Do you have the option of attending a parish that is in keeping with your understanding of Abuse-Free and Liturgically-Correct?

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MiserereMei25 said:
True. But every priest really should remind the congregation biblically that the sanctuary is for silent reflection not to catch up in the week together out loud
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the sanctuary is around the altar. But I haven’t been to a church that is very noisy. Generally I see elderly people speak too loud when greeting others but that is mostly due to their hearing loss.
 
By “parish” are you referring to the geographic subdivision of your diocese, or a civil subdivision of Louisiana?
 
For this poster, anything that is not the voice alone doing Gregorian chant or the Pipe organ.
 
TC3033 said:
That’s actually one of the issues we’ve run into with me not being Catholic…I (we) can’t be part of the ministries at my wife’s church because I’m not Catholic (
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Why would someone who is not a practicing Catholic want to minister in a Catholic church?
 
Because I’m a good husband and dad who grew up in a religious family where they (and really the body of the church) were all active members in some way or another.

I would like to be active where my family attends as well.

The parish was short ushers at Christmas Eve, I looked at that as a chance to be active in the parish, after investigating it turns out that you basically need to be a confirmed Catholic to do much of anything there. Thus why my wife is looking for another parish where I may be able to be more a part of the “life of the parish” vs where she’s at now. It can be tough when we can’t volunteer for something as a couple.
 
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That is helpful to know. It almost sounded like a group of freelancers just decided on their own whether to show up a (name removed by moderator)'s parish! But obviously that’s not the case, thank goodness.

I wonder how many other parishes are in the same situation when it comes to music. And money is definitely an issue. Musicians must be able to make a living, and in a very small village, they won’t be able to take in enough private lesson students to make up for a small stipend from the parish.

I play for a very small Protestant church (20 regular attendees) who had no music until I came. They are delighted to have hymns played again. I have also managed to find 2 other pianists for them, so they are covered for almost every Sunday.

I think it’s very hard for Protestants to have no instrumental music accompaniment (unless they are a sect that does not have music e;g., the non-instrumental Campbellites). I think Catholics are OK with Masses that have no music other than perhaps a chanted Mass part or maybe a closing hymn sung a capella.

Just keep in mind that we can all have music whenever we want, either through singing ourselves, or listening to a CD of our favorite hymns, chant, organ, etc. 😄
 
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The only parish I’ve ever been in that paid its musicians was a military parish where money was no object. Every other parish I’ve ever been a member of had volunteer musicians and choir members.

And when it’s all volunteers it’s not easy to say, “Sorry, you ain’t good enough.” While I would certainly prefer organ music at Mass, I’ll make do with strummed guitars if it means that we have a choir.

In my parish most of the choir members don’t read music. That’s OK, neither do I, at least not enough to sing what’s on the page in front of me, only enough to know when the choir is not singing what’s on the page. 😉

We’ve been singing the same setting of the Ordinary since November 2011.
 
I agree with you about strummed guitars and volunteers.

I think that God distributes musical gifts to each parish, and He does so knowing what is best-suited to help the parishioners in each parish.

Some people keep questioning His distribution of talents and would prefer that He give their parish the 10 talents instead of the 1 talent.

But if we keep trusting God, we will eventually understand why He gave our parish the musicians that He gave us.

I have to admit, I often think that God has given ALL churches 10 talents, but 9 of them are burying their gifts because they are afraid. CAF readers, if you’re one of these folks, please take out your talent and start using it to multiply the Lord’s gift. 😉
 
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Peeps said:
I have to admit, I often think that God has given ALL churches 10 talents, but 9 of them are burying their gifts because they are afraid. CAF readers, if you’re one of these folks, please take out your talent and start using it to multiply the Lord’s gift. 😉
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I agree with you 100%.

However, since frequenting this forum, and some of the things happening in my own diocese and seeing how crazy people can get regarding music, I will never offer my talents (if you can call it that) for music ministry. :roll_eyes:
 
Running away is not an option. I volunteer at the parish. I teach religious ed. If I leave, I don’t have the opportunity to try to make it better. As lacking as it is to me, others may have a different opinion. The sacraments are valid and that is what matters most. To be honest, the lack of spiritual fulfillment at the parish level caused me to read and learn more on my own. Sometimes I visit a local TLM parish for daily Mass, but I am usually at my Parish on Sundays.
 
Of the three masses at my parish I prefer the one with the traditional choir. My wife tells me she’s not a parish person and doesn’t care for our small, noisy parish so we do go to other parishes which are larger and quieter when I’m not serving. I’ve also found that I’m less distracted at parishes that are more faithful to the rubrics than my own. I’m an altar server and kind of stubborn, so I’ve used my position at my parish to try to promote more reverent masses. You can’t reform the Church from the outside.

We have a new priest now and the liturgical abuses have gone away. My wife still thinks it’s too noisy. I tend to agree but it’s getting better.
 
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