Choir School mourns loss of Sir Daniel Donohue

The Madeleine Choir School mourns the death of one of its earliest and most generous benefactors, Sir Daniel J. Donohue, who died on December 3.

Sir Daniel, as friends affectionately called him, served for more than 40 years as president and chairman of the Dan Murphy Foundation in Los Angeles, which promotes the very best Catholic initiatives, especially those pertaining to education and religious life. Under Sir Daniel’s leadership, it has provided extensive support to inner-city Catholic high schools throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, programs serving the poor, and the works of the Church throughout the world. It was also instrumental in the construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

As the Choir School worked to emerge from the Cathedral basement, Sir Daniel secured a gift of $1 million from the Dan Murphy Foundation to advance our efforts to reach the $4 million goal needed for the purchase our Avenues campus in 2001. The Oratory of St. Daniel is dedicated to his memory with gratitude for this important gift in our history.

Born in 1919 in Newark, New Jersey, Sir Daniel attended Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles and completed graduate work in political science and social welfare at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and at the University of Chicago. In 1954 he married Bernardine Murphy and, in 1957, became a founding trustee of the Dan Murphy Foundation, named in honor of his father-in-law.

For many years, Sir Daniel worked closely with the Holy See and with cardinals and bishops around the world. Three Holy Fathers — Pius XII, John XXIII, and Paul VI — honored him as Knight Commander of St. Gregory, Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of Holy Sepulchre, and Knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. At the request of His Eminence, the late Timothy Cardinal Manning, Bl. Pope Paul VI named Sir Daniel a Gentleman in Waiting to His Holiness the Pope. He also conferred upon him the title, “Gentleman of His Holiness,” the highest award bestowed on a layman in the Church, and the first such Award ever given to an American.

Sir Daniel is survived by his sister, Rosemary E. Donohue, and his nieces, Julie Donohue Schwartz and Rosemary Donohue. A Vigil Service and Holy Rosary for Sir Daniel was held at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Sunday, December 14, and his funeral Mass was offered at the Cathedral on Tuesday, December 16. Let us uphold in our prayer this very kind and generous benefactor of the Choir School.

Just Two Weeks Ago...

Two weeks ago the choristers were in the eternal city for the final days of their pilgrimage to Venice, Florence, Assisi and Rome. The young men of the choir had the opportunity to visit the Pontifical North American College, the seminary for the United States located in Rome. This photograph features the boys on the rooftop of the seminary with St. Peter's Basilica nearby.

While visiting we had the opportunity to meet with two seminarians from Utah: Deacon Joe Delka, who will be ordained in the Cathedral this coming June, and Stephen Tilley, who is in the class of 2017. It was a wonderful afternoon that later involved walking down the Janiculum, crossing the Tiber and celebrating Mass in the Florentine church of San Giovanni.

Today at Lauds - Just One?

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met [him]. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”
Luke 17:11-19

Dear Children,

Today we have heard an account from the Gospel of St. Luke of ten very sick people being healed by Jesus. Leprosy is a horrible disease that causes great pain and very humiliating physical disfigurement. The wounds are so awful that people of old assumed you had done something very wrong to offend God, and so you were not allowed to live with the rest of your community or family but were exiled far away from others. In Jesus’ time if you had leprosy you would have to ring a little bell and shout “unclean” whenever a healthy person approached you. For those with the scourge of leprosy, it must have been a terrible life.

Now imagine the incredible joy of these ten men who were set free from this awful condition by Jesus. They were able to return to their families and friends; they were able to participate in dinners and celebrations; they no longer had ugly wounds, scars or pain.

But only ONE of the men returned to thank Jesus after their healing – only ONE was human enough to recognize the great gift that had been given to them by God and returned to Jesus to say thank you.

This morning we are reminded of the need to say thank you and so, boys and girls, I propose that we do three things.

Firstly, say thank you to your teachers and other staff members in our school community: to Mr. Casillas and Mr. Sparks who work so hard to keep our school clean and functioning; to Ms. Amber and Ms. Diane who prepare a wonderful lunch for us each day; to your very dedicated teachers who work so hard to prepare you to become faithful and hard-working citizens who will build a civilization of mercy and love.

Secondly, say thank you to your parents tonight. It is so easy for us to forget the many sacrifices they make on our behalf. We can devolve into our own little world where it is all about me, becoming entitled, sulky, selfish and thoughtless about the needs of others. Saying thank you will change our attitudes, make us more open hearted and wholesome.

