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Your rock band belongs in the undercroft, not the sanctuary

Written by

Rich Leonardi

in

My Amazon review of Pope Benedict's Sacramentum Caritatis: 

One reviewer of Pope Benedict's new apostolic exhortation called it a "Eucharistic catechism," a description that fits perfectly.

The Holy Father first introduces readers to an explanation of the role of the Eucharist in the life of the Church. It is quite simply the "constitutive of the Church's being and activity."

He then addresses practical matters concerning worship and the sacraments. Catholics are urged to consider re-ordering the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist to be celebrated all at once in succession, so as to emphasize the proper place of the Blessed Sacrament in the life of the Christian and the Church. Priests are instructed to embrace a spirit of humility and not present themselves as the center of the liturgical action.

The importance of beauty and the liturgy, long a key theme for Benedict, is also stressed. "Beauty, then, is not mere decoration, but rather an essential element of the liturgical action, since it is an attribute of God himself and his revelation. These considerations should make us realize the care which is needed, if the liturgical action is to reflect its innate splendour."

The Sign of Peace is not a mini-happy hour and ought to be exchanged with restraint. I once watched a priest and deacon "high five" each other in the sanctuary, and there seems little doubt that is the sort of exaggerated behavior the Holy Father would have us avoid.

Pope Benedict explained that "active participation," a term used by liturgists to bring everything from campfire songs to bongos into the Mass, "does not refer to mere external action" but concerns a "greater awareness of the mystery being celebrated."

How should parish leaders foster the participation of worshippers? "The primary way to foster the participation of the People of God in the sacred rite is the proper celebration of the rite itself." In other words, the endless experimentation many people experience at Mass should end.

Relatedly, he also defends the use of sacred music from those who would inject popular music into the Mass. "Generic improvisation or the introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided." Translation: Your rock band belongs in the undercroft, not the sanctuary.

Priests and the laity are urged to learn more Latin. "Similarly, the better-known prayers of the Church's tradition should be recited in Latin and, if possible, selections of Gregorian chant should be sung."

The document's much-discussed section on pro-abortion politicians is actually rather short. Pope Benedict lists the Church's "not negotiable" values in the public square — the right to life, the defense of marriage, and the right to educate one's children — and states that Catholic politicians are bound to defend them.

With "Sacramentum Caritatis," Pope Benedict's "reform of the reform" has begun, and he has wisely decided to make the education of his flock his first priority.

Comments

  1. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    Rich, I readily agree with much of what you say.

    On the point of Catholics learning more Latin, are you going to teach it?Who is going to teach it? When? How? Who is going to pay for these lessons? What is "enough" Latin?

    Practical questions need to be answered.

  2. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    Priests are instructed to embrace a spirit of humility and not present themselves as the center of the liturgical action.

    this is one of the problem with the novus ordo mass.  the priest feels like he has to make sure he does not offend the lay people by making himself out to have a greater role in the liturgy than they do. but he does.  in the tridentine mass the priest does all of the prayers and offerings for us because we are not worthy to. 

    in the novus ordo mass, the lay people are insulted if they are not up on the altar making sure that they have their part..

    the eucharistic ministers (i won't say extraordinary eucharistic ministers, because they are anything but) can't wait to get up there and do their part. 

    the priest does not need to be more humble.  he needs to take back the priveliges that belong only to him and not to the lay people.

    and the lay people should sit back and and be more humble and not try to make themselves the center of the liturgy.

    this was one of the problems with vatican II, it encouraged the lay people to get involved in the "new mass". 

  3. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    papal bull,

    I thnk we agree that humility is a virtue.

    I was only a little kid during VII but, as I understand it, one of the issues at Mass before the Novus Ordo was introduced was that many in the congregation attended Mass, but did not enter into the mystery of the liturgy. Many (not all) were unaware of what was going on.  Many (not all) did not understand the prayers.  Many (not all) sat and prayed the rosary until the bells were rung at the consecration. Many (not all) attended only out of a sense of obligation, completely missing out on understanding the joy of entering into and celebrating the Holy Sacrifice.

    Humility is a virtue, as it is to submit to the wisdom of the Church, even in her changes. There are cetainly abuses in the liturgy, but there were just as certainly reasons for the Second Vatican Council. Again, I understand many of the problems the changes brought as well. 

    But humility may be the key for both sides to come to peace.

  4. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    twheeler,

    It's a matter of priorities.  Who "pays" for the ubiquitous Spanish language programs in our Catholic schools?  And if you want to learn Latin through self-study, there are a number of online courses.  What's more, Pope Benedict isn't suggesting fluency (though that would be nice.)  You can learn enough Latin to navigate the missal in less than a year.

  5. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    Regarding the use of Latin in the mass, I have an old (1954) St. joseph Sunday Missal that has the mass parts in Latin on the left page and in English on the right.  Makes it real easy for the non-conversant to self-translate.  I have also tried to learn some Latin (as the mood strikes me) as it is at the root of some other languages I would like to master someday.

    It seems to me that familiarity with Latin was never a case for the changes of the mass (novus ordo or the local vernacular usage) or for the failure of some laity to connect with the liturgy that Protect the Rock points out.  In my humble opinion, those who are motivated to get the most out of mass will find a way to do so; those who are not will provide any number of excuses.  Harsh words, some may think, but that's the reality as I see it. 

    For a guitar and bass player in a praise/worship choir/band that is not LifeTeen, I am very conservative in my faith practices.  I have no problem in dropping the P/W music for chant or the conduct of the mass in Latin.  I would even take in a second mass on Sunday to participate solely as laity for the appreciation of the beauty of such a mass. 

    Obviously, I'm a nut, but I love God so much that I will go wherever He wants me to go, and do whatever he tells me to do, for the glory of His name.

