Faith in Action: Interview with Erin Leahy

(Credit: leahymusic.com)

John O’Brien: Erin, you are a full-time musician, with a busy touring schedule, at least four albums your credit and that of the band Leahy. You have won Juno awards for your music, most memorably the “best new group” and “best instrumental artist” award in 1998. You toured extensively with Shania Twain, and continue to tour internationally year after year. Needless to say, music is the primary occupation of your life. What inspired you to become a full-time musician?

Calling All People to Life

By John D. O’Brien, S.J. 

Photo: John O'Brien

Coming so soon from watching one of the most moving and remarkable films I’ve ever seen, I was inspired when I received a song by Canadian songwriter and musician Erin Leahy that explored similar themes. Leahy’s “Calling All People to Life”, like the movie Gravity, dwells upon the idea of the inherent fragility and value of human life, pivots upon the power of prayer, alludes to the fundamental choice between life and death, and has great exultant motifs of baptism and rebirth. Already getting radio-play, this new song from the Juno-award winning artist also captures several basic themes from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. I invite readers to first take a moment and listen to the song for themselves, which is posted here with her permission:

David, King of the Blues

By Artur Suski, S.J.

Credit: www.youtube.com

As an amateur musician, I’ve always been captivated by the blues genre of music. I started to play the acoustic guitar at the age of twelve. As soon as I was able to play some chords, I attempted to play the blues. It’s hard to describe what attracted me to that kind of music. Was it the free-style improvisation? The deep, low sounding chords, that somehow resonate with the deep sighs of the soul? Or was it the melancholic, sorrowful feel to the music?

The Golden-Tongued Composer

By John D. O'Brien, S.J.

This week, December 5th to be precise, is the anniversary of the death of one of history’s greatest musical geniuses, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It seems that everybody loves Mozart; even his contemporaries recognized his greatness. Josef Haydn wrote that “posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years”, and few would argue that this mantle may be extended for several hundred more. His compositions—more than 600 of them—have both depth and pathos, yet seem to dance with a lightness that returns us to joy. But what is more interesting is what a number of theologians have recognized in his work.

The Doctor Is In: St. Hildegard of Bingen

By Eric Hanna, S.J.
 

Credit: www.hildegardofbingen.net

When we think of the middle ages, we think of cold, dark castles, miserable and dirty peasants, and austere holy men preaching damnation. But the middle ages were as dynamic and full of life as any period in the human story, with personal struggle, vivid imagination, intellectual curiosity, and love of beauty. And one of the shining lights of these so-called dark ages was a brilliant woman called Hildegard of Bingen, eleventh century Abbess, composer, biologist, healer, writer and spiritual advisor. And today, Hildegard is both a saint and a doctor of the church.


On October 7th, Pope Benedict XVI opened the Synod on the New Evangelization with the announcement that saints Hildegard of Bingen and John of Avila would be officially declared Doctors of the Church. This title is bestowed on writers to recognize that the whole church has “benefited greatly from their doctrine”. Hildegard's writing is an example of excellence both in nature and grace. She writes brilliantly on the basis of a keen intellect and her personal experience of many facets of human life. She was also inspired by holy visions received as part of a lifetime of devoted prayer.

The Second Vatican Council After Fifty Years: Sacrosanctum Concilium on the Liturgy

By John D. O’Brien, S.J.

The first issue the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) looked at, and one that arguably had the most direct effect on the lives of individual Catholics, was that of liturgy. The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium authorized certain changes to the Roman Catholic Mass, and with other reforms in the years that followed, dramatically transformed its appearance: the use of the vernacular, the altar facing the people, and in 1969, an entirely new rite known as the “Novus Ordo”, today known as the Ordinary Form, introduced by Pope Paul VI. It is not the purpose of this post to analyze every change made in the last fifty years, but rather to examine Sacrosanctum Concilium itself, and attempt to summarize the intentions of the Council Fathers who wrote and passed it.

The main purpose of this constitution fit into the larger purpose of the Council itself, as its first paragraph makes plain:

The road to Social Justice - Part 1

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S. J.

learningcommons.ubc.c

We are only a few weeks into the new academic term, and already, it’s one of the most exciting ones I’ve ever had. All of my classes touch upon themes that could become part of my future vocation: scripture analysis, interfaith dialogue, deepening my knowledge of the Church through Papal documents and through philosophical wrestling matches with Thomas Aquinas, exploring the reality of Catholic educators in the 21st century, etc. At the heart of this journey lies my desire to learn more about the Church’s social justice doctrine, and to understand how the wisdom of this doctrine can come to life in our Catholic communities. An integral part of this firm program of perpetual readings is learning about many outstanding people who live and do justice better than any encyclical or other documents can articulate.

One Day in Toronto

By John D. O'Brien, S.J.

Occasionally you have a day in which it seems the Lord is being extra abundant in his grace. This was one such day. Not necessarily a typical day in the life of a Jesuit scholastic, but nonetheless, one that I and several of my confreres enjoyed, and since it gives glory to God, allow me to share a bit about it.

