Life Teen Mass

[janetfree]

Trying to get information on Life Teen Mass, ie Do they have their own hymnal, guidelines on celebrating Mass, etc. Any information would be helpful.

 

[nsper7]

Trying to get information on Life Teen Mass, ie Do they have their own hymnal, guidelines on celebrating Mass, etc. Any information would be helpful.

Not sure, but from what I’ve heard about LifeTeen Masses…well, put your finger down your throat and gag repeatedly.

 

[Cat]

Visit their website: ym.lifeteen.com/default.aspx?key=aboutus_home

 

[ljubim]

Why do we teens need our own mass?

And why do we have to pay $750 a year to participate?

Let me jus say I don’t think highly of Life Teen

 

[Cat]

There is a CAF member named agapewolf. He has lots of knowledge about Life Teen. Write him.

 

[Cat]

Why do we teens need our own mass?

And why do we have to pay $750 a year to participate?

Let me jus say I don’t think highly of Life Teen

Why not ask the two or three hundred teens that attend the Life Teen Mass at our parish? You could start with those who have accepted the call to the priesthood or religious life.

Life Teen is not just for teens. I would say that it is one of the most crowded Masses at our parish, although all of the Masses are fairly packed. A lot of adults, including me, enjoy the contemporary music and enjoy having the teens do the “work” of the Mass (lectoring, cantoring, ushers, etc.).

Where did you get the "$750/year figure? Can you please point it out on the website? Thank you. To my knowledge, there is no charge to the teens in our parish to participate in Life Teen Mass. There are always expenses associated with every Mass (instrumentalists, heat/AC bill, paper for bulletins, custodial services, candles, etc.).

 

[agapewolf]

I am female. I am avoiding these threads now because I don’t think it does any good. I’ve moved on from getting into silly arguments here.

However, for clarification: JP II encouraged youth masses, and there is no charge for teens to participate. There is a subscription fee to parishes for the resources…which is true for ANY kind of service and resources.

 

[Angel_Bradford]

Where did you get the "$750/year figure? Can you please point it out on the website? Thank you. To my knowledge, there is no charge to the teens in our parish to participate in Life Teen Mass. There are always expenses associated with every Mass (instrumentalists, heat/AC bill, paper for bulletins, custodial services, candles, etc.).

It is #1 on the FAQs.

 

[Angel_Bradford]

Why not ask the two or three hundred teens that attend the Life Teen Mass at our parish? You could start with those who have accepted the call to the priesthood or religious life.

Life Teen is not just for teens. I would say that it is one of the most crowded Masses at our parish, although all of the Masses are fairly packed. A lot of adults, including me, enjoy the contemporary music and enjoy having the teens do the “work” of the Mass (lectoring, cantoring, ushers, etc.).

Where did you get the "$750/year figure? Can you please point it out on the website? Thank you. To my knowledge, there is no charge to the teens in our parish to participate in Life Teen Mass. There are always expenses associated with every Mass (instrumentalists, heat/AC bill, paper for bulletins, custodial services, candles, etc.).

It is #1 on the FAQs…

**01. How much does Life Teen cost? **
The fee for an annual Life Teen’s subscription is $750. Our subscription service is called “Life Support.”

 

[pcg2]

That is for the parish to pay, not every specific individual that participates in Life Teen masses. I’ve gone for about 2 years and I’ve never been charged a dime

 

[James0235]

Trying to get information on Life Teen Mass, ie Do they have their own hymnal, guidelines on celebrating Mass, etc. Any information would be helpful.

Although the term is used quite frequently there isn’t really such a thing as a “Life Teen Mass”. A so-called Life Teen Mass is just a regular everyday Ordinary Form Mass where a large number of teenagers are in attendance and therefore you will typically hear a homily that is more geared towards them and music that is probably more to their liking. I am personally not much of a fan of contemporary Christian music like that typically heard at Life Teen Masses but it does tend to at least be theologically Catholic. Can’t say that about alot of the hymns I hear at “regular” Masses.

