The insert in the Sun Journal about the Music Ministry, the photographs of the choir and the music director Scott Vaillancourt inspired me to write this letter.

The liturgies and music for the celebration of the Eucharist organized by Scott, the worship and spirituality commission and, most especially, by our gifted and talented pastor, Father Robert D. Lariviere, and choir director bring great joy and happiness to me and all who attend the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.

In “A New Song for the Lord,” c. 1997, Chapter 6, “Sing Artistically for God,” p. 96, 97, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “In the Old Testament, the Psalter is a bridge, between the Law and the Prophets,'” it has become a bridge connecting the two Testaments. In the Old Testament, Songs of David, this meant for Christians that these hymns had risen from the heart of the real David, Christ. “Christ himself becomes the choir director who teaches us the new song and gives the church the tone and the way in which she can praise God appropriately and blend into the heavenly liturgy.”

I believe that Pope Benedict would find that at Saints Peter and Paul, “the Church liturgy and music sets the tone and way she can praise God appropriately and blends into the heavenly liturgy.”

Joanna Walsh-Ward, Lewiston