Jan Michael Joncas is a priest, liturgical theologian, and composer of contemporary Catholic music

Contemporary Catholic music

Contemporary Catholic music is a subset of Contemporary Christian music. Since Vatican Council II Catholic music has become more open to popular influences and influences from other Christian denominations. In the 1970s Mary Lou Williams began doing Catholic themed jazz, including a jazz mass....

. Joncas's most popular song is "On Eagles' Wings

On Eagles' Wings

On Eagles' Wings is a devotional song composed by Michael Joncas, a minister, in 1979 after Vatican Council II, when the Catholic Church began using vernacular hymns at Mass. Its words are loosely based on Psalm 91 and Isaiah 40:31. The song was then published by North American Liturgy Resources...

." He received an MA in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

 in 1978 and went on to study at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute

Pontifical Liturgical Institute

The Pontifical Liturgical Institute in Rome, located at Sant'Anselmo on the Aventine Hill, promotes the study of the Sacred Liturgy. It is entrusted to the Benedictine Confederation, and has the role of training professors of liturgy and liturgical experts to advance the study and teaching of the...

 in Rome. He was ordained in 1980, and teaches at the University of St. Thomas

University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)

The University of St. Thomas is a private, Catholic, liberal arts, and archdiocesan university located in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States...

 (St. Paul, Minnesota), at the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

, and summer courses at the Saint John's School of Theology - Seminary (Collegeville, Minnesota).

Michael Joncas's compositions are representative of the more popular style of music that has appeared in American Catholic parishes in the wake of the Second Vatican Council

Second Vatican Council

The Second Vatican Council addressed relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the modern world. It was the twenty-first Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church and the second to be held at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It opened under Pope John XXIII on 11 October 1962 and closed...

.

Fr. Joncas has stated that his preference for the title would be "On Eagle's Wings," indicating that the wings belong to a single eagle which is metaphorically related to God, but he said he could make an argument for "On Eagles' Wings," indicating that wings belong to many eagles, since there would be many eagles needed to lift up the multiple people in covenant with God.

Discography

• "Singing In the Light" (1968)
• "On Eagles' Wings" (1979)
• "Every Stone Shall Cry"
• "Here In Our Midst"
• "O Joyful Light"
• "Praise God in Song"
• "No Greater Love"
• "Winter Name of God" (1988)
• "God of Life and of the Giving"
• "Sing Praise and Thanksgiving"
• "Come to Me"
• "Mass for John Carroll"
• "Psallite Mass"
• "We Come to Your Feast"
• "A Voice Cries Out"
• "As the Deer"
• "God of Life Be Praised"
• "In the Sight of Angels" (2008)

"Singing In the Light" is a rare private press folk album highly sought after by collectors.

Selected Songs

• "Take and Eat" (1989)
• "On Eagles' Wings
  On Eagles' Wings
  On Eagles' Wings is a devotional song composed by Michael Joncas, a minister, in 1979 after Vatican Council II, when the Catholic Church began using vernacular hymns at Mass. Its words are loosely based on Psalm 91 and Isaiah 40:31. The song was then published by North American Liturgy Resources...
  
  " (1979)
• "I Have Loved You" (1979)
• "We Come to Your Feast"

and many others...

His music in contemporary culture

Michael Joncas is one of many musicians who compose contemporary Catholic liturgical music

Contemporary Catholic liturgical music

Contemporary Catholic liturgical music encompasses a comprehensive number of styles of music for Catholic liturgy that grew both before and after the reforms of Vatican II...

. This music has enjoyed widespread success throughout the English speaking world. There have also been a number of controversies surrounding this music.
On Eagles' Wings

On Eagles' Wings

On Eagles' Wings is a devotional song composed by Michael Joncas, a minister, in 1979 after Vatican Council II, when the Catholic Church began using vernacular hymns at Mass. Its words are loosely based on Psalm 91 and Isaiah 40:31. The song was then published by North American Liturgy Resources...

 was played at many of the 9/11 memorial services, and was sung by a former Miss America at the memorial service for the 1995 Oklahoma City federal building bombing. It was also widely heard when Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...

chose it as the theme for one of his most recognized concerts that was later broadcast on television and sold as tapes and CDs.

External links

• Oregon Catholic Press Bio
• GIA Music Bio
• University of St. Thomas, Faculty Page