The day began with the ordination of one of our colleagues, and it was one of the most beautiful S.J. ordinations I’ve attended. The choir came from a parish in the city where the ordinandus had been working as a deacon. They sang sacred music, including some polyphonic hymns that gave the Mass that holy feel in which it seemed heaven and earth were meeting – as indeed they were. When we sang the Veni Creator, requesting the descent of the Holy Spirit upon him in our midst, the faith of the people was particularly eloquent. Since the man of the hour was of Irish provenance, the choir added the simultaneously plaintive and uplifting sound of violin and uilleann pipes – rarely heard in our country – giving a sense of the depth and drama of human vocation in God’s great plan. An ordination, like a wedding, is a privileged foretaste of the heavenly banquet.

Finding God in Rock - Part 2

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S. J.

I have begun a Spanish immersion program in Venezuela, and I am sure there will be plenty of material to share about it in the future. For now, I’d like to finish my reflections on the wonderful Alternative rock band from Montreal, Arcade Fire.When their third album, ‘The Suburb’ came out, I was a little slow to get into it. There was even more buzz around this album than the other two.

However, it was a very different sounding album, and I needed a few days to adapt. But once I did, I realized why heads were being turned: it was a phenomenal album.

Finding God in Rock - Part 1

By Brother Daniel Leckman, S.J.

I have just came back from a couple of spiritually uplifting days in Wikwemikong, an unceded native reserve in Ontario, and at the Jesuit-run Anishinabe Spiritual Centre in Espanola. There were many spiritual fruits from those days, but I am not ready to blog about them yet. When thinking about preparing this entry, I thought of Arcade Fire. This is a band that’s been on many people’s minds since their first album Funeral came out in 2005.

I eventually began listening to that album in 2006. At first, I was not impressed: the vocals are unorthodox and not that pleasant, and the music is a little repetitive and simplistic at times. Oddly enough, it was around that time that I also began to appreciate U2. I had heard them before, but had not carefully listened to their music before. There is no doubt that Bono and his boys do have a bit of an influence on the sound of Arcade Fire. So what I was beginning to like about U2, I also liked about Arcade Fire: a simple, but effective base line. I took pleasure in the exquisite use of power chords – those usually turn me off – but both bands seem to be able to use them rather effectively.

If It Makes You Happy...

By Edmund Lo, S.J.

For the past few days, I have been frantically working on an assignment for my “Sexuality and Marriage” ethics class, which comes in the form of a presentation on pornography to a group of university students. Through this process I had come across quite a few studies that examine the effects of pornography on many fronts. One of the studies cites a strong association between pornography use and dissatisfaction with the users' own intimate relationships, in addition to the plethora of other damages that it elicits.

I personally find it ironic that pornography users seek out these XXX materials for their personal gratification, but end up with a bigger void and dissatisfaction on all fronts. This reminds me of a pop song in my youth, “If It Makes You Happy” by Sheryl Crow. Two lines of the lyrics are particularly suitable for this occasion:

Beauty, Where Art Thou?

By Artur Suski, S.J.

When I was pondering about what to write for my next blog entry, I happened to be listening to Mozart’s Symphony no. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”). There I was, listening to the first movement, with its interplay of upbeat rhythms led by a choir of violins, amidst the slow and lofty themes; all that kept coming to my mind was “what beauty!” I often do not have such reactions – surely a sign that I should listen to more Mozart – which made me reflect upon why this was so. Is it because I don’t intentionally seek out the beautiful? Or is it because today’s human-made world has lost its splendour and beauty? After all, how often do we hear people complementing anything today as ‘beautiful’? Perhaps I am out of touch with today’s culture of pop music, but I haven’t heard anyone describe any recent hits as 'beautiful'.

Take architecture as another example. Are there any contemporary buildings that can be described as 'beautiful'? ‘Interesting’ would be a better word. A friend of mine recently took a course on aesthetics, and the professor asked the students what they thought of the new design of the Royal Ontario Museum (the ROM). For those of you who have walked down Bloor Street in downtown Toronto, you may have noticed a somewhat older building with recently-added glass protrusions…what does it look like? Can one describe it as beautiful? (Un)surprisingly, no one in the class was able to describe the edifice as such.

The ROM

I may be completely wrong about this – as I await your comments – but it seems to me that today our contemporary culture has abandoned the 'beautiful' and embraced the practical or that which looks provocative; that is, what attracts attention to itself. Others say that they go for the symbolic: their creations ‘transcend’ beauty in order to express something more, an idea, or a message. It is assumed that they need to make their oeuvre stand out in some way; otherwise beauty is simply looked upon and quickly passed by, without being given another thought.

This Song...Praises the Lord

By Eric Hanna, S.J.


We all think it from time to time: this song sucks. Liturgical music has an important function. It unites the people together in the act of creating music. The congregation takes up an active role in the liturgy when we sing together.

But there's no pleasing everyone. Once in awhile, I think we all discover a hymn that grates on our nerves, or lyrics we find trite. But, like the comic illustrates, you can never know what your fellow parishioners are thinking.