February 22, 2004
Losing the Sacred: The Moving Away from Liturgical Music
I will begin this article with a question. What is the purpose of music at Mass?
I think this would be a good question for any director of liturgical music at every parish. Today at Mass I witnessed an incredible performance from our choir. The music was of an African-American tradition and quite beautiful. It was what some call "gospel music". I do thoroughly enjoy this kind of music so I do not mean to offend anyone reading this. It is just that this is not the type of music that is appropriate at Mass.
At the end of the Mass the priest made the comment that if the choir got any better they would have to move the altar over to the side and move the choir to the center of the church. Internally I cringed. Of course, he was joking, but his comment brought to my mind one of the greatest problems with modern Catholics view of the liturgy.
The Mass is the ultimate act of worship for Catholics. It is at the Mass that we literally kneel down and worship our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, truly present in the Most Holy Eucharist. It is at the Mass that we receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of God Himself.
The role of music at Mass is, first and foremost, to lift our hearts and minds to the sublime mysteries present before us. It can also be a meditation on various truths of our Faith. It should generally be solemn in nature, for it is not to distract the faithful, present at Mass, from the Mass itself.
What is currently happening is that the music is becoming a focal point of the liturgy itself. This type of music makes the most spiritual liturgy, a sentiment liturgy. We are often more concerned about being emotionally inspired rather than spiritually fulfilled.
There is a time and a place for emotionally uplifting music. I thoroughly enjoy Christian modern music, as heard on Christian FM music channels across the nation, but I do not believe this music is appropriate for the Mass, for the music of the Mass should lift our hearts and minds to the sacred, to the great mystery of God Himself.
As I sat at Mass and listened to the congregation applaud the choir after the Communion song, I couldn't help but think about how our focus has been on the music rather than the greatest of all mysteries, whom we have just received, namely Jesus Christ Himself.
I can't help but feel that this practice is geared toward drawing more of our Protestant brothers and sisters to our parishes, but I would suggest that rather than using music that they are familar with, our liturgical music should be more mystical and solemn. It should be an introduction to the solemn and sacred celebration of the Mass. There is a difference between Protestant services and the Mass, for at the Mass we fulfill Jesus' commandment in John 6 in that we partake in the Lord's Body and Blood, we worship Jesus "in spirit and in truth." The music of the Mass should reflect that.
In Christ,
Joe
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I think this trend is nothing more than that, a trend. As with all things "American", we tend to be influenced more by those around us than by what we believe.
American Catholics for the most part have no idea what they believe, so accepting things that may hinder spiritual progress tend to be more palatable because of the lack of appreciation for the sacred. In time I pray that the Holy Spirit will revive our understanding, our appreciation and our due respect for the sacred Liturgy, not as a means of entertainment, but one of holiness and true worship.
Posted by: savrx at February 23, 2004 08:02 AMemotionally inspired rather than spiritually fulfilled.... don't the two go hand in hand?
as an "emotional" catholic, I think the two go hand in hand. Food for thought....
Sincerely,
Dr. Liliana Escobar-Thies
