A weekend of deep prayer, fellowship, formation, and music with other Catholic musicians! The retreat is open to college students and young professionals ages 18-35. Register by January 15!!
COST: $150.00 – Young Professional/$75.00 – College Students
Musicians’ Retreat for Young Adults Read More »
The RC Music Collective is a group of Legionary priests, Consecrated Women, and lay members of Regnum Christi who have been writing and recording music together since 2019, and they now appear on a brand-new platform! Listeners can now find RC Music Collective on Hallow, a Catholic prayer app used by millions of people world-wide that offers a wide selection of contemplative prayer resources, meditations, Catholic Bible readings, music, and more.
But this new collaboration between RC Music Collective and Hallow did not develop overnight, and required some patient waiting from the members of the group. In August of 2022, at a retreat for Catholic business leaders, the RC Music Collective provided the music for adoration and Mass, and for the entertainment portion of the evening following dinner. It was providential that during that dinner, Emily Roman, a Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi and one of the four members of the core team of RC Music Collective, ended up seated next to Hallow CEO, Alex Jones, and was able to share with him about some of the work the collective had been doing. Another four more months passed before, in December 2022, Joe Frederickson, the content lead at Hallow, reached out to begin discussions, and finally, in mid-March of this year, RC Music Collective signed a contract with the app.
RC Music Collective now has its own playlist on Hallow, with eight songs so far, including Revival featuring Colleen McKenna, from their 2021 album of the same name, and Pray for Us (a song for Mary), from their current compilation of songs, called “Follow.” The Hallow app also features “praylists,” a collection of prayers, music, or meditations directed toward a single theme; three of RC Music Collective’s original songs (Gethesemane, So in Love, and Revival) are featured on the app’s current Easter praylist.
Since being featured on the Hallow app, RC Music Collective has seen a dramatic increase in its audience – the number of views on their YouTube channel has risen significantly by several thousand for each video, and the number of monthly listeners on Spotify has doubled! Besides seeing an increase in traffic to their videos, songs, and website, the group has also noticed a rise in the number of comments from listeners sharing the beautiful spiritual experiences to which the music has been leading them. “One young person shared how the song ‘Pray for Us’ had brought her to a very powerful encounter with Mary as her mother,” says Emily. “We have received so many testimonies about how the songs have been deeply touching people who otherwise might not have found our music.”
Along with Emily, Legionary priests Fr. John Klein, LC, Fr. Jaime Lorenzo, LC, and fellow Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi, Jill Swallow, make up the core team of RC Music Collective, who carve out time to spend a week together at least three times a year: for a recording session, a musician’s retreat, and a song-writing week. Jack Dardis and Sarah Carpenter, who frequently collaborate with RC Music Collective, joined the core team this year for the song-writing week, which took place in March in Louisiana. During the week, they were joined by Greg Boudreaux of The Vigil Project, who has been an excellent mentor to the collective throughout its musical journey. As a result of this year’s song-writing week, the group has six to eight songs to discern next steps for – and possibly record – in the upcoming months.
In the midst of their week dedicated to writing songs, RC Music Collective also had the opportunity to play their music at a parish in Covington, Louisiana. Archbishop Gregory Aymond had requested during Lent that each parish within the archdiocese of New Orleans host three evenings of adoration and confession, so the collective, in collaboration with the Regnum Christi locality, provided the music, accompanied by reflections, for one of those nights. This beautiful experience of prayer and song was well received, and the members of the collective continue to discern how God is calling them to invest their time and use their gift of music, and the beautiful chemistry that they have together, toward similar events in the future.
Most recently, the group gathered to host its third annual musician’s retreat, called Music for Mission, held near the end of April in Atlanta, Georgia. The goal of the weekend retreat is to form musical apostles, Catholic musicians who embrace the gift of music in their lives and strive to find its place in the Church. The retreat incorporates four key elements: much-needed fellowship and community with other Catholic musicians, collaborative workshops that can help dispel some of the fear and intimidation surrounding the song-writing process for young musicians, formative talks on the power of music and its role in worship and the liturgy, and perhaps most importantly, time for silent prayer. “We included an element of silence on the Saturday morning of the retreat, to emphasize for these musicians that silence is actually as important as sound,” says Emily “In fact, alternating between silence and sound is what makes music, and yet our world doesn’t really lend itself towards silence.” The retreat included Mass each day, times of communal and private prayer, adoration, and, of course, a fun evening on the last night featuring a jam session and an open mic.
In this month of May, be sure to check out Pray for Us (a song for Mary), the collective’s first song dedicated specifically to the Blessed Mother, and one that is particularly special, not just to Emily, but to all four members of the group: “We all had a sense that Mary wanted a song, and we were all brainstorming, but nothing really clicked. Then Fr. John preached a homily on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes on September 15th, and he began to share his own relationship with Mary in such a tender way that after Mass, Jill and I just stayed in the chapel and wrote. In the end, we had these notebooks full of ideas, and hearts full of what we wanted to say to Mary. When we were all together struggling to come up with a song, I brought out my notes and set them on the piano and suddenly the song came together so quickly and so simply, after such a long time of knowing a song was there and just wishing we could see it! The Holy Spirit moved us so much in the writing process, and now we hear so often from people how much the song has touched them and put words to their own prayer, and how it has helped them encounter the Blessed Mother.”
You can find out more about the RC Music Collective on their website at rcmusiccollective.org, check them out on Facebook or Instagram, or subscribe to the Regnum Christi Music Collective channel on YouTube. Listen to their music on Hallow or any music streaming service.
Emily has been serving in the Atlanta area since 2013, and is currently the Director of Campus Ministry at Pinecrest Academy, a Regnum Christi school in Cumming, Georgia. She graduated from Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island with a Bachelor’s Degree in Religious and Pastoral Studies, and this summer she will be beginning her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership at Notre Dame University.
RC Music Collective Now on Hallow! Read More »
It all started in Holy Week of 2021. Sarah Carpenter had been attending a Catholic high school in Philadelphia, where many of her peers had been taking part in the annual Holy Week missions led by Mission Youth Philly for years, but it wasn’t until her senior year that she herself was able to participate. And those seven days ended up completely changing the trajectory of Sarah’s life.
It was the spring of Sarah’s senior year, and she was getting ready to begin college life. Up until that week, Sarah was set on attending the University of Florida – the deposit had already been put down on her tuition. But over the seven days of Holy Week, everything changed. “It was like a wall had been broken down,” says Sarah, “and my heart was on fire in a way I still can’t fully explain.” The powerful encounters that she experienced during the mission led Sarah to make a decision that she had never imagined herself making. After much time spent in prayer, and a conversation with Fr. Michael Moriarty, LC, Sarah knew with full confidence what God was calling her to do: she would stay in Philadelphia and continue to do the mission work in the Kensington neighbourhood where Mission Youth Philly spends most of its time. Sarah became a Mission Youth Philly Apostle, committing one year of her life to service and evangelization, living in community, receiving focused spiritual formation, and bringing Christ to the streets of Kensington.
Shortly after her mission year began, Sarah felt a deep call to the charism of Regnum Christ, and became a member in October of 2021. In May of 2022, she became a Collaborator with RC Music Collective, a group of Legionaries of Christ, Consecrated Women, and lay Regnum Christi members who create original music to lead others to a transformative encounter with Christ.
Music has always been a part of Sarah’s life, but she had never taken it seriously until her sophomore year of high school. After a terrible failed audition to be one of the school’s jazz singers in her freshman year, Sarah decided to take voice lessons to improve her talents. From that point on, singing became one of the most important parts of her life; by her sophomore year, she was doing musical theatre, singing in six different choirs, and finally became one of the school’s jazz singers that she’d so longed to be.
However, in Sarah’s senior year, after she began experiencing an unexplained weakness in her vocal cords, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease, which, in combination with vocal damage caused by singing jazz, prevented her from being able to sing at all. “It was heartbreaking, and I got to a point where I really did hate singing,” says Sarah. “I literally had to start over, I had to learn how to sing all over again.” But after graduating and being her mission year with Mission Youth Philly, Sarah’s relationship with music changed yet again. “It was no longer just a relationship between me and music – it became a sacred place between me and the Lord. After years of performing in the hopes of receiving praise and gratification from others, it transformed into a humble prayer of love to my heavenly Father.”
