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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

Look What God Did For You!

Jeff Ostrowski · October 28, 2014

748 Cute AVE YOU spent any time admiring nature? Have you looked into a forest and admired the changing colors—red, orange, and brown—of the tree leaves? Have you gazed upon the sky during a beautiful sunset or sunrise? Have you looked at a corn field or apple orchard? Have you seen a peach orchard?

When we view the great outdoors, we realize how beautiful and wondrous our universe is. Moreover, we can take it to another level by considering how each molecule, atom, plant, insect, and animal lead to something higher. Think about it. Even though the outdoors is lovely, suffering and sacrifice are required for its beauty. Plants are eaten; insects devour one another; large animals eat small animals; and so forth and so on.

Have you ever wondered why God allowed this “suffering” on the part of, for example, insects? It probably isn’t fun to be eaten by another insect or animal. Why did God allow such a thing? I would suggest that God is showing us how valuable we are. Each sacrifice leads to something higher. All of this turns out to be made for our benefit … so that we can survive, and also look upon the beauty of nature, observing how God values us. But you will reply:

“Am I really that valuable? What’s so great about me? What’s so great about human beings?”

Well, when I look into the eyes of someone—for instance, my little son—the value of each human being becomes clear. That’s why it is so distressing to wake up (as I did a few days ago) and notice a homeless man collecting tin cans from a dumpster. Society thinks of that man as “garbage” yet values the tin. Can you imagine? We value TIN more than we value a human being!

Dr. Mahrt has explained that counterpoint in polyphony “shows forth the splendor, beauty, and order of the universe” and for this reason I chose to begin a 60-minute film about Sacred music with a lovely Chicago sunrise accompanying Kevin Allen’s “Tantum Ergo.” If you haven’t watched this, please click here and watch it now.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Jeff Ostrowski

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

Can You Spare 33 Seconds?

Here’s an audio excerpt (33 seconds) of a setting for Kyrie VIII which was recorded live last Sunday at our parish in Los Angeles. The setting (“Missa de Angelis”) is by composer Richard Rice, and you can download the free PDF if you click here and scroll to the bottom. I think Richard’s composition is marvelous. I missed a few notes on the organ, but I’ll get them right next time.

—Jeff Ostrowski
5 April 2021 • When Girls Sing

Covid restrictions here in California are still extremely severe—switching “two weeks to flatten the curve” into “two years to flatten the curve.” Since 2020, we’ve had police breaking into our church to check if everyone is wearing a mask…even when only 5-6 people are present! But we were allowed to have a small percentage of our singers back on Easter Sunday, and here is their live recording of the ancient Catholic hymn for Eastertide: Ad Cenam Agni Providi. The girls were so very excited to sing again—you can hear it in their voices!

—Jeff Ostrowski
29 March 2021 • FEEDBACK

“E.S.” in North Dakota writes: “I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU for all the hard work you have put—and continue to put—into your wonderful website. In the past two years, my parish has moved from a little house basement into a brand new church and gone from a few families receiving Low Masses twice a month to several families (and many individuals) receiving Mass every Sunday, two Saturdays a month, and every Holy Day. Our priest has been incorporating more and more High Masses and various ceremonies into our lives, which has made my job as a huge newbie choir master very trying and complicated. CCWatershed has been an invaluable resource in helping me get on my feet and know what to do!!! Thank you more than I can express! May God bless you abundantly and assist you in your work and daily lives!”

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

When the matter is thus regarded, an assertion which is being made today, not only by laymen but also at times by certain theologians and priests and spread about by them, ought to be rejected as an erroneous opinion: namely, that the offering of one Mass, at which a hundred priests assist with religious devotion, is the same as a hundred Masses celebrated by a hundred priests. That is not true.

— Pope Pius XII (2 November 1954)

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