April 20, 2026
“Life is really worth living, and I’m thankful for it…”
— Fr. Michael Joncas
In an interview with The Catholic Spirit, Father Michael Joncas, the celebrated composer and theologian, said, “Suffering can be a time for deepening one’s emotional and spiritual life. It can teach new ways of praying. One’s family and friends can become incredibly important as advocates and supporters during the onslaught; that an ‘attitude of gratitude’ can become an almost permanent result of having gone through an ordeal; and that just as the experience has given me new insights for my ministry, so illness can deepen one’s empathy for other human beings.”
That suffering includes grief. For Fr. Joncas, who wrote “On Eagle’s Wings” when he was 26, suffering resulted from contracting Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a paralyzing neurological disorder, from which he still has residual effects, particularly in his hands and feet, which stopped him from playing the guitar.
Another change it has made in his life is that he is more grateful, he said in an interview with Fairfield County Catholic.
“I am grateful that I’m still alive in this world of space and time,” he said. And that even with the residuals [of the disorder], life is really worth living, and I’m thankful for it,” he said.
Father had undertaken a major project of setting all the Psalms for the three-year cycle for Sunday reading, and the last of four volumes is due to come out from Liturgical Press
“I was pretty clear that was my last contribution, and that I’d be very happy not to do any more musical composition,” he said, laughing. “But lo and behold, some of the sisters in one of the communities where I celebrate Mass asked me last month to set a series of lyrics they had created. And even though I hadn’t really written anything for probably more than a year, I did create that. So that’s something they’re going to be singing this Easter time. I guess what I’m saying is I think I’m done, but every once in a while people ask me to do a little more writing, and I hope it’s helpful.”
To hear Father Joncas sing “On Eagle’s Wings,” click here. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6E-Mw1fnzE)
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