Unfortunately for Sarah, her mission year with Mission Youth Philly came to an early end; for health reasons, she had to leave the mission at the end January, which left her feeling lost and alone. Longing to continue singing and writing music, she heard about RC Music Collective, and, prompted by the Holy Spirit, decided to reach out to the group. Sarah attended a musicians’ retreat in March which, for her, was a beautiful experience of consolation and healing of the difficulties she had encountered over the past year, particularly with her relationship with music.
Shortly after, Sarah received a text from Fr. John Klein, LC, inviting her to come record with the Collective in Nashville in June. “I was in total shock, and I had to read the text over and over again because I genuinely couldn’t believe what was happening! It was in every way an answered prayer – the dream I had had since I was 14 years old was coming true!”
Sarah joined Fr. John and the members of RC Music Collective, including two other new Collaborators and Regnum Christi members, Rae Hering and Willie Galvez, in Nashville for a week-long recording session, where they recorded seven new songs. “The entire week felt like one big prayer of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord,” says Sarah:
“From the moment I arrived, I felt so loved and welcomed, and getting to live out that charism of music through the Regnum Christi charism is an experience I don’t think I can fully express in words. This past year was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, but through it, I’ve grown so much as a musician and have become head over heels in love with the Lord – I’m so excited to continue on this crazy journey with him!”
You can check out the Nashville recording sessions on YouTube, or connect with them on Spotify. To find out more about Mission Youth Philly, visit their website at missionyouthphilly.com.
RC Music Collective: Introducing Sarah Carpenter Read More »
The ministry of chaplaincy keeps Fr. John Klein, LC, busy; as the chaplain for the Regnum Christi young men’s section in Atlanta, he helps to facilitate monthly retreats and open yearly Spiritual Exercises for young adults and college students, and organizes monthly street missions through Mercy Missions Atlanta, an initiative that invites high school students and young adults to minister to those they meet on the streets of Atlanta.
Fr. John also serves part-time at the Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, one of the top ranked universities in the United States, assisting the chaplain, Fr. Branson Hipp of the diocese of Atlanta. Fr. John is a spiritual director for the Catholic Center there, as well as an auxiliary chaplain. In this role, he helps with on-campus Masses a few times a week, attends campus retreats, and supports the Catholic student leaders especially the FOCUS Missionaries, full time young adult missionaries who strive to share the hope and joy of the Gospel on their campuses and with the world.
And for Fr. John, this invitation to mission to spread the Gospel, whether it be on campus, or on the streets of Atlanta, is key to his ministry as chaplain, and key to engaging students in their faith:
“Young people love a challenge, and a deeper purpose to their lives. The more we invite them into the great adventure of knowing and experiencing Christ in prayer, the more they will hunger for him. The more we help them uncover the richness, depth, and beauty of the faith by teaching it in a real and dynamic way, the more they will fall in love with it and desire to live it. And the more we challenge them to rise up and put their gifts and talents at the service of evangelizing, the more they will respond and come up with better and more creative apostolates than we could even imagine.”
Offering monthly street evangelization missions allows students to pray together, meet other college students, and learn to overcome their fear in sharing the faith. For Fr. John, the experiences that the students have during street evangelizations and homeless missions are always profound moments of grace.
One of the greatest needs that Fr. John witnesses of the students on campus whom he serves is a need for life-giving community, where they can be themselves, share life, and make unique memories. While most post-secondary schools offer a variety of communities, from sports teams to fraternities and sororities to special interest clubs, it is those communities that have faith as their foundation that Fr. John feels create the deepest and most fulfilling form of friendship and fellowship. “Everyone is looking for a place to belong and be fully alive,” says Fr. John. “Our campus communities should be vibrant, welcoming, and fun, and at the same time deep, challenging, Eucharistic, and real. The more a Catholic community embodies these characteristics, the more it will attract, nourish, and evangelize.”
And of course, students need to develop and nurture a deep and personal experience of Jesus Christ, particularly through the Scriptures, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, in communal prayer, and in silence. “Without this real experience of Christ, the students see the Catholic faith as just a bunch of rules and norms that burden them and drain their life,” says Fr. John. “Once Christ is experienced personally, the faith becomes real, adventurous, fresh, and full of life!”