    Pax Vobiscum!  Smile

  6. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    We had a mass for appreciation of the all the choirs in our cluster. We have three churches and very different enviroment in all of them.  At the mass; our priest said that the best part of the mass was the homily, his homily.   He was talking as if he was the center of attention and he mentioned to someone that "look what kind of a person we have for pope" and this person said it wasn't a compliment.

    I think some priests are used to doing their own thing and our bishop is not used to disciplining them.  They are going to do what they want reguardless of what they are told from Rome.

    I pray for a uniting of both the layity and the priests, but  also between the clergy and the Pope.

    Thank you,

  7. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    I have a great deal of respect for all styles of music in worship, and for the people who prefer each. I have friends who exclusively attend the indult Tridentine Mass. I also have friends who prefer the Novus Ordo Mass and a formal, four-part choir. A young woman who used to sing in my youth choir has started a schola cantorum in her parish. My own parish provides many choices in musical styles: a formal choir, folk masses, a Philipino choir, a Spanish Mass, and –yes — Life Teen.

    Although I am 52 years old, a very conservative Catholic, and a trained musician, I am best able to worship when attending a Life Teen Mass. If our beloved Pope madates this style of music to be inappropriate, then I will lovingly follow his directive. But while we await the pastoral implementation of Sacramentum Caritatis, I'd like to explain why Life Teen's music is my preferred style of worship.

    Gregorian chant, polyphony, and formal, four-part music are inspiring to many. They find it uplifting and it enhances their ability to pray and worship. Such is not the case for me. When I attend a Mass with these styles of music, I find my mind wandering far beyond the Church walls. I will suddenly realize that I've been planning dinner menus and chore lists, and I have to jerk myself back to the liturgy.

    But when sacred music has a driving beat and a complicated melody, I find I am able to keep focused on our Lord. The Life Teen model desires congregational singing; I am able to fully participate in the liturgy and I feel welcome to sing. These feelings do not always well up within me when the music is more formal. Certainly a complicated piece from Palestrina is not enhanced by me singing in the congregation; I recognize that. Yet many is the time that a formal choir choses to sing a Gloria that I know well, yet suddenly find that I'm the only person in the congregation singing. The embarrassment that accompanies this relatively common occurence does little to aid my sense of the sacred.

    I share all this with you so you may understand that the Life Teen style of music may be the best choice for some people, including this middle-age, conservative worshipper. I share the pews with many others who fit this description. I hope this explanation will help you appreciate that music you may find trite or even offensive may actually fill an important niche in Catholic worship.

    I close with a few lines from the final entry in the book of Psalms:

         Praise Him with trumpet sound;

         Praise Him with harp and lyre. …

         Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.

         Praise Him with loud cymbals;

         Praise Him with resounding cymbals.

         Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

         Praise the Lord!

  8. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    Sometimes I think that Our Lord must just shake His head and wonder when we will stop the bickering. I know that as a father of four I have often felt that way. I can't even imagine what it is like to be the father of 40 let alone 400 billion.

    The primary ingredient of our faith is love. It is no coincidence the the first encyclical of our beloved Benedict, Deus Caritas Est, is a profound examination of the meaning of love.

    About 20 year ago I had conversion experience while attending a retreat. The retreat focused on what was called the "Naked Gospel". The retreat master was Fr Vince Donovan of the Holy Ghost Fathers and he shared with us the lessons that he learned in reaching out to evangelize the fierce Masai warrior tribe of East Africa. Lessons that are made available in his book "Christianity Rediscovered". We need to be concerned most with our loving response to the Gospel call to reach out and evangelize our world, our workplaces, our fellow parishoners, and especially our families.

    Please don't misunderstand my viewpoint which I humbly offer for your consideration. Generally speaking I would agree that high five's in the sanctuary are inappropriate but I could not go so far as to say there might not be an occassion when it would indeed be pleasing to God to see one. My many years of work in prison ministry have led me to understand that even words that I would never use in mixed company can bring a smile to Christ. Anyone would understand what I mean if they had the opportunity to see a 6' 4" inmate sobbing tears of joy and say from the heart, "I just loves God so blanking much".

    I do not advocate a lack of respect for the liturgy in all of it's richness. I advocate gentleness in helping others who cannot yet see its beauty. I would love to see more use of Latin and chant. Not only Gregorian but the many other styles as well. But in order to bring some of our young people to appreciate these ancient treasures we might need to be willing to show their musical tastes some respect and listen to some rock music first. Lead by an example of openess to the other. There is no need to translate "Generic improvisation or the introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided." It is quite clear that respect for the meaning of the liturgy is what is important. That does not mean that anything you or I don't like should be banned. It means exactly what it says, no more, no less.

    On this Memorial to the Sacred Heart of Jesus I thank and praise God for each and every soul that participates in helping to spread the Good News. I thank God for Catholicexchange and for all of you and the gift of your faith. I also thank Him for Rich providing the link to http://www.latin-mass-society.org/simplicissimus/ , I have been looking for something like that. Smile

     

    May Almighty God bless us, protect us, and lead us to everlasting life.

  9. Guest Avatar
    Guest

    Note to the last two commenters:  You are entitled to worship as you please, just not in a Catholic church and not in the context of Mass.  (Ditto for the music you enjoy listening to.)

    And as much as I appreciate matthens kind words, this statement — "It is quite clear that respect for the meaning of the liturgy is what is important" — is simply untrue.  The Holy Father states specifically that certain musical genres are liturgically inappropriate, and the one genre he has criticized on numerous occasions — including in "The Spirit of the Liturgy" — is rock music.  (Again, you can play any music you choose at home or through your iPod; that doesn't mean it belongs at Mass.)  He does not limit his statement to the more nebulous and subjective concept of "respect."

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