We’re in the small window between the Christmas and Lenten seasons, which means it’s time to plan. Lenten music, Triduum music, and Easter music are in its final stages of planning. How can we stretch our dollars in our music ministry budget to add new variety, new depth, into our chosen music?

Today we feature an episode from 4 years ago that explores the music available to us in the public domain. Public domain music can be somewhat work-intensive, as it’s not regulated in the same way as a published piece, but the efforts to sift through the selections can repay you in spades. This free music has lovely arrangements to embrace the liturgical seasons in renewed ways, all for free.

NPM is hitting the road this summer for 2-day events across the United States! Today we're sitting down with Executive Director Jennifer Kluge to unpack these series of events, titled "NPM On the Road." What can we expect out of these events? Who should attend them? Where can we stay? These questions - and many more - are answered in this jam-packed episode.

Today on Ministry Monday we return from our holiday break! Our first episode of 2025 features Steven Warner the founder and director emeritus of the Notre Dame Folk Choir, as well as founder of the Newman Vocare Ensemble. Like many pastoral musicians, the Holy Spirit clearly is working through Steve and his decades-long work in music and ministry. Steve is no stranger to the podcast: we spoke of his connection to Saint John Henry Newman while he taught at the Newman Centre for Faith and Reason in Dublin, and we also discussed the Catholic Church in Ireland on another episode. Today’s episode focuses on his most recent project, titled “The Contemplative Classroom.” If you know Steve’s music you know that many of his compositions are ostinato refrains within an accessible singing range for most singers. Steve has taken this idea and begun to make a curriculum for classrooms that cultivate healthy singing, mindfulness, and spirituality in a way that, I dare say, may not have ever been created quite like this. It’s a great start for this Catholic Schools week, and a great way to begin our podcast for the year.