One of the events that Fr. John has observed to have had the most profound and positive impact on students is also the one that they are often the most hesitant to attend; silent Spiritual Exercises are offered once a year, and provides the college students with a unique and privileged way to encounter Christ and learn to pray. And although most students yearn for more silence in their lives, the idea of a silent weekend retreat can be intimidating, and even downright scary. Fr. John has seen that those students who do have the courage to attend and experience that silence with Christ, as few as they may be, always grow tremendously in their faith. “The Lord multiplies their effort and impact!”
Accompanying his students one-on-one, either during spiritual direction or just casual conversation, is one of Fr. John’s favorite parts of the role of chaplaincy; getting to hear and experience up close the struggles and victories in their faith is deeply meaningful and fulfilling. And for him, this love that accompanies is the most important virtue to possess in order to respond well to the ministry of chaplaincy. “If we love the students, we will pray for them, we will spend time with them, we will worry and rejoice with them, we will preach to them from the heart, and we will know when to be patient and merciful, and when to challenge and demand more of them.”
And Fr. John knows that he can’t doesn’t possess this virtue all on his own: such love requires a deep Eucharistic life, where he can absorb the love of Christ and then be an instrument of it to his students.
In addition to serving in his role as chaplain to the RC young men in Atlanta and the students at Georgia Tech, Fr. John is also a member of the core team of RC Music Collective, a group made up of Legionary priests, Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi, and lay Regnum Christi members who come together to write and produce music designed to lead its listeners to an encounter of God’ love and mission. The collective recently collaborated with Shawn Williams of The Vigil Project, meeting in Nashville in June of this year to record seven new songs. You can check out the fruits of those recording sessions at Regnum Christi Music Collective – YouTube, or connect with them on Spotify. Find out more about the ministries and mission of Regnum Christi in Atlanta at rcatlanta.org.
Bringing College Students Closer to Christ in the Heart of Atlanta Read More »
Q: I’m a drummer who’s been studying in different colleges around the U.S. Since I’m Catholic, is it wrong for me to play reggae music ? Almost all of it is religious, and it feels wrong to me. I play it and I like it, but my conscious is nagging at me for some reason (usually it’s right). You see, reggae was created in Jamaica when they heard American jazz on their radios. They basically took it to their church and mixed it with a gospel feel. It evolved into reggae. Also I know smoking pot in itself is wrong, but they believe it connects them spiritually to Selassie I, whom they think is Christ returned or something absurd and blasphemous. Should I participate in reggae? It does exclude a whole genre of music, which means less work, but I would gladly stop it. Even when they sing about marijuana, it’s religious to them. This might be a strange question, I know, but any input would be appreciated. – F.
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC
A: It is good that you are at least questioning the types of music you want to get involved with.
Ultimately this is a decision only you can make. What could guide you is a line from St. Paul, “Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Perhaps a thought experiment will help. Imagine you are on your deathbed. When you look back on your life, what kind of music will you have wanted to have dedicated your life to? To music that glamorizes drug use or espouses some false Christlike figure?
You mention about getting “less work.” As Christians we might be called at times to sacrifice things for a higher good. This will require an act of faith in God’s providence.
That might be the deeper question here. Is the Holy Spirit calling you to have confidence in divine providence and to dedicate your talents to music that brings true glory to God?
In any case, if your conscience is really bothering you, you don’t want to ignore it lightly. Even if playing reggae might not always be strictly sinful, this voice in your interior might be an invitation from the Lord.
This might be something to take to prayer.
Today’s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question HERE and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything – liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events… Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question…
“Ask a Priest: Would It Be OK to Perform Reggae?” Read More »
Q: Does my being Catholic mean that I must get rid of all the little statues and figurines that I have — for example, Greek statues or animal figurines? Even if their sole purpose is to be decorations, and I don’t think they are gods? What about family pictures or pictures of oneself? God says, “Do not create any images.” Does that mean that I as a graphic designer am only allowed to do graphics about God? Because in that job you are certainly glorifying people or brands. Is listening to non-religious music bad? This would be music that doesn’t mention anything against God. Reading non-religious books and also watching non-religious TV – is that bad? – J.A.
