About this blogger:
Richard J. Clark
Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. He is also Chapel Organist (Saint Mary’s Chapel) at Boston College. His compositions have been performed worldwide.
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A lot of the favoured new settings are musically illiterate, almost is if they were written by semi-trained teenagers, getting to grips with musical rudiments. The style is stodgy and sentimental, tonally and rhythmically stilted, melodically inane and adored by Catholic clergy “of a certain age.” Some Catholic dioceses run courses for wannabe composers to perpetuate this style. It is a scandal. People with hardly any training and experience of even the basic building blocks of music have been convinced that there is a place for their puerile stumblings and fumblings in the modern Catholic Church because real musicians are elitist and off-putting.
— James MacMillan (20 November 2013)

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Not a movie. This was real.
published 15 April 2013 by Richard J. Clark

RAY FOR BOSTON. Trying to digest the magnitude of the explosions in Boston is difficult for everyone.

This attack happened within my parish. St. Cecilia Parish in the Back Bay section of Boston, is around the block from the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Additionally, several beautiful historic churches literally surround the finish line. So where is God in all of this?

The screams captured from the Boston Globe video capture real terror and fear. Not a movie. This was real.

We await word to hear from loved ones and those in our parish community to know of their safety. Authorities have urged people to stay home. This isn’t over yet. Early reports indicate that among the dead may be a small innocent child. So, again, where is God in all of this horror?

Today a friend stated, “Forgiveness is hard today. Can’t stop crying.” Truth, love, justice, forgiveness and peace are all connected. Forgiveness is the hard road ahead for Boston and for all those who carry a heavy cross. We must pray for each other, so that like Simon we may help each other carry the cross.

So where there is charity and love, God is THERE. God can be found everywhere in Boston.

News of runners changing course, running to Massachusetts General Hospital to donate blood is where God can be found. Those opening their homes to house and comfort strangers is where God can be found. The outpouring of love, concern—living out the Gospel—is proof of God’s presence in Boston. God is THERE.

After 9/11 we all saw the healing power of love that followed the most horrific attack this country knew. People WANTED to help. Right now in Boston there is the same desire to help any way possible.

Please pray for God’s protection and guidance. Pray for the intercession of Mary our Blessed Mother who knows great suffering. Please pray for those in great need of comfort and especially for those in need of God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness at this time.

Psalm 85: 11-12:
“Love and truth will meet;
justice and peace will kiss.
Truth will spring from the earth;
justice will look down from heaven.”




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