There will be no renewal of sacred music and no evangelization without composition of new sacred music. It must participate in the tradition but resonate with people today.

Sacred music should draw worshipers into the contemplative dimension of the liturgy. It appeals to that part in us that hears the ‘still, small, voice’ and we develop that faculty through contemplative prayer.

Sacred music must resonate with contemporary worshipers while participating in the principles that go right back to the origins of sacred chant in the Apostolic Churches.

Christopher West talks to David Clayton about popular culture and the New Evangelization and lessons from Bruce Springsteen and Our Lady of Guadalupe: Popular culture doesn’t speak to the lowest common denominator, it speaks to the highest common denominator. Like it or loath it, the best rises to the surface. The reason so much of it is bad is that Christians have done such a woefully bad job at participating in contemporary culture. There is a gaping hole for Christians to occupy if we want to and we could learn lessons from the cultural Marxists in this respect!

If we learn to work with the natural structure of the body, our movement will be natural, graceful and dignified; and we will feel healthier and be more active. Are these aims good? Are they Christian?

It is important to understand the nature of what we are painting, this involves not only the physical anatomy but also the anthropology of the person. Even then we have to understand how the person relates to the things that surround him, most immediately clothes. The painting of drapery is generally very weak because artists don’t understand how the cloth behaves and how it hangs on a person.

This is a creative retrieval of scripture interpretation in the manner of the Church Fathers - presented for the modern age and in the light of all we know now.