Texas priest seen as 'godfather' of nascent liturgical music movement

Published: 2007-12-14

SLATON, Texas (CNS) -- If Ray Repp, of "Allelu!" and "Peace, My Friends" fame, can be considered the founding father of contemporary Catholic music, then Msgr. Joseph W. James can lay claim to the title of the music's "godfather." Born in Dalhart and raised on a large ranch where he worked as a cowboy, Msgr. James was ordained for the Diocese of Amarillo in 1957. He became a priest of the Diocese of Lubbock, when it was created out of the Amarillo Diocese in 1983. Now retired, Msgr. James has had a prophetic and productive life of ministry. In the summer of 1964, then-Father James was at the University of Notre Dame, in Indiana, in a class with Father Clarence Rivers, a young priest from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Their professor challenged Father Rivers to write a song for Mass in the vernacular, the language of the people. So impressed was he by the song Father Rivers wrote -- "God Is Love" -- and songs he heard at nearby hootenannies, Msgr. James gathered them in a songbook, printed copies and organized a singalong at Notre Dame. Msgr. James also boosted the career of Sebastian Temple, who wrote "Prayer of St. Francis," by introducing him to Omer Westendorf, founder of World Library of Sacred Music and publisher of "The People's Mass Book."

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