The 54th Irish Church Music Association’s summer school takes place this week in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, with the theme ‘Water of Life’. The chief celebrant at the opening Mass in the historic and beautiful College Chapel was Monsignor Joseph McGuinness, the Executive Secretary of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
During his homily Monsignor McGuinness (pictured above) said, “the American chemist Stanley Miller’s experiment in 1952 involving a sealed container, methane, ammonia, hydrogen, water and electric discharges, found traces in the water residue of amino acids, building blocks of proteins, the basic components of living things. What Miller had done was to demonstrate how the extraordinary complexity of life on Earth might have begun to emerge from the waters of the oceans. It seems to me to be a striking example of science echoing Scripture, for it reminds me of the image of the Spirit of God hovering over the chaos of the waters at the beginning of the world, bringing order out of chaos and creating the environment in which life could emerge and thrive.”
Monsignor McGuinness concluded, “As so as we sing our praise to the Lord for the wonder of his Creation, let us be ever mindful of our responsibility for the care of that Creation. As we sing our thanks to the Lord for the springs of earthly and eternal Life, may we be ever more committed to the defence and protection of all human life. And, as we sing our joy to the Lord, may He continue to protect and refresh the life in each one of us, and guard us for life eternal.”
The school Director this year is the Irish liturgical music composer Bernard Sexton, who has been working in the area of sacred and choral music for the past twenty-five years. The Irish Church Music Association was founded in November 1969 to support the work of musicians working in the field of liturgical music in Ireland. Through training, publication and dissemination of information, the ICMA strives to improve standards and encourage musicians in their service of God and the community. The ICMA is supported by the Bishops’ Conference and its membership comprises choir members from around the country and those interested in Church music.
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