Hmm…I don’t think there is a “right” style of music to worship God. In Psalm 150, we are told to use trumpets, cymbals, lyres, and pipes to praise God. While we shouldn’t depend on an “emotional high” to worship God, I don’t think emotion and worship are mutually exclusive — if done correctly, the former leads to the latter. Obviously, if the focus is on “performance” by the various musicians, that takes away from worship.
Is it a fair generalized assessment that the Catholic Church focuses more on reverence and quietude, whereas the Protestant Church shows more outward enthusiasm during worship?
Well, it’s not simply a matter of taste for the Catholic Mass. Everything within the Mass is the setting for the Eucharist–the one offering of Christ’s body and blood, soul and divinity, so the music should be the proper kind for it.
Let’s use an example. Say you found a perfect gem, one of a kind, one that was perfect right out of the ground, no need to be cut or polished to bring out its beauty because it is the most beautiful gem in the world just as it is. If you wished to put that perfect gem into a setting what would you use? Copper? Tin? Steel? Or would you use silver or gold or platinum or some other truly worthy metal? The same with music for the Mass–the highest prayer of the Church, the gem of which is the consecration of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. The setting, the music, is not meant to entertain, but for worshiping God and to teach us the truths of God beyond the “I love Jesus and he loves me” type of thing. The responses are prayer, not “songs” and are a part of the eucharistic prayer. In a word, it’s special.
Traditional hymns are only boring if you don’t pay attention to the lyrics and don’t enter into singing them with understanding. Open a traditional hymnal sometime and just read the words–even Protestant ones. They actually say something significant rather than merely stirring emotions or making us feel like clapping along. Modern religious P&W music has its place–it’s fine for ordinary prayer services or for youth groups, but the Mass is special–too special for the simplistic feel good songs that pass for religious music in some circles.
Still, you’ll easily find parishes that do use P&W music. And if you start out there, that’s fine, because any Mass, no matter if the settings aren’t truly worthy, is better than none at all. I would hope that in time, as you learn more about the Catholic faith and its riches that your taste would mature and you would grow in understanding to the point that the truly worthy music would mean something to you.
) - that would be where you’ll hear the contemporary music.