Last week’s podcast episode featured the “Best Of…” for the history of the podcast. The episode chosen was episode #25: The Singing Priest, featuring Ricky Manalo.

The relationship between us, as music ministers, and the clergy which we serve is critical. Our clergy are our shepherds of our flock. They are our bosses, our administrators, and, in many cases, our spiritual advisors. But I hope I don’t ruffle too many feathers when I say that most clergy do not enter the seminary to become leaders in solely music for the Church. Their charisms span a different range, and music may or may not be one of them. Some priests and deacons love to sing, and some, truthfully, shy away from the opportunity. I can guess that most of us have experienced a liturgy in which the priest sung extraordinary parts of the Mass and the spirit of the liturgy was absolutely elevated as a result.

What can we do to support our clergy as they develop their own musical voice?

Congratulations on providing music for some of the holiest days of the year in our church calendar. We hope you had another successful Christmas Eve/Christmas Day celebration, as well as the Feast of the Holy Family. If you’re anything like me, you haven’t quite fully recovered yet: the onslaught of family events, social events and weekend Masses may still have you in a fog. (At least, they do to me!)

That’s why today we’re hearkening back to the “Best of…” episode for 2019. We polled and looked at what was the most popular episode of the year. It was a close one, but the “Best Of…” episode is…..Episode 25: “The Singing Priest”, featuring Ricky Manalo!

It’s almost here. We’re T-minus 24 hours until the Christmas Eve/Christmas Day marathon for so many of us. The instruments are tuned. The binders are prepared. The choirs have learned their music…for the most part. And the preludes & postludes have been practiced.

What’s left to do, except most possibly…everything?

Today we invite you to take a few minutes and listen to a great podcast episode as you write out Christmas cards for all of your pastoral musicians. Today on the podcast we have the privilege of interviewing John Romeri, Director of Music for Christ Cathedral in the Diocese of Orange, California.