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WESTBOROUGH - For the past 10 years, Susan Bailey
has been ministering song on Sundays to parishioners at
St. Luke Evangelist Church in Westborough during the 9
a.m. Mass. The former Westborough resident wanted a way
for people to be able to extend the Sunday service into
the rest of their week through Catholic music that they
could listen to in their cars and in their homes. So she
launched "GrapeVine," a free, online magazine devoted to
the Catholic music scene. The magazine has been up and
running for about seven years except for a two-to-three
year hiatus while ironing out computer snafus before it
was resurrected last year. With the newest issue having
been put up in May of this year, Bailey is hoping for
more hits to the site.
A guitarist and vocalist with two compact disks of her
own, Bailey said she wants to share with others what
Catholic music does for her. She said it nurtures her
faith.
"I find that it feeds me," she said. "I listen to it
when I go into work in the morning. I have an hour long
commute. It helps me to pray. It gives me peace. It
settles me. It extends the experience of the Sunday Mass
into the week and into my life. It does so much for me,
that I'd like other people to find out about it."
Through the free online magazine site, viewers can
choose to read articles while logged on, or they can
download pdf files for later perusal. Its contents
expose people to the existence of the faith melodies and
serve as a support forum for the artists who produce
them. By exposing the music to as many people as
possible, Bailey said GrapeVine aims for readers' hearts
to be touched and encouraged by the gospel message the
songs proclaim.
Besides informing people about the music, Bailey said
the magazine also serves to help Catholic artists find
other Catholic artists in order to build fellowship in a
field that she said can be very isolating. She said she
has "gotten a kick" out of hearing from other musicians
from around the world who share their information about
their common fervor.
Bailey's involvement with Catholic music extends beyond
leading Mass songs and her connections through the
magazine. She also ministers song at other events
through St. Luke's, belongs to the adult choir there,
and performs at times across the country.
She said she's particularly enjoyed ministering song
through St. Luke's for funerals, when she likes to offer
comfort through her music. She has also been called upon
by the parish nurse to provide song to people who are
dying. She relishes the chance to be with people in that
way, she said.
Being the founder and publisher of GrapeVine is
meaningful to Bailey. She said she likes connecting
people to each other, and the magazine has been a
vehicle for her to do that. With over 13,000 hits to the
site since its resurrection last year, viewers from as
far away as Romania and Indonesia have made new
connections to the Catholic music scene, according to
GrapeVine statistics.
To check out GrapeVine, visit
www.gvonline.net.
Copyright ©2005 Community Advocate, Inc.
www.communityadvocate.com
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