Inside ML

Happy Birthday

You may have noticed that this issue begins volume 25. We're claiming all year as ML's birthday, but the real date of birth is a few months off. The inaugural issue -- which was titled Folk Mass and Modern Liturgy -- appeared in November 1973. ML has undergone a few changes besides the title in these past 25 years. But one thing that has always remained the same is the editorial commitment "to reach out to all people who are involved with planning or leading worship and to help them" ("From the Editors," ML 1:1). So ML, of course, attempts to assist the liturgist in the worship effort of the parish. But ML strives just as much to be of service to the catechist, the pastor, the youth minister, the music minister, the committee volunteer and all who come together to make the liturgy come alive in the hearts of the faithful. We're planning a few changes to commemorate the 25th year; I'll share some of these changes in this space during the coming months. One thing all of us can count on: ML will remain committed to enabling the full, conscious and active participation of all the faithful in the liturgy and the life of the church. That's an agenda worth pursuing for at least another 25 years.

Visual Arts Awards

In this issue you will see some of the best liturgical art available (pages 5-8). These are the winners in ML's annual awards contest. If you are a liturgical artist or you know one, now is the time to be thinking about the 1998-1999 contest. Contestants enter in one of three categories: permanent, stained glass, or seasonal and occasional. Permanent category winners will be displayed in the September issue of ML. Stained glass winners appear in November. The seasonal and occasional entries will be in next year's February issue. See the ad on page 28 for more information.

Corrections

In the Visual Arts Awards -- Stained Glass feature (ML 24:9), Gary Ross is listed as one of the executers of both "Waters of Life with Wheat and Grapes" and "The Sacred Garden." The name should have been listed as Gary Young.
In the same issue, there appears an excerpt from the new National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry document From Age to Age: The Challenge for Worship with Adolescents. The copyright date is given incorrectly. It should be 1997.

—NW