can be difficult to get right. Often, we are tempted to do the evaluating in real time, while the liturgies are happening, but that prevents us from entering into the prayer and mystery of the celebration. Other times we are tempted to wait, and we do, but we wait too long and so forget what went well, what went wrong, or ideas about what might be done differently. Today our evaluation gets a boost from two important sources: Diana Macalintal provides a list of ten triduum pro-tips. Rachel Held Evans asks the question, “So how was your Easter…really?”

Lent is behind us. Triduum is over. Our Easter Sunday liturgies are complete. Alleluia, indeed! Today, we’ll hear a lively presentation from the late Dr. Alexander Peloquin. Recorded at the first NPM national convention in 1978, Dr.  Peloquin shares a lively history of music in the liturgy. For the next hour, he will explore the evolution of liturgical music. From the earliest chants to the great sequences and hymns of the Reformation and Counter Reformation, right through to the early years of post Vatican II music, you’ll hear examples of how music in the Church has been influenced – and has influenced in turn – the development of western music. Dr. Peloquin combines music theory, liturgical history, pastoral commentary, and a good deal of humor.

As we journey through the holiest week of the year, rife with ancient traditions and rituals, our episode today focuses on one of the Church’s oldest musical traditions: chant. The prominence – or absence – of chant in American parishes has been a much-discussed topic in the decades following Vatican II. Some parishes chant in the vernacular, others in Latin. Some chant a lot, others barely at all. Regardless of your viewpoint or preference, and no matter how much chant is in your repertoire, odds are that – at some point this week – your community will experience chant at one or more of the liturgies of Triduum.

Today we bring you a short audio program from Saint Meinrad’s Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana. Titled, “Drinking God Straight,” this program describes the tradition of chant in the Church’s liturgical life, but also details the ways that chant changed and transitioned after the Second Vatican Council. Hosted by Brothers Joel and Kolbe, you’ll hear from several voices, including Fr. Columba Kelly, OSB, renowned chant scholar and teacher.

None of us needs to be reminded that next week is the biggest week of the liturgical year. All of us have our “to do” lists ready, and we will be feverishly making final preparations in the days ahead. What we do need reminding of is to slow down, to breathe, and to be attentive to what it is we really do: lead people in prayer. Today we will hear two important messages: Sr. Kathleen Harmon helps us refocus on our role as prayer leaders, not simply leaders of music. Pat Kerwin reminds us that it’s called “ministry,” not “martyrdom.”

Since this weekend brought daylight savings time, our topic today is “looking forward.” While the new liturgical year is many months away, the new fiscal year is not. Across the country, dioceses have been studying and making preparations for new administrative and organizational realities, including clustered parishes. 

Our guest today, Fr. Paul Turner, shares liturgical considerations and opportunities that are present in clustered communities. We also hear the words of the late Bishop Ken Untener (1937-2004), written in honor of Archbishop Oscar Romero.