Finally, like the solitary leper who returned to Jesus, let us say thank you to God for our many, many blessings. We do so in the great act of thanksgiving that is the celebration of the Mass, or the Holy Eucharist. In fact, the Greek word eukaristia means just that: thanksgiving. Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, we are offering our thanks to God for the wonders of his creation, including each one of you in this Oratory this morning! And, we are giving thanks for his saving love, especially as it has been revealed to us in the suffering and death of his Son. When we actively participate in the Mass, we are like the ONE, solitary leper who returned to say thank you, while the other nine took God’s many blessings and gifts for granted.

Boys and Girls, three things: 1) express your gratitude to our teachers and other staff members; 2) say thank you to your parents tonight for the many ways they sacrifice to make your life happy and productive; and 3) actively participate in the celebration of the Mass where we join with Jesus as his body in offering our thanks and praise to the God loves and saves us.

25 NOVEMBER 2014
TUESDAY OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH WEEK
THE ORATORY OF ST. DANIEL

Pope Francis: "Please Stop!"

A tragic first post on the one-hundredth anniversary of the start of hostilities in World War One. Here follows our Holy Father's message today:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Tomorrow marks the one hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, which caused millions of deaths and immense destruction. This conflict, which Pope Benedict XV called a "senseless slaughter", resulted, after four long years, in a most fragile peace. Tomorrow, as we remember this tragic event, I hope that the mistakes of the past won’t be repeated, but that the lessons of history be taken into account, that the demands of peace through patient and courageous dialogue are always made to prevail.

In particular, my thoughts go out to three areas of crisis: the Middle East, Iraq and Ukraine. I ask that you continue to join me in prayer that the Lord may grant to the people and authorities of those areas the wisdom and strength needed to push ahead with the path of peace by addressing each dispute with the tenacity of dialogue and negotiation and with the force of reconciliation. That at the center of every decision, special interests aren’t put forward, but rather the common good and respect for every person. Let’s remember that all is lost with war, and nothing is lost with peace.

Brothers and sisters, no more war! No more war! Above all, I think of the children, those who have been denied hope of a decent life, of a future: dead children, wounded children, maimed children, orphaned children, children who have remnants of war as toys, children who don’t know how to smile. Please stop! I ask you with all my heart, it's time to stop! Stop, please!

Back to the Beach

After a very long hiatus and a only brief reappearance, the blog will be in vacation mode again until 18 July. I am going back to my roots in Grays Harbor County on the Pacific coast, enjoying the fog, cold water and dark rain forests. A few stormy walks on the beach and torrential downpours will prepare me for the year ahead!

Don't forget to follow plans for our Patronal Feast Day on Tuesday 22 July - The Solemnity of St. Mary Magdalene - and the Chorister summer camp that follows shortly thereafter. I hope that you are all enjoying the summer vacation, finding time for family and friends, rest and renewal.

The Comfortable Words

We continue our reading from St. Matthew’s Gospel each Sunday this year, and this Sunday’s Gospel Reading for the Fourteenth Sunday is of particular beauty. Matthew 11:25-30 is a well-known passage of scripture, especially the text that begins at verse 28:

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.

Our Anglican brothers and sisters designate the above passage as The Comfortable Words, and in their earlier prayer books this scripture passage was recited by the priest at the beginning of every celebration of the Eucharist. The text is also important to our own Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as in this passage our fully human and fully divine Lord gives us insight about the quality and character of his own heart.

Our Sunday Gospel lesson may appear to have two independent sections. The opening words of the Gospel passage record the first public prayer of Jesus, and at first glance it can appear slightly self-aggrandizing and even a little off-putting:

At that time Jesus exclaimed:
“I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to little ones.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows the Son except the Father,
and no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.

The context may explain: in the verses just before our present text, Jesus is expressing frustration with those who have witnessed his saving work and teaching but have not changed their manner of thinking, attitudes, or way of life. He had rather strong words of condemnation for those who were too high-minded, omniscient or ‘know-it-alls’, for whom an open heart and mind to the seemingly upside-down values of God’s kingdom is not possible.

