How Can LifeTeen Masses Be Considered A Good Thing?

[Corki]

Not sure if you have raised/are raising teenagers. I have not, but I taught middle school and I tell you, getting teenagers to take anything seriously or be interested in anything ain’t easy. You have get onto their level and use things they are already interested in to communicate to them if you want to get through to them at all. Otherwise they just tune you out. I used a pop song to teach about pre-fixes and suffixes. The song was upbeat and the lyrics were all about the different affixes and their definitions. The kids loved it. They enthusiastically studied and aced the test. The teen Mass is kind of the same. If teens like the music at Mass, they are more likely to take it seriously, and that spills over into taking God and their faith seriously. The traditional music and Mass is very important, but what’s most important is that they come to believe in God and follow the teachings of the Church, right?

And, as I said, not ALL teens need this to be interested, but it’s good it exists for those who do.

The problem I see is when teens are stereotyped and the parish admins or pastor think that all teens will like Life Teen just because of their age. My own kids would rather go to Mass in a language they don’t understand than go to LT. I don’t mind it - reminds me of the 70s - but the kids (my kids) hate it. Yet one parish near me has made LT a **requirement **for Confirmation. If LT was all my kids had available, I think they would be driven away.

 

[LilyRose_8891]

The problem I see is when teens are stereotyped and the parish admins or pastor think that all teens will like Life Teen just because of their age. My own kids would rather go to Mass in a language they don’t understand than go to LT. I don’t mind it - reminds me of the 70s - but the kids (my kids) hate it. Yet one parish near me has made LT a **requirement **for Confirmation. If LT was all my kids had available, I think they would be driven away.

Not all all teens will like them, and if a teen wants to go to a traditional mass instead of an LT Mass, that’s fine. My point is that LT Masses are good for getting teens who are not interested in traditional Mass interested in Mass and overall going to church. LT Masses are not by any means the greatest thing ever, nor are they flawless. I was simply responding to the OP’s question of how can LT Masses be a good thing.

And furthermore, LT Masses are most certainly not the only Masses available. There are plenty of traditional Masses available for teens who want to attend them. Making the LT Masses a requirement for Confirmation is a bit much, but I’m sure your parish still had traditional Masses available if your teens wanted to attend them at times other than Confirmation prep. Your kids being driven away if LT Masses were the only Masses available is not remotely an issue because there ARE traditional Masses available.

 

[Corki]

And furthermore, LT Masses are most certainly not the only Masses available. There are plenty of traditional Masses available for teens who want to attend them. Making the LT Masses a requirement for Confirmation is a bit much, but I’m sure your parish still had traditional Masses available if your teens wanted to attend them at times other than Confirmation prep. Your kids being driven away if LT Masses were the only Masses available is not remotely an issue because there ARE traditional Masses available.

Fortunately this was not my own parish. In the parish in question, if a teen wanted to go to a non-LT Mass, he/she would be required to attend two Masses each Sunday. It’s not “a bit much” but a completely unreasonable requirement. My point is that this requirement is based on a stereotype that ALL teens prefer LT Mass and that ALL teens are turned-off by more traditional Masses. That’s a false stereotype that, while well meaning, can actually be turning kids away from the practice of their faith.

Don’t get me wrong, I like LT Masses if they are done well. The one nearest me has undergone a big revision since the new pastor came. They are very tight on the rubrics and have great, meaningful sermons. If all LT Masses were done like this, I don’t think there would be much of a problem, only a preference.

 

[pianistclare]

The problem I see is when teens are stereotyped and the parish admins or pastor think that all teens will like Life Teen just because of their age. My own kids would rather go to Mass in a language they don’t understand than go to LT. I don’t mind it - reminds me of the 70s - but the kids (my kids) hate it. Yet one parish near me has made LT a **requirement **for Confirmation. If LT was all my kids had available, I think they would be driven away.

