Queen of Apostles Parish Family

How do we determine who gets the credit for impressive results or accomplishments? When an athlete performs at an extraordinary level, commentators talk about the long hours of practice that went into honing their skills. When an employee produces superior results, hopefully it is recognized and praised in their organization, and it is credited to their dedication and talent. When children behave notably well, their parents are praised for raising them right and teaching them discipline and other important habits.   Click on title for full column.

I spend a fair bit of my time talking with engaged couples about their hopes and dreams for their life together. These wonderful couples range from folks who were widowed after forty-plus years of marriage and are now remarrying, all the way down to couples where one or both spouses were born after the turn of the new millennium. It’s quite the spectrum of experience, and the conversations are always illuminating. But one of the things that these couples universally have to do is negotiate on how they will blend their habits and expectations together in marriage. What type of toothpaste, chunky vs. smooth peanut butter, and which side of the bed each party claims all have to be settled. Life and death matters, these. Similarly, we are at the beginning of an ongoing conversation in our family of parishes about how best to unify some of our practices and traditions to be more visibly one in Christ. And while none of you will ever convince me to switch back to smooth peanut butter, I’d like to use this column to introduce a liturgical music practice that we will be introducing across the board come Lent.  Click on title for full column.