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC
A: The commandment against graven images is understood as images that are worshipped. This isn’t meant to include the normal images we produce or have around us.
Still, given that images can express our beliefs and priorities, it is good and wholesome for Catholics to display religious images around their home. We certainly do it in our churches.
As for music and books and TV: We are called to give glory to God in that we do. It is OK to use media for relaxation, formation and enrichment, but it requires prudence and temperance.
We need to be careful about exposing ourselves to things that will cause us to have a secular, non-religious take on things, or worse. Our minds are like sponges, and they will absorb what we soak them in.
It would be good to step back and review the range of things you listen to and watch. Would a visitor to your home, for instance, guess that you are a Catholic by the media you use?
Perhaps it is worth taking stock of your media and ask yourself whether the Holy Spirit is asking you to change something.
For more reading, you might want to look at a U.S. bishops’ conference document on social media guidelines. Also worth a look is a three-part posting [1st,, 2nd, 3rd] by my colleague Father Bartunek. Consider them postings for a higher cause.
Keep learning more with Ask a Priest
Today’s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question HERE and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything – liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events… Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question…
“Ask a Priest: Are All Non-Religious Images Banned?” Read More »
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For Jill Swallow, music has always been an important part of her life, since even before she was born – her mother frequently sang to her while she was pregnant with her, and many of Jill’s earliest memories are of her mother singing, and inviting her to sing along. Jill went on to sing in choirs and musicals, as well as play the piano and trumpet. When, in 2001, Jill became a Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi, her love of music and her musical talents found a new purpose and direction, and she began singing at Mass, in choirs, and at special events, eventually collaborating with other consecrated women to write, perform, and record original music.
Recently, Jill has joined the Regnum Christi Music Collective, a new initiative begun last year by two Legionary priests, Father Jaime Lorenzo and Father John Klein, with Emily Roman, a Consecrated Woman of Regnum Christi. RC Music Collective has as its goal to bring together Legionary priests, consecrated women, and lay Regnum Christi members to create and share uplifting music that expresses and transmits the charism of Regnum Christi. As a fellow musician, Jill had been in touch with the individual members of RC Music Collective over many years, and she was thrilled when her schedule allowed her to join them this past spring – in April, the Collective met in Atlanta for song-writing sessions and planning meetings for future initiatives, both of which Jill describes as being “exciting and fruitful.”
One of the fruits to come out of those April planning meetings was the Music and Evangelization Retreat, held on the weekend of May 21-23 at Bocamb Farms in Covington, Louisiana. The idea for the retreat came from the call that the members of the RC Music Collective felt to use this apostolic initiative as a way not just to evangelize through music, but to encourage and to form other musicians to do the same. “We really felt the call to go beyond just the recording of an album – we wanted to actually put into practice our Regnum Christi charism, which is the formation of apostles,” explains Father Jaime. “Instead of just being the performers, we are the formators. We don’t just perform, we form.”
Father Jaime worked with Greg Boudreaux, co-director of The Vigil Project, a group dedicated to producing and supporting the creation of music that aims to deepen the experience of the Sacraments and the liturgical seasons, and help restore devotional prayer in the Catholic Church. With Greg’s resources, expertise, and enthusiasm, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, a retreat was planned for the weekend of Pentecost, only two months away. Father Jaime and Greg agreed that the main goal of the retreat would be to give participants the opportunity to grow in their appreciation for the gift of music in their lives, and to discern and pray about how God might be calling them to use this gift to evangelize culture through music, and to better serve the Church.
The Music and Evangelization Retreat hosted 23 musicians from across the United States and the globe – there were participants from the Philippines, Mexico, and Chile who attended the retreat virtually, despite the difference in time zones. The retreat opened with the opportunity for the musicians to come together in prayer using their musical gifts. “From the very first night, we united in a prayer through song to open our first session, and you could immediately experience in the room that we were a unified group,” says Jill. “There was such a sense of community and family from the very beginning.”