Your kids like what they are accustomed to.
But again, LifeTeen is a curriculum. A curriculum. A method of teaching high school students. And yes, at our parish, due to Archdiocesan rules, kids needing Confirmation must attend 2 years of an approved Curriculum class. The CURRICULUM we use is LifeTeen. It’s solid, faithful to the Magisterium, and has a strong emphasis on Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration. I know of no parish that says you can’t get Confirmed because you don’t attend a LifeTeen Mass. The LifeTeen group does not copyright or own any liturgy. They are called LifeTeen masses because they utilize catholic music written by contemporary catholic composers. That’s it. I guess you could call them LifeTeen Masses because many of the kids in youth ministry attend. But then, lots of other people do. Our parish doesn’t even offer a teen or LifeTeen Mass. Our kids still know that they have to go to Mass on Sunday. It doesn’t matter what “type” they go to.

I think this thread would have been better titled " I don’t like Teenaged Catholic Music at Mass, don’t you agree?" Because everyone is debating the merits of the program. And that has nothing to do with the Mass other than the kids attend it.

 

[joshvanrad]

Do you really label people inside the Church, whether they are cafeteria Catholic or not? How can you tell they don’t know why or what they are doing? If this is only about your personal experience, how can you know what are the feelings about ‘those teenagers’ and the mass is but tolerable for them? What is a truly reverent person, can you tell just by looking? I am just honestly trying to understand how from personal experience you can get such advanced conclusions.

I knew most of my class mates at the time. Many of us were sexually active, or would go get drunk underage, use tons of foul language. Most of us had no drive to delve into our faith. We just went there to fulfill the minimum requirements because our parents wanted us to. I even remember a couple of the boys would go across the street and pick up a Maxim magazine between mass and confirmation class at the grocery store.

What I’m seeing now that it’s a decade later is that the LT mass is not instilling in these easily-influenced teenagers the parts of the mass that are MOST important. They are putting the emphasis elsewhere (like on music), and it is like the sacrifice of mass is becoming secondary. And I think it is that part that is having a negative effect. Many of my class mates have left the church. One of the kids went on to become a eucharistic minister (which is great) but he engages in fornication and has no issues with that (which is not so great). I, myself, had fallen away for a number of years after I moved out and my parents couldn’t keep making me go to church.

 

[Corki]

Your kids like what they are accustomed to.
But again, LifeTeen is a curriculum. A curriculum. A method of teaching high school students. And yes, at our parish, due to Archdiocesan rules, kids needing Confirmation must attend 2 years of an approved Curriculum class. The CURRICULUM we use is LifeTeen. It’s solid, faithful to the Magisterium, and has a strong emphasis on Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration. I know of no parish that says you can’t get Confirmed because you don’t attend a LifeTeen Mass. The LifeTeen group does not copyright or own any liturgy. They are called LifeTeen masses because they utilize catholic music written by contemporary catholic composers. That’s it. I guess you could call them LifeTeen Masses because many of the kids in youth ministry attend. But then, lots of other people do. Our parish doesn’t even offer a teen or LifeTeen Mass. Our kids still know that they have to go to Mass on Sunday. It doesn’t matter what “type” they go to.

I think this thread would have been better titled " I don’t like Teenaged Catholic Music at Mass, don’t you agree?" Because everyone is debating the merits of the program. And that has nothing to do with the Mass other than the kids attend it.

In the parish I was speaking about, LT Mass was required. Life Nights, while they included them, were not required. This was in addition to the Confirmation classes.

And I have not ever been to a LT Mass that used music primarily from contemporary Catholic composers. While I have seen some Matt Maher sneaking in, the music is primarily contemporary** Protestant **music.

 

[pianistclare]

In the parish I was speaking about, LT Mass was required. Life Nights, while they included them, were not required. This was in addition to the Confirmation classes.

And I have not ever been to a LT Mass that used music primarily from contemporary Catholic composers. While I have seen some Matt Maher sneaking in, the music is primarily contemporary** Protestant **music.

