H
HagiaSophia
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From Bishop Edward J. Slattery of Tulsa, OK
Music can be a distraction . In my travels around the Diocese, I have noted certain communities where the music at Mass has tended more toward entertainment than toward prayer. The choir or cantor consciously draws the attention of the congregation to their performance and really stirring performances are rewardedby the congregation’s grateful applause.In this case, the placement of the choir, cantor or musicians in the most visible and prominent part of the sanctuary, not only proves to be a distraction to the congregation, but provides a kind of center stage for a concert of religious music.
… [T]hus the liturgy must never be used as an opportunity to teach, as the context for a history or an art lesson, as the background for a concert of sacred music, neither to build community nor to foster parish identity.
… Not only may these issues seem superficial, but I am also aware that some may perceive me as being overly concerned with rubrics and the details of the liturgy, even to the point of missing the larger picture, judging my pastoral concerns as the preoccupation of a liturgical curmudgeon. But if I must defend myself, let me say that I insist on these points for the simple but profound reason that I am concerned lest our people be denied what is their proper inheritance, their birthright as Catholics, that is, the complete and correct understanding of the Mass as a real sacrifice by which they are given access to share in the unique, unrepeatable and all sufficient historic sacrifice of Christ on Calvary.
… Whenever the People of God lose their sense of personal sin, their understanding of the nature of the Mass and its great importance is also largely lost.
splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/archives/006637.php
Music can be a distraction . In my travels around the Diocese, I have noted certain communities where the music at Mass has tended more toward entertainment than toward prayer. The choir or cantor consciously draws the attention of the congregation to their performance and really stirring performances are rewardedby the congregation’s grateful applause.In this case, the placement of the choir, cantor or musicians in the most visible and prominent part of the sanctuary, not only proves to be a distraction to the congregation, but provides a kind of center stage for a concert of religious music.
… [T]hus the liturgy must never be used as an opportunity to teach, as the context for a history or an art lesson, as the background for a concert of sacred music, neither to build community nor to foster parish identity.
… Not only may these issues seem superficial, but I am also aware that some may perceive me as being overly concerned with rubrics and the details of the liturgy, even to the point of missing the larger picture, judging my pastoral concerns as the preoccupation of a liturgical curmudgeon. But if I must defend myself, let me say that I insist on these points for the simple but profound reason that I am concerned lest our people be denied what is their proper inheritance, their birthright as Catholics, that is, the complete and correct understanding of the Mass as a real sacrifice by which they are given access to share in the unique, unrepeatable and all sufficient historic sacrifice of Christ on Calvary.
… Whenever the People of God lose their sense of personal sin, their understanding of the nature of the Mass and its great importance is also largely lost.
splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/archives/006637.php