When I encounter the Good News as read by Johnny Cash, I encounter it as a living proclamation—not as a dead letter.
Music
Posted inMusic
A Jesuit music ministry travels from Hiroshima to Rome to sing for peace
For this Japanese choir, to sing at this memorial for St. Ignatius Loyola was to bring their own prayers for peace as the world marks the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Twenty years on, Sufjan Stevens’ ‘Illinois’ is still telling an American story
“Illinois” describes a state and a nation in motion, full of complicated human beings who do bad things and good things.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
‘A singing church is a praying church’: The East Brothers’ gifts of faith and music
For Monsignor Ray East and his brother Nathan, their faith feeds their music and their music feeds their faith.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and the Communion of Saints
Bob Dylan, more than anyone, fused the pop cultural and the religious experience into one.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
What fans lost when we lost One Direction’s Liam Payne
Being a Directioner—what we fans of One Direction call ourselves—has always offered a sense of inclusion and belonging.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
‘R-Rated Taylor Swift’: Why this priest is paying attention (and listening) to Chappell Roan
I’m interested in Chappell Roan because the culture has interest in her and because she’s a very talented, intelligent young artist.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
A rare Jesuit opera inspired by St. Francis Xavier
The opera ‘San Xavier’ provides a glimpse of how Jesuits evangelized with music—a key dimension of the 1986 film “The Mission.”
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Bronx bluesman and self-proclaimed ‘ferocious Catholic’: Dion DiMucci considers his legacy
Dion a great artist who continues to write and record music even now. But he is also a devoted Catholic, having returned to the faith of his childhood in midlife.
Posted inArts & Culture, Music
Kendrick Lamar is (lyrically) beating up on Drake in ways hip-hop has never seen before. Why are we eating it up?
A beef between two of the biggest rappers in the world, Kendrick Lamar and Drake, has birthed unforgettable songs for both of these artists.