Then that is a discussion that needs to be made with the Music Director and the Pastor, but it’s not a LifeTeen issue. The Curriculum makes music suggestions from Catholic composers exclusively. Protestant music is never mentioned in their resources. Again, lots of people call anything associated with teens “LifeTeen”.
I would have a serious talk with the pastor in your case.

 

[pianistclare]

I knew most of my class mates at the time. Many of us were sexually active, or would go get drunk underage, use tons of foul language. Most of us had no drive to delve into our faith. We just went there to fulfill the minimum requirements because our parents wanted us to. I even remember a couple of the boys would go across the street and pick up a Maxim magazine between mass and confirmation class at the grocery store.

What I’m seeing now that it’s a decade later is that the LT mass is not instilling in these easily-influenced teenagers the parts of the mass that are MOST important. They are putting the emphasis elsewhere (like on music), and it is like the sacrifice of mass is becoming secondary. And I think it is that part that is having a negative effect. Many of my class mates have left the church. One of the kids went on to become a eucharistic minister (which is great) but he engages in fornication and has no issues with that (which is not so great). I, myself, had fallen away for a number of years after I moved out and my parents couldn’t keep making me go to church.

Again, if they are calling themselves LifeTeen, and not adhering to the Catholic Curriculum, then that is a pastoral issue. An Issue with the Music Minister as well.
Sometimes in their zeal to be “teen” Music Directors go way out of bounds. I know, many of them are my friends in Music Ministry. And the same is true for other Masses. It took years for my parish to abandon the practice of playing O Little Town of Bethlehem at Midnight Mass with drums. Was horrible. But it was more of a matter that the past director of music thought it was ok, and no one wanted to tell the drummer he was out of line.
Someone has to be in charge. Places that have inappropriate things happening in the liturgy should go to the person who makes that call. Not place the blame on a good Catholic program life LifeTeen.

 

[joshvanrad]

Again, if they are calling themselves LifeTeen, and not adhering to the Catholic Curriculum, then that is a pastoral issue. An Issue with the Music Minister as well.
Sometimes in their zeal to be “teen” Music Directors go way out of bounds. I know, many of them are my friends in Music Ministry. And the same is true for other Masses. It took years for my parish to abandon the practice of playing O Little Town of Bethlehem at Midnight Mass with drums. Was horrible. But it was more of a matter that the past director of music thought it was ok, and no one wanted to tell the drummer he was out of line.
Someone has to be in charge. Places that have inappropriate things happening in the liturgy should go to the person who makes that call. Not place the blame on a good Catholic program life LifeTeen.

I’m 90% sure this church utilizes the LT program. In fact, now that I think back on it, I’m certain that it’s LT.

I should mention that I do take issue with that parish on a few other things. LT is just one of the biggest for me personally, because I WAS the demographic they launched this for and used it on, and I don’t think the results were what one would hope for. I think it missed the mark.

 

[LilyRose_8891]

I think this thread would have been better titled " I don’t like Teenaged Catholic Music at Mass, don’t you agree?"

I’m starting to think the OP began this thread simply to reaffirm his own belief that LifeTeen Masses are not good. Many people have answered his question: “How Can LifeTeen Masses Be Considered A Good Thing?” but he just keeps responding with explanations as to why they are bad.

 

[Gordon_Sims]

I don’t think I’ve been to a LifeTeen Mass. What songs are they singing?

Looking over some of the stuff from the one near us, it looks like they play a lot of Matt Maher plus some other CCM stuff. They also have a catechism and prayer meeting for the kids afterward. Looking at it, it seems like a good program. It’s certainly better than the absolute nothing my parish offers for teens.

 

[agapewolf]

In the parish I was speaking about, LT Mass was required. Life Nights, while they included them, were not required. This was in addition to the Confirmation classes.

And I have not ever been to a LT Mass that used music primarily from contemporary Catholic composers. While I have seen some Matt Maher sneaking in, the music is primarily contemporary** Protestant **music.

