For those of us who are well, we breeze through our days without being aware of the beat of our heart. Life circumstances can invite and even demand that we be more aware of our own heartbeat, or the heartbeat of someone we love.

Parents are acutely aware of the beat of their children’s hearts. Pregnant mothers and fathers delight in hearing that sacred heartbeat and despair if it is lost.  

Communities also have a heartbeat, a rhythm that draws them together, uniting, energising and shaping them to participate in their common life. Right now, Australian’s are particularly aware of the sacred heartbeat that unites us with our Olympians in their triumphs and their disappointments. The sacredness of the Australian heartbeat embraces those who lose just as much as it embraces those who win. We have seen this already in our deep feeling for our synchronised divers whose synchronisation slipped out of whack.

The heart is essential to life. It is often associated with identity, relationship, love, passion and commitment. Our language is full of references to the heart. We talk about ‘having the heart’ for something, or the opposite, ‘I don’t have the heart for it.’ We talk about having a ‘change of heart,’ a ‘broken heart,’ a ‘heart full to overflowing.’ Sometimes we say, ‘I can’t find it in my heart,’ or that something is ‘heartfelt.’ The heart and its beating are indeed sacred.

As people of faith, we are intimately attuned to the sacredness of our own heartbeat, and the heartbeat of every person, every creature, and indeed the heartbeat of the universe.

As people of faith, we believe ourselves to be created in the image and likeness of God and to be filled with the breath of divine life. The scripture is full of references to the heart:

I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. (Ez 36:26)

God create a clean heart in me, put into me a new and constant spirit (Ps 51:10)

More than all else keep watch over your heart, since here are the wellsprings of life. (Prov 4:23)

For where your treasure is there your heart will be also. (Mt 6:21)

The heartbeat of the faithful is indeed sacred.

For those of us who are members of the Church of Maitland-Newcastle, it is no less significant that our Cathedral church is the ‘Sacred Heart of Jesus’ Cathedral. Cathedrals stand at the heart of diocesan life. It is there that we gather with our Bishop to celebrate key events that both express and form our hearts as individual disciples and as a community of faith. It is here that we tune our hearts to the paschal dying-rising rhythm of the divine heart. It is here that our hearts are shaped by Word and Sacrament. It is from here that we are sent to form a community known for its love of one another and on mission to proclaim the love of God to all we meet and in all we do.

All this brings me to the new initiative of the Diocesan Liturgy Council (DLC) which has been dreamt and imagined for a long time now. Sacred Heart Beat.

Music communicates the feelings of the heart in ways that are beyond the spoken word. A song can take us back to past experiences and relationships, it can bring a smile, it can unite us and energise us. Music and rhythm can function as the battle cry for sporting teams and can lead thousands into a solemn and respectful memory that awakens our hearts to strive to live the values at the heart of the community. Think ANZAC Day.

Over recent years, we have witnessed, and many of us have participated in, the resurgence of community choirs. There are pub choirs, town hall choirs, classic choirs, stroke choirs, street choirs, and the famous ‘Choir of Hard Knocks’. In a society marked increasingly by individualism and loneliness people are flocking to join choirs; to unite their voice with others, and in so doing, touch into the more of life, into awe, wonder and spirituality. You might like to watch an episode of Compass with Julia Baird titled ‘Awe Hunters’.  

It is because music is so central to human life that it is also central to the life of faith and its celebration in liturgy. Liturgy is of its nature musical and as St Augustine is reputed to have famously said, ‘To sing is to pray twice’!  

In listening to and reflecting on the experience of parishes as we continue to emerge from the impact of COVID, we hear a number of common threads, challenges, needs and opportunities. Without going into the detail of all that, the DLC has identified music as offering opportunities to engage a wider circle of people in song that is at once enjoyable, life giving and provides opportunities for meaningful and relevant prayer. Ultimately the hope is that through music people may find themselves on a journey that leads them to the heart of parish life, worship and mission.

‘Sacred Heart Beat’ is an umbrella term that encompasses a number of initiatives that we hope will expand with your participation, your voice, your ideas and your help extending the invitation.

Currently Sacred Heart Beat includes:

Sing to the Lord a Cantor Training and Formation process for anyone who is interested, including people already ministering as cantors or choir members in parishes and schools, and those who just love to sing and would like to have a go. Two groups have just finished the first session and will now engage in a six-month practicum before gathering again for the second session. More information is available on the diocesan website. 

The Diocesan Choir has functioned without a name since before COVID. Essentially it is formed every time we have a significant diocesan liturgy in the Cathedral. An invitation goes out to all parishes and schools, and people register to participate according to their availability for rehearsal and the liturgy. Currently we have a database of more than 70 for this choir. Expressions of interest are always welcome. To find out more click here.

The Diocesan Choir will be singing at Bishop Michael Kennedy’s Silver Jubilee Mass on Wednesday 14 August in the Cathedral at 11.00am.

Creation Sings is a new event that invites the participation of everyone who loves to sing and be part of a choir. The event is a celebration of the Season of Creation and will take place in the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Saturday afternoon 21 September beginning at 2.00pm. We will start in the tradition of community choirs and learn a song in praise of creation. This learning will be followed by a prayer during which the song that has been learnt will be sung. We will then move across to Cathedral House to continue the celebration with afternoon tea. For further information and registration click here. Please spread the word. People are welcome to turn up on the day without registering. Registration helps ensure we have enough copies of music and afternoon tea. 

Catholic Praise and Worship has been on the agenda of a couple of parishes and the DLC for some time. We had our first diocesan experience of a ‘Praise and Worship Liturgy of the Word’ for Catholic Schools Week in May 2024. We were blessed to have the wonderful Gen Bryant lead the choir for this liturgy. To hear more about this experience read Liturgy Matters: Praise and Worship in a Catholic community. We hope to continue growing this style of Catholic liturgy over time.

In developing Sacred Heart Beat and exploring the possibilities that are ours to seize, our Church of Maitland-Newcastle stands on the firm foundation of a rich and long history of music, and liturgical music in particular. This story was nurtured by my own Sisters of St Joseph, particularly at Lochinvar, and the Sisters of Mercy who had a music studio here at Hamilton where I learnt music. Not every diocese has such a story, so we are particularly blessed.  

My hope is that Sacred Heart Beat will enable us to continue this story and to nurture a culture of music and liturgical music that is relevant to this time and place, and which enlivens the liturgical life of our parish and school communities.

The DLC hopes Sacred Heart Beat will invite all of God’s People to attune their heart beat to the Sacred Heart Beat while singing to life the reign of God in our towns and neighbourhoods.   

We also hope Sacred Heart Beat will go on the road to interested parishes and regions. We hope to plan a journey north at some stage.

Hoping to see you and all your friends at a Sacred Heart Beat event soon.  

Diocesan Liturgy Council Update

To keep abreast of the work of the Diocesan Liturgy Council click on the link and then the ‘Council News’ drop down menu where you will find the latest meeting Report.

Acknowledgements

Images: © Diocese of Maitland Newcastle Liturgy Council. All rights reserved.

Follow mnnews.today on Facebook.