After Son’s Death, Music Becomes a Ministry of Healing

Craig Colson never expected that his work as a Catholic musician and composer would lead to a ministry with those experiencing grief and loss.

Craig and Kristen Colson will lead an evening of praise and worship Oct. 16 at St. Mary in Hales Corners. Craig will also speak at an Oct. 17 conference on helping parish ministers accompany those experiencing grief and loss. (Submitted photo)

Colson will share that experience during “Hope and Healing After Loss,” presented by the Archdiocesan Liturgical Music Association Oct. 17 at St. Mary Parish in Hales Corners. The conference will focus on how parish ministers can accompany grieving members of their communities.

Colson moved to Phoenix as a teenager and found himself surrounded by Catholic songwriters, including Tom Kendzia (“The Eyes and Hands of Christ”), Paul Hillebrand (“Eucharistic Litany”) and Tom Booth (“Sacred Silence”).

Colson loved playing drums, which he never expected would become part of Mass at his parish, St. Maria Goretti in Scottsdale, Arizona. There he became involved with the new Life Teen program, where he could participate in youth ministry and still play drums.

His music education continued at Mesa Community College and Arizona State University. He also studied and played with composer and college roommate Chris Muglia (“Our God Is Here”) at Mass through the early 1990s.

Booth became a mentor to Colson and supported him in his first job as associate music director and associate youth minister at St. Theresa Parish in Phoenix. Colson also had the opportunity to work with Jaime Cortez (“Rain Down”) and follow in the footsteps of Rory Cooney.

It was through friends Colson made at a St. Theresa retreat that he met his wife, Kristen.

“We met through friends, and she came to one of my gigs, and the rest is history, 29 years later,” he said.

The Colsons started a family and later moved to Spring Grove, Illinois, near the Wisconsin border, when their son was in high school and their daughter was in her early 20s.

“My son Matthew was all in,” Colson said. “We were ready to experience four seasons like I did as a kid.”

Matthew thrived. He had a job and played percussion, guitar and his favorite instrument, the banjo, which he received as a gift for his 18th birthday. He was inspired to begin playing banjo after listening to bluegrass artists such as Billy Strings.

But Matthew struggled with insomnia.

“He was such a loving kid,” Colson said. “Always asking me and my wife what we needed. He wanted to play, sing and record music.”

In October 2021, Craig and Kristen found that Matthew had died after taking a counterfeit pain pill laced with fentanyl.

Colson described the loss as unimaginable and his faith as essential to enduring it.

“If you don’t have faith, I don’t know how you could get through it. It’s the hardest ‘cross’ to carry. You have to know it’s not the end,” he said.

Colson continues to connect with Matthew through music. “Here and Now,” which Colson wrote with fellow composers Francesca LaRosa, David Rohrer and Curtis Stephan, is dedicated to his son.

“At Mass, we know heaven and earth are there together. We know he’s right there,” Colson said.

Colson also found comfort in Jaime Cortez’s song “Fly Monarch Butterfly” after seeing a monarch butterfly following his son’s death.

Friends, fellow musicians and members of the Church surrounded the Colsons with support after Matthew’s death.

“Our priest friend from Arizona, Fr. John Coleman, frail as he was, flew out on his own, using a walker. The pastor who hired me and moved us out to Illinois from Arizona, Fr. Paul White, arranged rides, housing to stay, etc. One lady from the parish donated her frequent flyer miles to get musician friends to Matthew’s funeral.”

Colson said his friend and mentor Tom Booth also brought the family a meaningful gift after the funeral.

“Tom came to our house after the funeral. He and his wife had looked for a saint image of St. Matthew in Sedona. There were none in stock, but the counter clerk miraculously found one, high up on the back shelf. If that wasn’t miraculous enough, it was the VERY SAME GIFT Matthew had asked for in that same Sedona store years earlier!”

Matthew also left behind his own music, including a softly sung song called “Go Easy.” He had recorded the song on his iPhone before his death. Afterward, a friend isolated his voice and another family friend added a guitar track, preserving the recording.

Colson said grief remains part of his daily life.

“It’s easy to get angry with God,” he said. “I encourage people not to blame God. One day it will make sense. You need to find something to feed yourself. Never isolate yourself. I play gigs to keep busy. I find ways to remember the good things. We participated in the Lost Voices of Fentanyl Rally in Washington, D.C. It was a freeing event.”

Laurie Cosson, archdiocesan coordinator for the Office of Worship, said Colson’s experience can help ministers who accompany parishioners dealing with grief and loss.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, with $15 admission (cash only) and tickets available at the door. The Saturday conference runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Both events are at St. Mary, 9520 W. Forest Home Ave., Hales Corners.