Just because it isn’t written by a catholic composer does NOT make it “Protestant music”

and Matt Maher wouldn’t be “sneaking in”. His music has been used and promoted by LT ever since he came out with his first album.

 

[Linybaby]

I love the life teen mass to be honest. When my husband and I was getting married we attended a life teen mass every week. It was surprisingly a long mass lasting over an hour and a half. The music was lively and very spiritual. The teens used hand signals that was th words in sign language. The teens were very reverent.

I think that all masses are holy and important. Also I think that our teens and young adults are the future of our church.

Life teen mass is an great thing and it brings teens into our church, which is even more of a Blessing.

Society has changed and if the church doesn’t change than we are going to loose the future of the church.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

In the parish I was speaking about, LT Mass was required. Life Nights, while they included them, were not required. This was in addition to the Confirmation classes.

And I have not ever been to a LT Mass that used music primarily from contemporary Catholic composers. While I have seen some Matt Maher sneaking in, the music is primarily contemporary** Protestant **music.

In fairness, “contemporary Catholic music” is not exactly a big genre of music, there’s a lot Protestant music coming out now. It is kind of a joke, and no disrespect to other Catholic musicians who I’m sure are excellent but Matt Maher is basically where it begins and ends for most people.
pianistclaire:

Again, if they are calling themselves LifeTeen, and not adhering to the Catholic Curriculum, then that is a pastoral issue. An Issue with the Music Minister as well.
Sometimes in their zeal to be “teen” Music Directors go way out of bounds. I know, many of them are my friends in Music Ministry. And the same is true for other Masses. It took years for my parish to abandon the practice of playing O Little Town of Bethlehem at Midnight Mass with drums. Was horrible. But it was more of a matter that the past director of music thought it was ok, and no one wanted to tell the drummer he was out of line.

Sorry that I’m ignorant on this, but what is the problem with O Little Town of Bethlehem?

 

[pianistclare]

In fairness, “contemporary Catholic music” is not exactly a big genre of music, there’s a lot Protestant music coming out now. It is kind of a joke, and no disrespect to other Catholic musicians who I’m sure are excellent but Matt Maher is basically where it begins and ends for most people.

Sorry that I’m ignorant on this, but what is the problem with O Little Town of Bethlehem?

With drums. You missed “with drums”.
Was awful.

And you need to look into Ed Bolduc. He writes amazing music, solidly Catholic. There’s a lot of Catholic composers. People fail to do the legwork. They hear something on the radio, and decide it can “fit” somewhere in the Mass. More often than not, it’s a bad decision. And that’s why people don’t like the teens Masses. It’s the same reason they don’t like other Masses. Bad music is bad music. But that’s another tortured thread that I’m not going to start…

 

[severus68]

I saw a LifeTeen Mass on Youtube, and I was very disappointed. You can see the desperate attempt of the creators of the LT Mass to get teens back to Mass. Personally, I would never attend an LT Mass, but that is just me. I’m more traditional. I like bells, incense, and Gregorian chant, not pop music, lights changing color, and the slight liturgical abuse to make the Mass more appealing.

Most teenagers don’t attend Mass. If teenagers really understood the importance of going to Mass, they would not need an LT Mass to be happy. I personally don’t like my local Mass, as it has no traditional customs in it (except for the Sanctus bells). But, I don’t complain.

If it gets to a point where a teenager would just skip Mass entirely because it isn’t LifeTeen, then that means their Faith isn’t strong, and they’re just going to Mass for fun, not because they are obligated to.

No, no liturgical abuse, slight or otherwise.

Where did you get your stats that say most teenagers do not attend mass,
The whole idea of youth masses is to get youth engaged in the mass, understand it and love it to prepare them for the world where no one will insist on mass attendance.

 

[pnewton]

The traditional music and Mass is very important, but what’s most important is that they come to believe in God and follow the teachings of the Church, right?

