By Blanca Morales - Florida Catholic
See accompanying story: Sex in God’s plan: Not starvation, but invitation to a feast
MIRAMAR | Singer-songwriter Mike Mangione sat in a back pew at one of Christopher West’s talks several years ago. Crossed-armed, he wasn’t receptive to the message -- until he and West began to speak about their mutual love of music. Now Mangione travels with West to deliver the message of the Theology of the Body through his songs.
Why do you include music at Theology of the Body Institute’s events?
Photographer: ANDREA MORALES | FC
Singer-songwriter Mike Mangione plays his music as a means of providing a moment of reflection throughout the day.
We’re providing another means to take in the teachings of TOB, in a form that speaks to the heart. This makes it a full head and heart experience. It’s a different way to teach the same message. Also, we want the music to be a moment of pause, reflection and prayer.
Why is beauty important when sharing these teachings?
For a lot of people, we might define our own truths, or declare our own goodness. As if they were a wall against hearing the message. Beauty can get past a person’s walls. It speaks a message of the heart rather than just the mind. It can pierce the heart. Pope Paul VI said that hearts will be won to truth via beauty. Beauty has the power to infiltrate the hardest of hearts and hardest of walls.
How could music lead to truth?
Truth, goodness and beauty are the three transcendentals that point us to God. If Christopher is focusing on the truth aspect, my music will share the message through beauty. The beauty in good art could be an icon. It should reflect on the greater mystery of man. It leads to reflection. In contrast, bad art is an idol that starts and stops with the materials and the artist. It’s just there for show.
Tell us about what your music.
The music I write is inspired by the musicians I grew up loving: Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Paul Simon... hose artists wrote music that reflected something bigger than themselves. I want to continue the conversation other artists have started that look at what it means to be human and answers the questions of “Who am I? Where am I going?”
I don’t really see it as being specifically religious or secular. God’s bigger than that. He’s everywhere, and his sacredness is everywhere. My music isn’t one or the other. Saying that Catholic music is only praise and worship is a small view of what Catholic art can be.
