A sixteen word liturgical rant

[Godefridus]

I went to Mass at a different parish than normal today, and was treated to a host of reminders why I like my own parish (offering reverent liturgies in both missals) so much. The rant begins… now:

1. 
   *]Idolatry of subjective titillation.
   *]Community ego-stroking.
   *]Mindlessly infantile singalongs.
   *]Empty tokens of populism.
   *]Oblivious Godlessness.
   I think there’s so much loathing packed into such a small space here that it threatens to implode into a supermassive black hole of liturgical grievance. I request a prayer that this black nugget be forever enslaved to divine charity.

 

[YADA]

Not sure what exactly happened at the parish you attended. Your post is too general. For example what exactly constitutes

Community ego-stroking.

???

I am sorry you had such a bad experience…perhaps you ahould not travel outside your parish on weekends so you can have the peace and reverent liturgies you have there…

 

[Godefridus]

Pardon my fondness for abstractions.

Examples of community ego-stroking might be:

• The priest’s “Before we begin, turn to your neighbors and shake hands in greeting.”
• “Eagle’s Wings.” I’ve never known a song that placed as much shining adoration on ourselves as this one. God, meanwhile, waves his arms, "Hello? Over here! Hey, I’m over here."
• Applause. For everything. Yay us, yaaay us!
• Nary a supplicative prayer that isn’t hard-coded into the rubrics themselves (at least the priest obeyed those).
• Our-Father-holding-hands-talked-about-ad-nauseum-here.
  So, yeah, I think it’s easier to sum up the whole thing under the heading of “community ego-stroking”.

 

[LilyM]

Pardon my fondness for abstractions.

Examples of community ego-stroking might be:

• The priest’s “Before we begin, turn to your neighbors and shake hands in greeting.”
• “Eagle’s Wings.” I’ve never known a song that placed as much shining adoration on ourselves as this one. God, meanwhile, waves his arms, "Hello? Over here! Hey, I’m over here."
• Applause. For everything. Yay us, yaaay us!
• Nary a supplicative prayer that isn’t hard-coded into the rubrics themselves (at least the priest obeyed those).
• Our-Father-holding-hands-talked-about-ad-nauseum-here.
  So, yeah, I think it’s easier to sum up the whole thing under the heading of “community ego-stroking”.

Eagles’ Wings is taken word-for-word from scripture - mainly Psalm 91, with other scripture verses here and there. How you can then say it’s not God-centred is beyond me.

The rest I grant you though. I dislike the hand-holding, even when I’m with my family much less alone.

 

[Godefridus]

Aye, so is “We are the Light of the World” (Matthew 5:16), another terrible offender in this area. It’s about context, context, context. Who says Scripture can’t be comandeered for illegitimate ends?

A quick perusal through any hymnal published before the “strum and twang” revolution of the 60s shows a startling consistency in one peculiar feature: traditional hymnody almost never speaks about “us” in the indicative voice. If we as worshippers are ever mentioned, it is almost always:

• exhortatory (let us…) or else immediately referred to the worship of God
• subjunctive
• self-deprecating
  But never indicative. It’s almost as if there is a liturgical taboo on us making bold statements about who we are (e.g., “We are the Body of Christ”) (maybe because, in the sacred liturgy, it is the Lord, and not we, who tells us who we are?) There aren’t any traditional hymns assuring us about the “good that we do” (We Are the Light of the World) - but there are plenty urging us *to do *good works.

Quoting Scipture doesn’t cut my liturgical mustard. The Mass is for the glorification of God and the sanctification of man; not the reverse. If Scripture is quoted to serve the wrong end, then it’s a misuse.

 

[LilyM]

Individual verses can be cherry-picked as Satan did indeed. They can be commandeered for wrong purposes.

Many people say that WE in our Hail Mary have taken a couple of verses and commandeered them for wrong purposes - should we never say or sing that then?

But this is simply a musical setting for the first two-thirds or so of the Psalm. I’m sure there were plenty of such musical settings written likewise for Psalm 91 even before the 60s - most all the Psalms have been set to music many times.

How anyone can ‘commandeer’ the majority of a fairly lengthy Psalm is beyond me - it necessarily contains sufficient context not to be misunderstood.

In fact in singing it we are doing no more nor less than King David did who wrote the Psalm and set to his own music and had it sung, along with the other Psalms, in the Temple.

 

[BlestOne]

Maybe I am stupid but what exactly is wrong with this:
*
*
*

• You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
  Who abide in His shadow for life,
  Say to the Lord, “My Refuge,
  My Rock in Whom I trust.”
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
  And famine will bring you no fear;
  Under His Wings your refuge,
  His faithfulness your shield.
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  You need not fear the terror of the night,
  Nor the arrow that flies by day,
  Though thousands fall about you,
  Near you it shall not come.
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  For to His angels He’s given a command,
  To guard you in all of your ways,
  Upon their hands they will bear you up,
  Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

???

