With three young children—Patrick, age five, Gemma, age two, and Veronica, three months old—Sam and Rachel Weigel are in one of the busiest seasons of family life. Between work, diapers, bedtime routines, and caring for a newborn, free time can be hard to find. Yet music ministry remains an important part of how they live their Catholic faith, strengthen their marriage, and serve others.
Music has been woven into both of their lives since childhood. Sam grew up in a family active in parish music and began singing at Mass when he was young. Rachel joined her parish children’s choir in second grade and has remained involved in church music ever since.
Music was also one of the things that connected them as a couple. “One of my favorite parts is that music was one of the first things that really made me fall in love with Sam,” Rachel recalled. For Sam, their shared love of music continues to strengthen their marriage. “Being able to share that together has helped us grow closer and strengthen our marriage and our love for each other,” he said. “It’s a great gift from God that we can share together.”
Today, Sam and Rachel participate in the Co-Cathedral’s music ministry through the Schola Cantorum, cantoring, funerals, weddings, and special liturgies. They also provide music for Mass at Madonna Towers, where the setting may be more intimate but, as Sam emphasized, the meaning of the Mass remains unchanged. “The Mass is still the Mass, and Christ is present,” he said. “Ministering in a different setting doesn’t detract from its dignity or its glory.” Rachel especially treasures hearing residents join them in familiar hymns such as Holy God, We Praise Thy Name. “I love getting to hear them,” she said. “They’re all singing, and that is just fantastic.”
Prayer by Cardinal John Henry Newman
At the heart of their ministry is an important distinction, “It’s not a performance,” Rachel said. “It’s trying to share a gift—a gift from God—with the people and lead them in praise and worship.” Sam connects that perspective to a prayer by Cardinal John Henry Newman and prayed often by St. Teresa of Calcutta. One line especially captures what he hopes music ministry can accomplish: “Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus!” That prayer expresses Sam’s own desire when he serves: “When they look at me, I don’t want them to see me. I want them to see Christ. If that’s music, I want that music to bring them to Him.”
That witness is already taking root in their own home. Rachel often sings hymns while cooking, working around the house, or putting the children to bed. Their children have begun doing the same. Recently, Sam noticed five-year-old Patrick quietly playing while humming “O God Beyond All Praising.” Their children may be too young to understand the theology behind sacred music, but they are already learning something important: praising God is simply part of family life.
For Sam and Rachel, that may be one of the greatest fruits of their ministry. Music is not merely something they do at church. It is becoming part of the faith they are passing on—one hymn, one Mass, and one small act of service at a time.