In this Gospel passage, Jesus invites us to put aside our pretenses and hardened minds and open ourselves to the wisdom of God. This wisdom is not that of human cleverness but of divine revelation wherein, as one scholar has put it, “even the best of human insight that relies only on its own resources cannot penetrate…”

R. T. France writes about these paradoxical values of the kingdom when he notes that Jesus’ “…character as meek and lowly in heart reflects the values of the Beatitudes, and his ‘yoke’, traditionally a symbol of oppressive power, is in fact ‘kind’ and a source not of misery but of ‘rest’…” for those who accept the invitation.

As noted above, taking a yoke upon oneself seems like a foolish act of self-oppression. This strange advice is also found in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, where this strikingly similar passage from Sirach 51:23-26 invites the Israelite people to take the yoke of wisdom:

Come aside to me, you untutored,
and take up lodging in the house of instruction;
How long will you deprive yourself of wisdom’s food,
how long endure such bitter thirst?
I open my mouth and speak of her:
gain wisdom for yourselves at no cost.
Take her yoke upon your neck;
that your mind may receive her teaching.
For she is close to those who seek her,
and the one who is in earnest finds her.

Today our loving God reaches out to us, saying, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” The God who became small for us, coming as a helpless and vulnerable child, and who now offers himself to us in the broken bread of his body and the poured out wine of his blood, inviting us not to take only the yoke of wisdom, but that of Jesus himself, and thereby entering a lifelong process of learning the hidden ways of God.

America, who are we?

This week has been a week of very significant anniversaries for our nation. Today, the fourth of July, we celebrate Independence Day, recalling the events that marked the beginning of an armed struggle that would eventually provide the colonists of this new land the necessary liberty to adopt the Enlightenment ideals that would shape this great nation into a just and free civilization.

Earlier this week, the first through the third of July, we recalled the Battle of Gettysburg, that horrific conflict between fellow citizens in which over 45,500 men were killed, wounded or went missing in a battle that was to determine the outcome of the Civil War and eventually the character and future direction of these United States.

And on Wednesday of this week, the second of July, we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act, another moment in our history that was to advance life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for a large number of our nation’s residents. This legislation changed laws that caused repression, suffering and humiliation – only fifty years ago – for many of our citizens changing a horrible lack of justice and liberty in a national shame that is almost incomprehensible to our young people today.

Last fall, Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez published a book entitled Immigration and the Next America. In this small book, Archbishop Gomez expressed his worry that the United States is “…losing something of our national soul.” He writes,

America is a great nation: free and prosperous, brave and generous. Throughout our history and still today, Americans have been willing to sacrifice, even to lay down our lives, for others in need. At home and abroad. In times of war, and in times of peace. Americans can be found wherever people are poor and suffering – lending a hand, saving lives, building communities, bringing people hope.

Yet this great nation finds itself reduced to addressing this major issue in our public life through name calling and discrimination, “profiling” based on race, random identity checks, commando-style raids of workplaces and homes, arbitrary detentions and deportations.

Many happenings this week have played before us events demonstrating the difficult situation faced by so many people:

Here there is an account of Tuesday’s protestors in Murrieta, California, who blocked three busses with children being transported to care facilities. Their signs read, “Return to Sender” and “America has been invaded” while they chanted "Go home!”

Here you can read a more reasoned account of why these young people are risking their lives to immigrate.

Tragically, here is a story from the Boston Herald describing the death of a 15 year-old boy from Guatemala, his decaying body found in the desert of Texas.

And finally, an article by Pablo Alvarado describing how he and his little brother escaped El Salvador because of death threats.

I started this post recalling a series of events in our nation’s, all borne of tragedy and pain, but ultimately shaping our national for the better. The Statue of Liberty, whose original title was Liberty enlightening the World, is a reminder of the nobility of our nation’s soul – the better angels of our nature as Abraham Lincoln so aptly put it - that each of these significant events call forth in us. Opening the borders is not the answer, nor should we abandon the rule of law. But we must search for an answer that is reasonable, just and resonant with our nation’s long-standing commitment to the huddled masses seeking freedom.

Emma Lazarus was invited to compose a sonnet for the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. She titled the poem The New Colossus, hearkening back to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the giant statue that presided over the harbor of Rhodes. Now a different type of Colossus presides over New York’s Harbor. The text Lazarus composed says it all.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. 

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, 

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

If you want to take some action on this great day in our history go to the Catholic Bishop’s website www.justiceforimmigrants.org for ideas.

