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We are back from a brief Easter hiatus, and while we are happy to be back, our hearts are heavy here in the NPM National Office at the passing of our Holy Father, Pope Francis. I recently read his autobiography, “Hope,” and it gave me the chance to learn more about Pope Francis and his life as Jorge Bergoglio as well. If you haven’t read it, I strongly encourage that you do, especially in this Jubilee Year of Hope.

As we collectively mourn the loss of Pope Francis, our Holy Father, NPM has offered a compilation of resources for personal and ministerial use. They can be found at www.npm.org, and they will be linked int the show notes of this episode. We pray that they provide solace, comfort, and hope in the Resurrection.

Today we continue the topic of sequences. Fr. Michael Joncas began our examination of the Church’s current use of sequences before we journeyed through Holy Week, and today Fr. Roc O’Connor continues this conversation. Roc O’Connor, SJ has been a member the Society of Jesus for over fifty years. He served in pastoral settings for most of his ministerial life – parishes, college and universities, and Jesuit formation. He is a founding member of the St. Louis Jesuits, a group that has shaped pastoral music for all of us today and has earned worldwide recognition.

Roc helps us with a primer of sorts on the sequences for Easter Sunday, Pentecost, and Corpus Christi. This particular episode is very beneficial when viewed as a video episode. You can find it in the show notes of this episode, as well as on NPM’s youtube channel, youtube.com/NPMlivestream. If you can’t access the video version of this episode, keep in mind that Roc allows us to flow between the Latin text, the ICEL translation, and the Roman Missal translation freely, examining how they work together and help to bring forth the sacred in some of the holiest days in our Church calendar.

Today is the last episode Ministry Monday will be airing before a brief Holy Week and Easter hiatus. We wanted to leave you with an episode that would provide a prayerful pause as you wrap up the last rehearsals, make the last binders, and write the last “thank you” notes to your Holy Week musicians. Today we begin a conversation focusing on the sequences and hear from Fr. J. Michael Joncas. What is the history of a sequence’s form? What terminology predates the sequences? How can we most effectively employ sequences in our parishes? It is a great episode from which to prepare the Sequence for Easter Sunday.

During the month of March NPM celebrates the women that shape us and love us into being. Those who fight against the injustices of our society today. Women in religious life who are our spiritual guides. And those among us who lead and serve the Church in lay ministry. We are honored to celebrate you! And today we offer a replay episode that celebrates some of the strong women in our Church’s history. We hope this episode inspires you, and maybe prompts you to learn more about these holy women- and more.