 

[puzzleannie]

Aye,A quick perusal through any hymnal published before the “strum and twang” revolution of .

may I save this excellent descriptive phrase and use it?

 

[LilyM]

Maybe I am stupid but what exactly is wrong with this:
*
*
*

• You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
  Who abide in His shadow for life,
  Say to the Lord, “My Refuge,
  My Rock in Whom I trust.”
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
  And famine will bring you no fear;
  Under His Wings your refuge,
  His faithfulness your shield.
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  You need not fear the terror of the night,
  Nor the arrow that flies by day,
  Though thousands fall about you,
  Near you it shall not come.
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  For to His angels He’s given a command,
  To guard you in all of your ways,
  Upon their hands they will bear you up,
  Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

???

Not a thing - all scripture is fit to be read or sung in our churches, and the Psalms particularly so - they have been used in worship of God since the day they were written. Any nefarious purpose in so doing is entirely dependent on the eye (ear) of the singer.

So Godefridus obviously needs to examine his own conscience as to why HE can’t sing that Psalm simply as a glorification of and in gratitude for God’s loving care which He extends to us all … as opposed to a glorification of himself and his fellows.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Pardon my fondness for abstractions.

Examples of community ego-stroking might be:

• The priest’s “Before we begin, turn to your neighbors and shake hands in greeting.”
• “Eagle’s Wings.” I’ve never known a song that placed as much shining adoration on ourselves as this one. God, meanwhile, waves his arms, "Hello? Over here! Hey, I’m over here."
• Applause. For everything. Yay us, yaaay us!
• Nary a supplicative prayer that isn’t hard-coded into the rubrics themselves (at least the priest obeyed those).
• Our-Father-holding-hands-talked-about-ad-nauseum-here.
  So, yeah, I think it’s easier to sum up the whole thing under the heading of “community ego-stroking”.

Gee, if you ever come to Mass at my parish, I hope your heart is strong enough to take it.

Jim

 

[scylla]

Godefridus is reacting that way because of the focus of the Mass, when you see a Mass conducted that way it sets a tone of people centered liturgy which would illustrate the intent of the hymns.
I can sing a hymn and have a meaning different from the person next to me. I can kneel and be tying my shoes or I can kneel and be giving reverence to God or I can kneel and be muttering obcenities under my breath. It all depends on the attitude and focus of the people.

He is just reflecting the focus of the Mass, though I myself have no problem with the song, I can understand how the liturgy can be so people focused that it would taint our perception. Sometimes such a bad taste in your mouth can make everything seem bad.

In my Parish we have adoration, but the very same nun who allows this, conducts meetings in the Church, dances around and has generally ignores the Tabernacle the Church. There is almost no acknowledgement of the presence of Christ in the Tabernacle.
So mixed messages also serve to taint the impression of, what do we really believe? Do we believe Jesus is present or do we elevate ourselves above Him?

In Christ
Scylla

 

[jrabs]

“Eagle’s Wings.” I’ve never known a song that placed as much shining adoration on ourselves as this one. God, meanwhile, waves his arms, "Hello? Over here! Hey, I’m over here."

So, yeah, I think it’s easier to sum up the whole thing under the heading of “community ego-stroking”.

Guess I’m bound to stroke away! Eagle’s Wings is a fav of mine.

 

[Cat]

Eagle’s Wings is awesome! I want it sung at my funeral–all the verses. (It’s a favorite “funeral song” at my parish.)

 

[JimG]

I like “On Eagle’s Wings” OK. But nobody sings anything out of the Laudate hymnal anymore. Like “O Sacrament Most Holy,” or “Panis Angelicus.”

 

[aurora77]

Eagle’s Wings is awesome! I want it sung at my funeral–all the verses. (It’s a favorite “funeral song” at my parish.)

That’s my only problem with the song. I associate it with the funerals of loved ones, so I tear up when I hear it!

 

[Joannm]

That’s my only problem with the song. I associate it with the funerals of loved ones, so I tear up when I hear it!

That could be because it is one of the most requested funeral hymns, Michael Joncas wrote it for a funeral. In a national poll people voted it their all time favorite hymn. Interestingly enough, the composer, whom I know personally, does not consider the song one of his best compositions. I do not want On Eagles Wings played at my funeral, but I do have one other song and a psalm that he composed that I want sung at my funeral.

