A Winning Entry

In March of 2010, I entered the MASS for the LIVING into a composition competition that was sponsored by the Foundation for the Sacred Arts. The Catholic Church released its New English Translations of the Mass for composers from around the world to create new settings. The contest results were to be announced at the end of May. Owing to the enormity of the project, I wasn't surprised that there was a delay in receiving news about the winning entries.

One evening in mid-June, I opened an email, which was from the Foundation for the Sacred Arts, from my phone. Part of the message was cut off, so I could only read a portion of the announcement of the winning entries, so I assumed that I hadn't won anything ...

The next morning, I went to examine the announcement from my computer- and a bit more carefully-- and to my great surprise and DELIGHT, my name was listed as an Honorable Mention! The email stated that all the winners had been notified, but I know that I had never received a notice, so it made me question whether or not I had actually won...

My doubt comes from the fact that there are about 500 Amanda Jacobs's in the United States and there is an Amanda Jacobs on Facebook who is 'friending' all of them ...

... so you can imagine how I could question whether or not I had actually won.

I emailed the person running the competition and he wrote me back a few days later that I was THE winning Amanda Jacobs.

It is thrilling to know that the MASS for the LIVING won an Honorable Mention, but it really isn't the winning that makes me happy. What makes me happy is that my mother lives in that work and all of that love and joy of her life lives in the work too ... and people felt it -- and they loved her ... and with that, it feels like her life WON an Honorable Mention! She was such an amazing woman and I weep with so much joy and gladness. She won!