A Tale of Two Masses
I went to Church twice yesterday for All Saints. I went to the noon and the 7 pm masses. It was an illuminating expierience. I've come to the conclusion that all faults I find with Mass come from the music department.
The noon mass was very reverant, and had no choir. So we used the antiphon instead of a hymn. and before the antiphon, father led us in three Hail Mary's. The Hail Mary's were preceded by (and I'm just going on rough memory with the first 2)
Then there was the 7pm mass. The choir was there. The opening hymn was For All the Saints, that is a given. I don't remember the Offertory or Communion hymns. The Gloria was sung and altered so the language was inclusive "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God's people on Earth" . God forbid we say "peace to his people on Earth". We can't slap a male pronoun on God! God forbid!
As with all masses celebrated with this priest, we offered the Prayer of the Faithful through the intercession of Mary, and wrapped them up with a Hail Mary. His Homily was also very good. Told some anecdotes of different Saints. Philip Neri shaved half his head. Moved on to our own journey to sainthood. Our salvation must be worked out with fear and trembling.
Then on to the closing hymn. If she wanted to choose a hymn based on the day's Gospel reading, a better choice would have been Blest Are They. And I can't believe I'm reccommending a song by David Haas.
No. We got We Are the Light of the Lord. Gee, I thought Jesus was the light of the world. Yeah. I guess a case could be made for Christians spreading the light of the gospel, a little beacon of God's light in a depraved world or whatever. But the song, like so many, is a bit too self-aggrandizing for me. I just hear too many "Yea, us" songs at Church.
So, any wasy, I was struck by what a difference a choir can make.
The noon mass was very reverant, and had no choir. So we used the antiphon instead of a hymn. and before the antiphon, father led us in three Hail Mary's. The Hail Mary's were preceded by (and I'm just going on rough memory with the first 2)
- Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
- "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
- And the Word became flesh
Then there was the 7pm mass. The choir was there. The opening hymn was For All the Saints, that is a given. I don't remember the Offertory or Communion hymns. The Gloria was sung and altered so the language was inclusive "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to God's people on Earth" . God forbid we say "peace to his people on Earth". We can't slap a male pronoun on God! God forbid!
As with all masses celebrated with this priest, we offered the Prayer of the Faithful through the intercession of Mary, and wrapped them up with a Hail Mary. His Homily was also very good. Told some anecdotes of different Saints. Philip Neri shaved half his head. Moved on to our own journey to sainthood. Our salvation must be worked out with fear and trembling.
Then on to the closing hymn. If she wanted to choose a hymn based on the day's Gospel reading, a better choice would have been Blest Are They. And I can't believe I'm reccommending a song by David Haas.
No. We got We Are the Light of the Lord. Gee, I thought Jesus was the light of the world. Yeah. I guess a case could be made for Christians spreading the light of the gospel, a little beacon of God's light in a depraved world or whatever. But the song, like so many, is a bit too self-aggrandizing for me. I just hear too many "Yea, us" songs at Church.
So, any wasy, I was struck by what a difference a choir can make.
posted by The Right Wing Lunatic at 2:36 PM
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