Choir School receives $100,000 grant from the LDS Church Foundation

Last week the Choir School received news that the LDS Church Foundation had awarded a $100,000 grant toward the capital campaign to restore Erbin Hall. This great news advances our fundraising in the effort to revitalize this historic structure and create a safe, functional and inspiring place for learning and formation at the Madeleine Choir School.

Bishop Wester, writing to Keith B. McMullin, the CEO/President of the Deseret Management Corporation stated, "I pray that our efforts to strengthen and improve our school will also reap a multitude of benefits for the larger community as we continue to play a part in our wonderful city and state. We look forward to many more years of providing a religious and artistic presence that enhances our local culture and the lives of many. You have given us a huge boost by your generosity and I am profoundly grateful.”

Pope Francis on the move...

The Religious News Service created this graphic which highlights the work of our Holy Father Pope Francis in recent months. We continue to uphold him in our prayer as he leads us.

Celebrating St. Mary Magdalene

July is the month we remember Mary Magdalene, the patron saint for the Cathedral and Choir School, as her feast day is celebrated throughout the world on July 22nd. Here is an overview of some of the activities planned for the celebration at the Cathedral. Please join us as you are able!

The People of St. Mary Magdalene:
Celebrating our Patronal Feast Day
20 – 22 July 2014
The Cathedral of the Madeleine & The Madeleine Choir School
Salt Lake City, Utah

Sunday 20 July ◊ 9:45 AM
Pope Francis and St. Mary Magdalene:
The Joy of the Gospel
A Community Lecture with Mr. Gregory Glenn
Adult Education Room ◊ Scanlan Hall

Monday 21 July ◊ 7:00 PM
Festival Organ Recital and Plaza Reception
Welcoming our new Cathedral Organist Dr. Gabriele Terrone

Tuesday 22 July ◊ 6:00 PM
Solemn Bilingual Mass for the Solemnity of St. Mary Magdalene
With the Cathedral Choirs ◊ The Very Rev. Martin Diaz, Celebrant

Tuesday 22 July ◊ 7:15 PM
Cathedral Parish Family Dinner
On the Cathedral’s Plaza
Live Music by Marimba Veracruz and Grupo Desafio Show
Raffle Prizes and Special Treat for Children!
Individual Dinner $5.00 ◊ Family Dinner $20.00

From Vacation to Vacation

My last entry was at the conclusion of our dumb week in January - a ridiculous delay in posting, but it has been an extraordinarily busy winter and spring term. A great deal has been accomplished: we have welcomed a new Cathedral Organist, we have nearly completed a school campus master plan, we have made significant progress with our capital campaign, we had a highly successful concert season and we have completed our eighteenth year of service to the liturgical life of the cathedral and the wonderful young people who make up our academic community. The choir assisted with it's last service of the term at yesterday's 11:00 AM Mass. It has been a busy, but very fulfilling, year.

Happily, I have returned home to Grays Harbor County along the Pacific Coast of Washington state and am enjoying time with my family. I hope that all of our Choir School families enjoy these weeks of summer and have time for recreation and rest. We will be returning soon for the Solemnity of St. Mary Magdalene, our patroness, and for the Chorister Summer Camp in the last week of July.

I wish you all a very rewarding and restful summer!

Back after Dumb Week

The Choirs are back in rehearsal after a well-deserved break known around campus as dumb week. The choristers will return to service on Sunday morning at the 1100 AM Mass singing music of Rheinberger and Faure.

Update on Robotics Club

Congratulations to our Choir School Robotics Club which competed on this Saturday past in a regional tournament. This a grueling tale of limited internet access, lost programming - representing four months of work - on the robot, mad dashes back to the choir school, fevered assistance from parents and staff in multiple locations, and more. Despite the adversity, the Choir School team received the special Judge's Award for the tournament and took Second Place in the overall competition. They will now advance to the state competition at the University of Utah scheduled for Saturday 25 January. Congratulations Bananabots!

The Solemnity of the Epiphany - The Twelfth Day of Christmas

"This is the day that David prophesied in the psalms, when he said: All the nations that you have brought into being will come and fall down in adoration in your presence, Lord, and glorify your name. Again, the Lord has made known his salvation; in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.

"This came to be fulfilled, as we know, from the time when the star beckoned the three wise men out of their distant country and led them to recognize and adore the King of heaven and earth. The obedience of the star calls us to imitate its humble service: to be servants, as best we can, of the grace that invites all men to find Christ.

