By Beth Lema
Sitting in our sanctuary before the last mass celebrated in our church before renovations begin, I reflected upon this very question. Each celebration of mass, whether it be weekday, weekend, funeral, wedding, confirmation, etc., has its own tone, lyrics, and melody. Most recently, this past Lent and Spring our St. Elizabeth Seton choir provided two wonderful concerts to answer that very question, one to reflect on Lent, and another to celebrate the 50 years of songs sung in this sanctuary.
Each liturgical season provides music that brings us into the scriptures and biblical stories that we honor and celebrate. The choirs’ voices bring these songs to life and invite the congregation to participate. Our voices and music fill the sanctuary and lead us into the mass. As we sing, we are not just speaking words but singing them with meaning and inspiration. The lyrics help bring us into the moment of reflection and the melodies can be so uplifting that they resonate within us. This begs the question: Who wrote these wonderful songs and how were they inspired to write them?
God inspires composers, musicians, and lyrists to write these marvels, putting them to paper for us to then sing, listen to and reflect upon. One such inspired composer, musician and lyrist is Rory Cooney, known as a prominent composer of contemporary Catholic Liturgical music.
This past Lent we were blessed to have had Rory lead our 2026 Lenten mission. Our theme was “Turn Around and Believe in the Gospel, Lent, Baptism and Mission”. For many years, we have sung Rory’s compositions throughout the liturgical year. Songs such as “Change Our Hearts Lord”, “Canticle of the Turning”, “Bread of Life”, “Here I am Lord”, “Jerusalem My Destiny”, and “Turn Around” are only a small amount of his portfolio of music. This mission incorporated his music and showed how many of his pieces were written and inspired from his personal thoughts on the sacraments of Baptism, The Easter Vigil, and how Lent propels all of us to do some inner reflection and to once again to Turn Around and Believe in The Gospel.
These songs are unforgettable and resonate within us, and once you sing them, they will be ingrained in your soul. On a personal note, for me that is “Jerusalem My Destiny”, the theme of my 2005 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Yes, it was a Rory Cooney inspired work that has remained within me since the first time I sang it. We sang this song as pilgrims at Newark airport as we began our journey, and also every day of the journey at mass. These words are written in my soul and give me a voice to proclaim God’s wonderful works, and take me back to vivid memories of the Holy Land.
It is said that music brings people together, music brings people joy and music brings people happiness.
The walls of our sanctuary are filled with these gifts of song. May the next 50 years of worship continue to fill us with God’s grace with song.
For additional information on Rory Cooney, please visit his website: www.RoryCooney.com.
