As we look at our prayer life and how we can make it stronger, I would like to continue to share with you some quotes from Fr. Bartunek’s book: A Guide to Christian Meditation. Quotes from his book will be in bold and my commentary will be in the normal font. You will always face difficulties in prayer. Just accept it. The saints all experienced it, the Catechism teaches it, and theology confirms it.

Let us start today’s reflection on music off with a different quote. This quote is from Bono - “Music can change the world because it can change people.” It is therefore important to think about what our music is telling people and what it is changing people into.

As we look at our prayer life and how we can make it stronger, I would like to continue to share with you some quotes from Fr. Bartunek’s book: A Guide to Christian Meditation. Quotes from his book will be in bold and my commentary will be in the normal font.

As we prepare to dive into the spiritual meaning of our next song let us once again begin by recalling the quote from Maria von Trapp: “Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens.”As we listen to the music it is important to be aware of which doors of our heart are being opened and which ones are being closed. Sometimes music can open doors that help us become the people God intended us to be but sometimes music through its lyrics in particular can open doors that lead us into temptation and if we are not careful into sin.

As we look at how we can grow deeper in our relationship with the Lord, I would like to share with you some quotes from a small book called A Guide to Christian Meditation. This book was written by Fr. John Bartunek who is one of the writers behind www.spiritualdirection.com . Quotes from his book will be in bold and my commentary will be in the normal font.

I would like to start today’s spiritual pondering by recalling the quote from Maria von Trapp: “Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens.”As we listen to the music it is important to be aware of which doors of our heart are being opened and which ones are being closed. Sometimes music can open doors that help us become the people God intended us to be but sometimes music through its lyrics in particular can open doors that lead us into temptation and if we are not careful into sin.

Last week, we began a reflection on “How can we grow deeper in our prayer?” For help answering that question, I have turned to an article written by Fr. Michael Schmitz called “Going Deeper” for the magazine called Shalom Tidings. Quotes from his articles will be in bold while my reflections will be in normal font.

The month of May has once again arrived and so I would like to share with you some spiritual insights from music. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Sound of Music and somewhere this year I heard the following quote from Maria von Trapp: “Music acts like a magic key, to which the most tightly closed heart opens.” I like Maria’s image of music being a key because music can speak to and open our hearts in ways that ordinary words cannot. Sometimes, I believe music opens the doors of our hearts that are good and life giving but sometimes music can open doors that are not so good and lead us to error and horrible thought processes. It is therefore important to stop sometimes and ponder the lyrics of our favorite songs to see if the messages they are broadcasting are good or bad.

Normally during the month of May, I reflect on different spiritual themes, that I find in contemporary music and I like to refer to those reflections as “IPod Theology.” Over the years, I have found it hard to format these reflections in a way that allows me to also print the song lyrics which are often necessary to understand my reflections. I decided therefore this year that I would do something new and that is to continue to reflect on contemporary music on my website www.mayjesuschristbepraised.com. I will also be pondering with you the idea of “how do we go deeper in our prayer?”