"Dear friends, you must have the same zeal to be of help to one another; then, in the kingdom of God, to which faith and good works are the way, you will shine as children of light: through out Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen."

St. Leo the Great
Sermon on the Epiphany

Breaking News-Robotics Club Going to State Competition!

Yesterday we received news that the Choir School's Robotics Club took second place in their local competition and will advance to the state level at the end of this month. Mrs. Baillie described their effort at Saturday's event as full of grit! More information to follow - congratulations to Mr. Ashdown and all of the students and parents.

A Wonderful Christmas Gift

The great Solemnity of the Nativity concludes each year at the Cathedral of the Madeleine with the Office of Vespers. Coming exactly twenty-five hours after the celebration began with the 400 PM Christmas Carol Service on Christmas Eve, Vespers sung by the choir is a quiet, more reflective service of worship without the huge crowds. The sung Psalms and Canticles consider the coming of the Savior in the midst of darkness: Before the dawn of light on earth, I have begotten you and My soul is longing for the Lord more than watchmen for daybreak.

This year marked twenty years of Christmas Vespers – it was inaugurated after the reopening of the cathedral in 1993 – and I noticed something remarkable: 17 of the 21 members of the Choir are alumni of the Cathedral’s Choir School, many of whom were returned from University studies to assist with the Choir on this night. Additionally, the priest who served as celebrant at Vespers – Fr. Christopher Gray – is also an alumnus!

At Vespers, the choir offered the Cristobal de Morales setting of the venerable Christmas text, O magnum mysterium. The Spanish Renaissance composer Morales was born in Seville around 1500 and served for a time in Rome as a musician with the papal choir. The text celebrates the odd manner in which the Lord comes among us – taking flesh of a humble young woman of no account in a setting where lowly animals recognize the greatness of this event.

Here is a link to a live recording of the Morales O magnum mysterium from Christmas Vespers 2013 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
Christ the Lord.
O Lord, I heard your voice and I was afraid.
I observed your work and trembled, in the midst of two animals.

Thanks to our seventeen incredible alumni who returned to assist with the singing of Christmas Day Vespers:

Camille Barker - West High School
Nicolas Chuaqui - Dartmouth College
Lucy Colosimo - College of Saint Benedict/St. John's University
Gillian Eshleman - San Francisco Conservatory
Emily Graham - West High School
Andrew Maughan - Indiana University
Cadie Payne - University of Utah
CaiLi Pleshe - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Emerson Pratt - University of Utah
Olivia Pratt - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Brielle Richardson - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Cynthia Sandoval - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Joseph Savastano - University of Utah
Jaclyn Tani - West High School
Kendall Thorsen - Judge Memorial Catholic High School
Antona Yost - University of Southern California
Matthew Yost - The Catholic University of America

Peace Requires the Force of Meekness

Yesterday our Holy Father Pope Francis celebrated the Church's annual World Day of Peace. In his message for this annual day of prayer, Pope Francis emphasized the need for all of us to grow in our sense of fraternity with each other as the essential foundation and pathway to peace. Noting the challenges of globalization and the easier means of communication, the Pope rightly pointed out that globalization makes us neighbors but it does not make us brothers. He noted with concern the new ideologies characterized by rampant individualism, egocentrism and materialistic consumerism, and calls us to consider how we might grow in fraternal compassion for our fellow humanity. You can read the entire message for the World Day of Peace here.

“On this, the first day of the year”, said the Holy Father, “may the Lord help us to set out more decisively on the path of justice and peace; may the Holy Spirit act in our hearts, loosening bonds and warming hardened hearts so that they open up to the tenderness and weakness of the Child Jesus. Peace requires the force of meekness, the non-violent strength of the truth and of love."

Resonating with Choir School Lore: The Demise of the Duck

In the category of "what desperate acts we will do to reduce the deficit" the Rubber Duck event looms large on my list of desperate acts from the past. I have been warned that there is video evidence floating out there in the ether…

But no worries! As we begin the new year 2014 at the Choir School there is no concern about deflation as is reported here. With deep gratitude to our parents, benefactors and hard-working faculty and staff, I pray that the year ahead is one of profound growth and strengthened bonds for our community of learners. As we continue our work to build a culture of encounter, may our local community serve to extend justice, mercy and increased solidarity with our sisters and brothers abroad.

A Blessed New Year to All.