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As we start Thanksgiving week in the United States, we ask: Is there space for gratitude, in the midst of division, chaos, and overcrowded hospitals? How can we pause for Thanksgiving when so many lives are at stake?

The truth is, we can’t. At least, we cannot to the fullest expression of Thanksgiving that many of us are used to. And yet, in the midst of the chaos, the uncertainty, and the awful virus that plagues our country, there might be a way to express gratitude. There might just be a silver lining.

Today I speak to Kate Basi. Author and liturgical composer Kathleen M. Basi is a mother of three active boys (read that: always breaking something) and one chromosomally-gifted daughter. Her books on faith formation are available from Liguori and Our Sunday Visitor, and her music for Catholic worship is available through WLP/GIA as well as Simply Liturgical Music.

I asked Kate to sit down with me and chat about the lens of gratitude she discusses in her most recent Liturgical Singer article, an NPM-created publication for cantors and other singers alike. Kate’s perspective is honest and real, filled with motherhood and ministry, and is just the thing I needed to start this week’s unconventional Thanksgiving.

Today on the episode I speak to Valerie Lee-Jeter and Bob McCarty about the future of NPM through the lens of the NPM 2.0 initiative.

Valerie is the Music Director at St. Vincent de Paul Church, Philadelphia with an MA in Liturgical Studies, and is a member of the NPM Board of Directors.

Bob McCarty is NPM’s interim Executive Director, having served in leadership and guidance roles in NPM regarding the NPM 2.0 initiative.

Valerie, Bob and I sit down and discuss: what has changed? When will it go into effect? And when will we retire the use of the phrase, “NPM 2.0”?

In honor of Black Catholic History Month, today’s episode features Sister Thea Bowman as she addressed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1989, less than one year from her death due to breast cancer. Sister Thea’s powerful word and song echoed in the minds of those who were gathered that day, and those who still listen, as she asks: “What does it mean to be Black in the Church and in society today?”