The spirit of collaboration and shared mission that took the idea of the Music and Evangelization Retreat from dream to reality in just two short months continued throughout the retreat; participants gathered in small groups, called collab groups, to work together to write a song that they would then perform at the end of the retreat (the participants who attended the retreat online worked together as a virtual collab group). Hearing these original songs was one of Jill’s favourite parts of the retreat experience. “It was amazing to see on Sunday morning what the Holy Spirit had done, and to watch each collab group get up and share with the rest of the group, with such simplicity and joy, what they had come up with,” says Jill. “You could just feel the joy and excitement in the room as each group went up and everyone cheered them on, and we really gave praise and glory to God for all that he had done in our hearts.”
Father Jaime agrees – witnessing the creativity that rose up from a sense of community and shared purpose among the musicians was, as he puts it, like “seeing their testimony of joy”:
“For me, the highlight of the retreat was just to meet all these people from different areas who have in their hearts the same desire to evangelize through music, musicians who are really wanting to use their gifts to spread the message of our faith of the Gospel and of God’s love. The whole mix of these people who were united through our faith and through our musical dreams and gifts just came together in such a deep way. When we put our gifts together for God, awesome things happen.”
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Besides opportunities to collaborate to create original music, and for individual and communal prayer, the retreat included daily Mass and Saturday evening adoration, as well as moments of stillness and silence in nature for reflection and inspiration. Every morning, the participants would meet outside by the pond while the dew was still fresh on the grass to pray Lauds together; at other times, people took time to go for walks or simply sit in silence outside. “You just knew that people were quieting their hearts to seek the Lord, to listen to his voice, and to be inspired,” says Jill.
The retreat also provided much-needed time for the participants to share both the difficulties and joys of being a musician, and the longing to offer those gifts at the service of God and the Church. “We talked about the struggles and challenges we face as musicians, the temptations, the areas where we need to surrender ourselves and our gifts more to the Lord, in order to make a purer offering to him,” says Jill. “It’s always helpful when people who share the same gifts and passion come together to inspire and encourage each other. I think many of us felt understood and like ‘I’m not alone in this,’ that it is important that I recognize my weaknesses and offer that to the Lord so that he can continue using me as an instrument – pun intended! – of his glory.”
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Jill recently joined Father Jaime and the other members of the RC Music Collective, including two new lay Regnum Christi members, in Nashville to record some of the group’s latest songs, and she continues to discern how God is inviting her to use her gifts, both locally and nationally, to inspire, evangelize, and form apostles. Currently, she is living in Houston, Texas, serving youth and young adults through retreats, mentoring, spiritual direction, and other formative activities. To find out more about RC Music Collective, check out their website at rcmusiccollective.org, like them on Instagram or Facebook, or visit Regnum Christi Music, the official YouTube channel for Regnum Christi around the world.
Q: I am interested in studying religious music and religious literature. I sing opera and play classical piano. I am interested in religious music since most music composed early was based on religion. I find the contemplative life of a nun to be a beautiful thing and am thinking of the possibility of becoming a contemplative nun. I know that nuns have about five or more hours a day, and I was thinking that perhaps I could spend my work hours working on my music and releasing CDs and digital music and maybe even some videos to earn money for the convent and spread the teachings of Jesus. I believe in Jesus. I believe in his teachings on forgiveness. I think the act of prayer is a beautiful thing. The thing is, though, I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe in an afterlife and am based in science and biology when it comes to death. I believe, though, that there was a historical Jesus who was worldly and wise. I am interested in reciting prayers and being in a quiet, beautiful place, transforming my prayers into songs and teaching and contemplating the messages of Jesus. Is it possible for me to become a contemplative nun even though I don’t believe in God or (what I consider) superstitious things like angels and demons? – S.K.
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC
A: It must be admitted that Ask a Priest doesn’t get many inquiries from atheists who want to become nuns, much less in the contemplative life. But then, the Holy Spirit moves as he wills.
The point of contemplative life is to focus one’s heart and mind on prayer to God. It’s not just about trying to find a quiet spot in the world. Contemplative life can be quite intense in its own way.
If you don’t believe in God, the contemplative life wouldn’t be, couldn’t be, for you. Contemplation without God is not real prayer.
In the wide sense of the word, however, contemplation can mean an activity whereby a person seeks the truth by ruminating about the world, ideas, experiences, etc. This kind of contemplation can be bridge to encountering God, who is ultimate Truth.
