Homily for Parish Musicians’ Study Day
November 22, 2025; St. Patrick’s Seminary
Introduction
It is a happy coincidence of events that our study day for parish musicians today occurs on the feast day of the patron saint of Church music and Church musicians, St. Cecilia. She is one of the early Roman virgin-martyrs to whom the Church has always had a great devotion, to the point that hers is one of the saints’ name incorporated into the Eucharistic Prayer that originated in the city of Rome (the First Eucharistic Prayer, which we refer to as the Roman Canon). She is said to have been very devout from her childhood, being earnest in prayer, practicing penances, and vowing to remain a virgin her whole life for the love of God.
Her father, however, had a different idea, and gave her in marriage to a young Roman nobleman. She has acquired the distinction of the patron saint of Church music because the story is told that on the day of her wedding, while the music was playing and the guests were enjoying themselves, Cecilia sat apart, “singing to God in her heart” and praying for help in her predicament. As it turns out, her holy witness converted not only her husband, but also her husband’s brother and even a Roman official who was inspired by their perseverance after having been arrested and condemned to death.
The True Bridegroom
St. Cecilia models for us, then, what it means to be a true Church musician: her love for music was not a merely an aesthetic pursuit, but was a means by which she grew more deeply in union with her true Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. This image of God as a Bridegroom goes back very far in history, and we hear about it in the prophet Hosea in our first reading for Mass today. We hear God there tell His people that He will lead them into the desert as He did once before, referring to their release from slavery in Egypt and their wanderings in the Sinai desert as He guided them on the way to the Promised Land. He compares this to their youth, as He was forming them to be His people, readying them to be in a spousal union with Himself.
However, the people proved to be an unfaithful bride in that they worshipped the false gods of their pagan neighbors, and so God had to once again bring them into the desert and restore their youth – that is, purify them so they could be capable of communion with Himself. This is what it means when the Lord tells them that His people “shall know the Lord.” This is not knowledge in the sense of information one has in one’s head, but rather the religious recognition that brings devotion to God’s will. Just as spouses who truly love each other always seek to fulfill the will of the other, to do what makes the other happy: these are spouses who know each other in the depths of their being, which is far more than just knowing things about the other.
Knowledge of God here means, then, keeping God’s law, holding to the moral teachings that God has entrusted to His people, as the response to His spousal love. Keeping God’s law is love in response to God’s love in terms of one’s concrete attitude and actions. This Covenant of God with His people, then, is fulfilled in His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the Bridegroom of his bride, the Church. This is the meaning of the parable he teaches us in the gospel reading for our Mass today. He uses a scene familiar to the people of his time, when the bridegroom would go to the home of his bride’s father to arrange the wedding contract. It was understandable that this could take some time, and he would arrive late back at his home.
Ready to Meet the True Bridegroom
Notice, though, that there is no mention in the parable of the bride. The bride is actually represented by the ten virgins: the Church, the bride of Christ. Not all, though, are led into the wedding feast, the symbol of the life of heaven. The wise and foolish represent a striking contrast.
The wise have oil for their lamps: the lamp represents faith, and the oil good works. The light of faith is shown by a life of charity, and that charity is fueled by good works, just as the lamp is fueled by oil. The ten virgins represent the body of believers; however, not all are ready to meet the Bridegroom. The ones who are ready are the ones who have fueled their faith with good works, the fuel that shines the light of Christ in the world through a life of charity.
The foolish ones had lamps, too, but the lamps were extinguished for lack of oil: that is, there are some who say they believe, but fail to fuel their faith with a life of charity and good works. And when Bridegroom arrives and the door is closed, it is too late. God gives us the grace of our time in this world to turn our hearts more perfectly over to Him, to deepen our faith by fueling it with a life of good works, of charity and of penance. But once death and judgment come, it is too late to change. We cannot go back at that point, so we much make full use of the time God gives us in this world to prepare ourselves for the life of heaven, with the help of His grace.
The Vocation of the Church Musician
The message of these readings on this feast day of St. Cecilia, and the life of our patroness itself, teaches us the full meaning of what it means to be a Church musician. It is a great grace for us that you are taking advantage of this opportunity to be educated in what the Church actually asks us to do in beautifying our worship with song. Please know how personally grateful I am to you all for doing so.
You now have a better understanding of the Church’s vision for what music at Mass is to be like, as the Church has consistently taught before, at, and since the Second Vatican Council. You have also been helped to have the skill necessary to carry this out in your parishes. The beauty and reverence of our worship is to lead God’s people into a deeper life of faith in Him by a more perfect obedience to His will, as shown by right attitude toward His teachings and putting those teachings into action in one’s public and personal life. The parish musician must use all that God has given him to glorify God and inspire His people to more perfect worship and living out of the Christian life. But it is not a matter of only honing our skills and perfecting our talents. It can only have its intended effect if the musician himself is living a life of authentic faith: prayer, acts of penance, following God’s will in all of His teachings, and fueling charity with good works.
How important this is. For the beauty of the Church’s liturgical tradition, and especially her patrimony of music, works in evangelizing those who are far away from the Bridegroom! People who encounter Catholic worship as the Church asks us to carry it out discover something beautiful, something transcendent; they are put in touch with the sacred, and their lives are changed. But they must also come into contact with a community of living, faithful disciples.
Conclusion
Nothing worthwhile comes without sacrifice, and the one pursuit in life that is truly worthwhile – being ready to greet the Bridegroom when he comes so that he may take us to the wedding feast of heaven – requires the sacrifice of one’s whole. Such is the love of spouses, who give their all for the other and the family they form together. Using talents God has given us for His glory and our own growth in a life of faith fueled by good works will spread the light of Christ’s charity to the world all around us. Thus this world of time will be a closer reflection of God’s Kingdom of eternity, the communion of the saints who worship God face-to-face: “a Kingdom of truth and life, a Kingdom of holiness and grace, a Kingdom of justice, love and peace.”*
* From the Preface for the Mass of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
