Former St. Mary’s Springs Academy teacher Chris McGalloway presented a discussion on the “Theology of Bohemian Rhapsody” on Jan. 28 in Sheboygan. (Submitted photo)
Catholics know to look for God in the Eucharist, in the Mass and sacraments, in the Word, in rosaries, novenas and countless other well-known sacred sources.
Catholics typically don’t think of classic hard rock bands like Queen as sources of the sacred presence. But a retired educator showed pub-goers in Sheboygan in January that if they look and discern through faith-colored lenses, perhaps they can more easily see God threading through one of their favorite songs, and perhaps many more things they encounter in everyday life.
“We need to find God in the music that we already listen to,” said Chris McGalloway, who was a teacher at St. Mary’s Springs Academy, Fond du Lac, for 29 years. He shaed his faith-imbued observations about the music we listen to daily during “Theology of Bohemian Rhapsody” on Jan. 28 at Hops Haven in Sheboygan.
He said he hoped to get attendees to “start thinking about the songs that they already listen to, the movies that they already watch, even some of the commercials that have some very deep theological meaning to them.”
McGalloway starts his talk by referencing the reflection the song makes to the first couple chapters of Genesis.
“Theology of the Body tells that we should really, really study those two creation stories. And in those two creation stories, in Genesis chapter two, there’s three original (states of being) before original sin, and one of them (is) original solitude,” said McGalloway.
“Original solitude is just that self-awareness that we have, that we are different from all of God’s creation. We have to step inside ourselves every now and again and allow ourselves to be alone. In that aloneness, we find out who we are, what we’re made from.”
McGalloway says that theme deeply paints itself over the first lyrics, “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” and so on.
“I used to tell this to my class all the time — we have to continue to ask questions in our faith, we have to constantly ask questions,” he said.
“Those questions may just be from the quietness of a room where we’re sitting, where those questions are coming to us, and then we’re thinking about those questions, and it’s a deep, deep prayer, and that’s where I go with Bohemian Rhapsody.”
“Chris is very captivating, because the title did that for for me,” said Kym Leibham, Director of Adult Formation for the six Sheboygan Catholic churches. “When I heard about it, and I heard about it from somebody else who had worked with Chris, I thought, ‘Oh, this is something I want to check out.’”
Both Leibham and McGalloway see the theme of the talk centering around the general idea that people can find God in the everyday.
“I’d like to be able to see the Lord in the things that I love, or the things that that maybe seem a little counter cultural,” said Leibham.
“If you have the lens of living with the Lord, you see the Lord in everything, or you can find the good in everything and everybody. And that’s a choice, right?”
“I have Bob Seger. I have U2. I have Fleetwood Mac. I have Sting and the Police. I was just introduced to a Jelly Roll song last week, and talk about digging deep inside your own soul, pulling it out and showing it and singing about it for the world to hear,” said McGalloway.
“I think (Catholic theologian) Christopher West said it, when U2 has a stadium of 80,000, 100,000 people, and they’re chanting the band’s song back, he says it’s almost like a cathedral where the priest or the cantor is chanting something, and they’re chanting it back. It is a constant back and forth between those two. You look at songs as if they are a prayer. We get a chance to pray along with them, whether they see that or not.”
McGalloway also sees how the gathering place of a tavern can be the perfect gathering point to bring in people who may have fallen away from the church or never attended, and may find the impetus to go.
“Grab your favorite drink, and sit down and let’s talk about theology for an hour, giving them some deep, deep theological understanding of where there is beauty in Bohemian Rhapsody and the struggles that people are going through, and how can you relate with those struggles in your own life,” he said.
“I tell them I am struggling with the same things that you guys are struggling with in my marriage, in my personal life and in everything else. I may get the same result in a church hall, but I may not be getting the same clientele in the church hall. So that’s what I’m looking for. I’m trying to get more people into the seats, and maybe we’ll see him in church on Sunday.”
