Jason J. McFarland

Dr Jason McFarland is Lecturer in Liturgical Studies and Sacramental Theology and Assistant Director of the ACU Centre for Liturgy at Australian Catholic University (Sydney). From 2005-2012 he was the Assistant Editor at the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) during the period of the preparation of the 2010 translation of The Roman Missal, working with and traveling to the territories of many English-speaking conferences of bishops. Jason has many years of teaching experience at the university level in the areas of liturgical studies, theology, and music. He has taught at The Catholic University of America (Washington, DC) as an adjunct lecturer and Teaching Fellow in liturgical studies, St Norbert College (De Pere, Wisconsin) as Assistant Professor of Theology specialising in Ritual and Liturgical Studies, and The University of South Dakota where he taught voice and served as Assistant Conductor of the Men's and Women's Chorus. As a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, he taught English at Zunyi Normal College (Guizhou, China) from 2012-14, and was a TEFL Technical Trainer for new volunteers. Jason is an active presenter in the Music Seminar of the North American Academy of Liturgy. He has presented papers at meetings of Societas Liturgica, the College Theology Society, the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians, the Australian Pastoral Musicians Network, and the American Academy of Religion. He is also a member of the Australian Catholic Theology Association, the Catholic Theological Society of America, and is Secretary of the Australian Academy of Liturgy. His experience in preparing liturgical celebrations and thorough knowledge of the ritual books of the Roman Rite come chiefly through his work with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and ICEL, as well as through over a decade as a cantor and member of the professional choir at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Washington, DC), which involved hundreds of liturgies and eleven recording projects. Jason holds the MA and PhD degrees in Liturgical Studies from The Catholic University of America, as well as Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in vocal performance including the study of musicology, composition, arranging, piano, organ, and french horn from the University of South Dakota (summa cum laude, with honors). His research in Liturgical Studies has appeared in a variety of journals and pastoral resources. His book Announcing the Feast: The Entrance Song in the Mass of the Roman Rite (2012) is considered by many to be the standard treatment of the subject to date. Jason is currently a member of the editorial board for the Australian Journal of Liturgy and is a Consultant to the National Liturgical Council (Australia). At CUA he studied with many of the luminaries in contemporary Liturgical Studies, including David Power, Mary Collins, Gerard Austin, James White, Stephen Happel, Kevin Irwin, Margaret Mary Kelleher, and Catherine Dooley, as well as influential figures in Systematic Theology like Joseph Komonchak, Peter Phan, William Loewe, and James Provost. Jason also studied chant history and palaeography at CUA with the renowned Ruth Steiner.