And, as I said, not ALL teens need this to be interested, but it’s good it exists for those who do.

This is the answer to the original question. This is why LifeTeen can be a good thing.

 

[pnewton]

While I have seen some Matt Maher sneaking in, the music is primarily contemporary** Protestant **music.

Protestant music is never mentioned in their resources. Again, lots of people call anything associated with teens “LifeTeen”.
I would have a serious talk with the pastor in your case.

I do not know what is meant by “Protestant music”, but there is no requirement that all Mass music be composed by practicing Catholics.

 

[Sarabande]

As a general rule I try to avoid Life Teen masses, but the other day I went to my childhood church for mass and it was the Life Teen mass. I left mass somewhat upset about it and I haven’t been able to shake a negative feeling related to it, so I wanted to come here and ask the question in the thread title.

How can these masses be considered a good thing? Aren’t they watering down the mass setting to the point where it is teaching easily-influenced teenagers to not appreciate the traditions behind mass? The songs during the Life Teen mass really don’t speak much of our faith- it’s more just like feel good music to get kids singing… but do they actually know what they are singing about? Or why we are singing? Are these masses here because parents aren’t doing a good enough job getting their children interested in their faith?

I feel like these types of masses are teaching Catholic teenagers the wrong thing.

To anyone who attends these masses, I am not trying to insult anybody here. I even attended these masses when I was a teen. I am honestly just trying to find some answers here that I may be missing.

Ite in pace,
Joshua C.

It can be considered a good thing if kids who are attending them feel that they have grown with a deeper faith and then will continue to grow and stay spiritual and faithful in later years.

For me, it was a not a good thing. As a teen, my brother, friends and I attended the LT masses and Life Night. I especially wanted to do it because I really was looking for something deeper in my faith and thought how wonderful it was to be attending mass with other Catholics my own age. For me and for my friends, though, the LT mass did not provide that and I tried. It wasn’t like the church wasn’t full with enthusiastic teens. It was. Everything just seemed like it was pandering to us from the music, which only had a band and did basically Christian rock. They were good players and were all in their 20s, some were teens. The mass was really watered down, as well. We actually would be asked to surround the altar during the consecration (I understand that it is no longer encouraged by LT). Everything just seemed hallow and shallow to me. The Life nights were fine and the leaders were enthusiastic and optimistic, but also not reaching the depth that I was looking for in terms of growing in my faith. After a few months I gave up on it and it wasn’t until I got to college did I find ways to grow and learn more about my faith.

I think for many teens, this could be a good thing. Perhaps it was helpful for other teens at the time. I was a serious kid at the time, so what they were doing didn’t reach me. I know there are others out there like me, such as my friends. But, again, if this does help with the faith formation of a kid and doesn’t promote the wrong thoughts on faith and the liturgy, I don’t think it’s necessarily bad.

As a musician and one whose liturgical training was more “strict” in terms of most of it being done working at our cathedral where everything had to be to the “T”, I have issues with the music, styles of singing and playing instruments and choice of instruments, but as a mother and having so many other musical, parenting and spouse responsibilities of my own, I don’t have the time nor the inclination to be picking up the flag for every church in our diocese and making sure they follow the set standards for the diocese. I’ll leave that up to the singles and the young, passionate 20-somethings that I once was. lol! I can only go with the parishes where I work and freelance. Besides, there are just way too many other problems I see behind the scenes which can hurt a parish and needs to be addressed.

 

[Lisette1]

I am a teenager (16). Given the choice, I would attend a regular Mass over a Life Teen one.Though the intentions are good,.I feel kind of patronized when things are “watered down” like you said, and made more entertaining( is it because teens usually have short attention spans?). I enjoy to keep things such as the music traditional. I like rock music but would feel uncomfortable with it at Mass.Also, I like the homilies at regular Masses, I feel they are deeper, though they are more adult oriented at times.Any one else my age feel that way too? Sorry for the punctuation mistakes- this is from my phone.