 

[Chovy]

Maybe I am stupid but what exactly is wrong with this:
*
*
*

• You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
  Who abide in His shadow for life,
  Say to the Lord, “My Refuge,
  My Rock in Whom I trust.”
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
  And famine will bring you no fear;
  Under His Wings your refuge,
  His faithfulness your shield.
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  You need not fear the terror of the night,
  Nor the arrow that flies by day,
  Though thousands fall about you,
  Near you it shall not come.
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  For to His angels He’s given a command,
  To guard you in all of your ways,
  Upon their hands they will bear you up,
  Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
• Refrain
  And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings,
  Bear you on the breath of dawn,
  Make you to shine like the sun,
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
  And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

???

I can think of two things - when we had a friend in school named Dawn we always teased her that her breath was strong enough to hold us on. The other is that the “and hold you in the palm of His Hand” is too high for me to sing.

Seriously though, I like a mixture of songs like these and more traditional songs. As long as the music fits the scripture, I’m happy.

 

[otjm]

Pardon my fondness for abstractions.

Examples of community ego-stroking might be:

• The priest’s “Before we begin, turn to your neighbors and shake hands in greeting.”

Given the objections to extended handshaking at the Kiss of Peace, this actually may be a good idea. I am amazed at the number of people who act as if the Mass, and the Church, were an individual affair; they seem to completely ignore St. Paul’s writings about the Body of Christ. We worship as a community; meeting even briefly the person sitting next to you is hardly community “ego-stroking”. It just might be that you are sitting next to someone who desparately needs some human contact; you might be the only person they interact with that week.

• “Eagle’s Wings.” I’ve never known a song that placed as much shining adoration on ourselves as this one. God, meanwhile, waves his arms, "Hello? Over here! Hey, I’m over here."

If you bothered to find out the source of the words of the music - it is from the OT; and if you read the Psalms regularly, perhaps you would not say this. If you think that is shining adoration of self, then you are quite the critic of the Psalms.

• Applause. For everything. Yay us, yaaay us!

I have never heard applause “for everything”. I have heard it at the end of Mass for the musicians (not “us” as they were the ones leading the music, not “us”) and I could do without that; the only other time is just after a baby has been baptized during Mass, as a welcome to the community. If you think that is “ego stroking”, well, ok; I don’t have a problem with it. Maybe you don’t think they should be welcomed into the community of believers - the Body of Christ - or maybe you just don’t like it. But “ego-stroking”? I don’t see it.

• Nary a supplicative prayer that isn’t hard-coded into the rubrics themselves (at least the priest obeyed those).

No clue what you find 'ego-stroking" here.

• Our-Father-holding-hands-talked-about-ad-nauseum-here.

Well, as Archbishop Chaput said, it is not regulated - that is, the posture of your hands - and those who do not wish to should not be required to do so or chastised; and those who choose to should not be chastised or criticised. “Ego-stroking”? Or you just don’t like the way they pray? Perhaps you have never had a life threatening illness, and don’t understand what it can mean to an individual to hold hands during prayer. But then, that is your problem, not theirs, isn’t it?

So, yeah, I think it’s easier to sum up the whole thing under the heading of “community ego-stroking”.

and I am inclined to think that you are quite critical of others, who have no intent of offending you, and can be very prayerful people trying to worship God in the best way they know how. Our parish holds hands during the Our Father; occasionally and not very often we sing “On Eagles Wings”, along with other contemporary songs based on Old Testament and New Testament readings, we clap when the baby is presented to the congregation, and some clap at the end of Mass; we don’t shake hands at the beginning of Mass, but the priest gives a short hsitorical context of the readings before Mass begins; I guess we are really a bunch of "ego-strokers, right?

Maybe that’s why we have 24 hour Perpetual Adoration, have recently built a Catholic grade school, have an active outreach to the homeless and poor, and also an active Pro Life group. Yep, we are real "ego-strokers, all right.

Not.

 

[bpbasilphx]

<<Aye, so is “We are the Light of the World” (Matthew 5:16), another terrible offender in this area. It’s about context, context, context. Who says Scripture can’t be comandeered for illegitimate ends?>>

As one priest paraphrased it:

“When I was hungry, you gave me your shoes.
When I was thirsty, you visited Me…”

 

[po18guy]

Pardon my fondness for abstractions.

Examples of community ego-stroking might be:

• The priest’s “Before we begin, turn to your neighbors and shake hands in greeting.”
• “Eagle’s Wings.” I’ve never known a song that placed as much shining adoration on ourselves as this one. God, meanwhile, waves his arms, "Hello? Over here! Hey, I’m over here."
• Applause. For everything. Yay us, yaaay us!
• Nary a supplicative prayer that isn’t hard-coded into the rubrics themselves (at least the priest obeyed those).
• Our-Father-holding-hands-talked-about-ad-nauseum-here.
  So, yeah, I think it’s easier to sum up the whole thing under the heading of “community ego-stroking”.

And, don’t get me going on the “clapping Gloria”…