MUSIC MINISTRY Singing the Word
Like many music directors in the diocese, Steve has had challenges since he was hired as music director at St. Philip the Apostle back in June of 2019. The first challenge was simple to overcome. He had inherited a different repertoire than he was accustomed. Choir members and parishioners were used to the older hymns, and the pastor at the time wanted all contemporary praise and worship music. They both agreed that they should have some of both or have a “blended repertoire,” he said. After serving just seven months at St. Philip, the pandemic hit the U.S., and all Masses went online. It
wasn’t until after the Masses began to reopen that a member in the choir got Covid, and both he and his wife became seriously ill from it. Even then, the music at St. Philip never stopped as the choir members from St. Philip who weren’t sick continued to show up to Mass and sing. “I love the whole gamut of Catholic Music,” Steve Cortinas said. “But we [music ministers] are servants. The Mass is not about us. We are the sprinkles on the cake. We’re not even the icing,” he explained. “We’re there to receive Jesus —it’s really not about the music, but if we can enhance it —praise and thanks to God.”
The Cortinas family take turns running the Livestream and projector for all the Masses at St. Philip, while there dad, Steve Cortinas directs the choir. Pictured below is the Cortinas family in the back row, from left, is Veronica, Katie and Noah. Pictured in the front row, from left, is Steve, Cici, Teresa and Armida.
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S O U T H T E X A S C AT H O L I C
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SPRING 2022
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WE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST
