Music as a doorway to the divine with Matt Maher
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Because I think We've been in a pretty heavily didactic age, like in the church, particularly in the West. And we're sort of you know, there's this kind of we keep kinda doubling down on like people don't know enough. And I'm like I don't know if it's that people don't know enough in a head sense. I think it's that people need to start having very real. Human experiences of the very real gospel and the mystery of our face.
Welcome to the spiritual life. I'm Father Jim Martin. On this podcast we reflect on how people experience God in their prayer. And in their daily lives. And I'm joined by my, what would I say, three time producer now, Maggie Van Dorn. Maggie, good to be back with you.
It's great to be back for our third season of the spiritual life. We had a lovely little break over the summer, but we are excited to get back into it.
We are. Do you feel like you had enough of a break? I feel like it was very short, don't you?
It it it does feel like it went by a little too quick. Um, but we never really get a break from the spiritual life.
Very good. Oh, that's very good. Very wise. Um now we're really excited this first episode uh of our third season. We have a really special guest and it is Matt Marr. Would you like to tell us a little bit about him?
Yeah, so for those of you who don't know Matt, he is a Catholic musician, a songwriter, a worship leader. And Matt Marr's music has really shaped contemporary Christian worship for more than two decades. I know that I was listening to Matt Marr when I was a teenager. Jim, do you have a favorite Matt Marr song?
I do, you know, there's one that I've liked for a long time, gonna be all right, which is uh, you know, something that Jesus said, basically, don't worry, which I like. But I did a deep dive. Um, in preparation for this show and uh they're all great. But I really like on to be all right. I should have that on like repeat in my in my ear all the time. Um, what's your favorite Matt Mars song? Do you have one?
You know what, this isn't even original Matt Maher, but I think he does the most beautiful version I've ever heard of the Litany of the Saints.
Mm. So
look up Matt Maher's Litany of the Saints. It is it's just gorgeous. Yeah,
I think for a lot of our our listeners they're familiar or our viewers as well. A nine time Grammy Award nominee, Matt Marr has written some of the most widely sung worship songs across denominations. So, I mean, Catholic and Protestant and, you know, many, many different denominations. He's pretty amazing.
Yeah. And in addition to this extensive recording and touring career, Matt has become one of the most influential Catholic voices in contemporary worship. And he really bridges the liturgical tradition and modern songwriting for a global audience. And we hear a little bit about that in your conversation with Matt when you're talking about the development of praise and worship. Worship music, right, Jim?
Yeah, I found that really interesting. Um, you know, the post Vatican II development of liturgical music, you know, how it goes from folk music to Saint Louis Jesuits to praise and worship. And he's, you know, an expert in kind of explaining that. We also hear about um his spiritual journey, his own spiritual journey, as you would expect on our podcast. And a a real kind of mystical experience. that he had with God that uh really set his course. Um and we talk also about how to experience and encounter God through music. So it really was he's a he's a really great interviewer. He's obviously a very uh gifted and articulate uh person.
Yeah, he's able to uh express not only where God is happening in his life, but how he encounters that through relationships and community. And then of course, as you said, most of all, music. So before we get to that conversation, uh, we have an audience question. And this comes from Kate, who says, I'm often moved to tears at mass, but don't understand why. Do others experience this? And I thought this was a really fitting question for Matt Maher, because you know, a lot of the praise and worship music that he leads can be quite cathartic and um emotional and aphid.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:03–5:13
2
What was the conversion experience that led Matt Maher to become a worship songwriter?
5:13–12:36
3
How has praise‑and‑worship music evolved from the St. Louis Jesuits to today’s modern worship?
12:36–26:36
4
Why does Matt write songs out of the experience of the Eucharist rather than as a task?
26:36–32:01
5
What spiritual practices keep Matt Maher spiritually alive on the road and at home?
32:01–35:57
6
How does Matt practice discernment and detachment as a creative Catholic artist?
35:57–39:35
7
In what ways does Matt encounter God through relationships and community?
39:35–46:43
8
Why do some people cry at Mass and others don’t, according to Matt and Fr. James?
46:43–57:09