Indeed, your attraction to contemplative life might be a nudge from the Almighty himself. It might be worthwhile to visit a contemplative convent (such as a Carmelite community) and talk to a nun.
If you feel drawn to Jesus, you might want to delve deeper into the Gospels. He is either God or he is a fraud. Jesus can’t just be a wise man and nothing more.
Perhaps you might want to learn more about the Catholic faith. The Youth Catechism, or YouCat, can help.
A helpful overview of the Christian faith is Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis, an Anglican. You might also check out Peter Kreeft’s arguments for the existence of God. Yet another suggestion would be Father John Bartunek’s Spiritual But Not Religious.
In the meantime, your interest in religious music and literature could be a steppingstone to something higher. The beauty they reflect is but a thin ray of the beauty that radiates from God.
I hope some of this helps. Count on my prayers.
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Today’s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type in your question or send an email to [email protected] and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything – liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events… Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question…
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Q: I would just like to know when something of a hobby or interest becomes an idol. For instance, music, by listening to my favorite song over again, or movie clips or other videos, by watching a certain type of video for too long. What is the urgency of this issue? Should it have high priority in my life by virtue of it concerning idolatry or is it something that I can work on without having to stress over? I feel like my overall concept of idolatry might be misconstrued, and so I ask for your guidance. – N.C.
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC
A: The fact that you are asking this question might — might — be a sign that the Holy Spirit is nudging you to rethink how much time you devote to music or videos.
Perhaps it would help to put together a weekly calendar, hour by hour, on a grid. Fill in what you do at each hour of the week.
Once you deduct for sleep and eating, figure out what percentage of your waking hours are devoted to music and videos and movies, etc.
Then, project that use of time over, say, the next 40 or 50 years of your life.
With a bit of math, you could figure out how many weeks, months, even years you spend listening to music or watching videos. The results can be eye-opening.
Then consider this: At the end of our lives, we will have to give an account to God of how we used one of our most valuable resources in this world — our time.
Folks who spent 10 or more years glued to the tube by age 65 (not unusual) will have to answer for that use of time. “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much” (Luke 12:48).
And this, of course, doesn’t even take into account the content of what people are listening to or watching.
The upshot is yes, too much time and attention on entertainment media can be a form of idolatry. We can give the media more weight than God himself.
Every minute in front of a screen or plugged into earphones is one less minute for serious reading, works of charity, and prayer.
Resources that help us bring balance to our media consumption could include the U.S. bishops’ conference Family Guide for Using Media and books such as Taming the Media Monster. A National Catholic Register posting might be helpful for perspective on the use of social media.
So, it might be good to take some of this to prayer and weigh whether you are using your brief time on this earth is a good way.
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Alex Kucera has lived in Atlanta, GA, for the last 46 years. He is one of 9 children, married to his wife Karmen, and has 3 girls, one grandson, and a granddaughter on the way. Alex joined Regnum Christi in 2007. Out of the gate, he joined the Helping Hands Medical Missions apostolate and is still participating today with the Ghana Friendship Mission.
In 2009, Alex was asked to be the Atlanta RC Renewal Coordinator for the Atlanta Locality to help the RC members with the RC renewal process. Alex became a Group Leader in 2012 for four of the Atlanta Men’s Section Teams and continues today. Running in parallel, in 2013, Alex became a Team Leader and shepherded a large team of good men.
Alex was honored to be the Atlanta Mission Coordinator between 2010 to 2022 (12 years), coordinating 5-8 Holy Week Mission teams across Georgia. He also created and coordinated missions at a parish in Athens, GA, for 9 years. Alex continues to coordinate Holy Week Missions, Advent Missions, and Monthly missions at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cumming, GA.
From 2016 to 2022, Alex also served as the Men’s Section Assistant in Atlanta. He loved working with the Men’s Section Director, the Legionaries, Consecrated, and Women’s Section leadership teams.
Alex is exceptionally grateful to the Legionaries, Consecrated, and many RC members who he’s journeyed shoulder to shoulder, growing his relationship with Christ and others along the way. He knows that there is only one way, that’s Christ’s Way, with others!