Life Teen has earned a bit of a reputation for Liturgical abuses. In many parishes with a Life Teen program the priest will ask people to gather around the altar for the consecration or end the Mass with “the Mass never ends it must be lived” instead of the usual (and required) “the Mass is ended…”

I don’t believe that Life Teen was officially encouraging these changes in the Mass. I don’t recall ever seeing any material from them telling priests that this should be done. I believe these things started in the flagship Life Teen parish (won’t mention the name) and then spread from there as people would visit there to check out the youth ministry program and then would bring these abuses home to their own parishes thinking it was supposed to be done. But, back in 2004 the USCCB formally requested that Life Teen parishes stop these abuses. The Life Teen parish that I am most familiar with never had to stop because they had never instituted these abuses in the first place.

So, the guidelines for celebrating a Life Teen Mass should be the same for any other Ordinary Form Mass - simply follow the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. And, instead of a hymnal you will often see song sheets handed out containing contemporary Christian music.

James

 

[James0235]

Why do we teens need our own mass?

And why do we have to pay $750 a year to participate?

Let me jus say I don’t think highly of Life Teen

Last I had checked it was $500. As others have said this is an annual fee the parish pays. It is a subscription service with monthly (or bi-monthly or semi-monthly I can’t seem to remember) packages containing alot of things for the parish youth ministry program.

The subscription service is not so much for the Mass itself as it is resources for the “Life Night” that follows the weekly Life Teen Mass. And these resources are pretty good. Any Catholic youth ministry program - even one not interested in officially being “Life Teen” would be well advised to at least check them out. Very orthodox material often with plenty of quotes from Scripture, the CCC, and the Saints.

 

[ljubim]

Thanks for the clarification about the numbers… I do like what Life Teen does outside of mass, like the programs, but with mass if it’s not really traditional it just doesn’t feel right to me. I go to one big high school conference each year and they typically have a huge mass with blaring music, a big projection screen with lyrics… and all the other kids are putting their arms up and swaying… I once did the same thing but stopped because it felt wrong… it was like, do this and make yourself look all holy to fit in. It was just hypocrisy, maybe one or two of them really meant it, everybody else was just trying to look cool and act righteous. There’s a quote somewhere in the Bible about when you pray, do so in secret, and your Father, who sees everything in secret, will see you. And when you fast, don’t smear your face with dirt like the Pharisees? but wash your face, put oil on your forehead, etc. We need to respect the mass…

 

[benedictgal]

Although the term is used quite frequently there isn’t really such a thing as a “Life Teen Mass”. A so-called Life Teen Mass is just a regular everyday Ordinary Form Mass where a large number of teenagers are in attendance and therefore you will typically hear a homily that is more geared towards them and music that is probably more to their liking. I am personally not much of a fan of contemporary Christian music like that typically heard at Life Teen Masses but it does tend to at least be theologically Catholic. Can’t say that about alot of the hymns I hear at “regular” Masses.

Life Teen has earned a bit of a reputation for Liturgical abuses. In many parishes with a Life Teen program the priest will ask people to gather around the altar for the consecration or end the Mass with “the Mass never ends it must be lived” instead of the usual (and required) “the Mass is ended…”

I don’t believe that Life Teen was officially encouraging these changes in the Mass. I don’t recall ever seeing any material from them telling priests that this should be done. I believe these things started in the flagship Life Teen parish (won’t mention the name) and then spread from there as people would visit there to check out the youth ministry program and then would bring these abuses home to their own parishes thinking it was supposed to be done. But, back in 2004 the USCCB formally requested that Life Teen parishes stop these abuses. The Life Teen parish that I am most familiar with never had to stop because they had never instituted these abuses in the first place.

So, the guidelines for celebrating a Life Teen Mass should be the same for any other Ordinary Form Mass - simply follow the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. And, instead of a hymnal you will often see song sheets handed out containing contemporary Christian music.

James

The other bone of contention is the style fo music employed. It is not necessarily consonant with authentic Church liturgical music. Even the Fathers of the 2005 Synod on the Eucharist found the music used at these particular Masses to be one of the shadows of the liturgy:

In other responses some lamented the poor quality of translations of liturgical texts and many musical texts in current languages, maintaining that they lacked beauty and were sometimes theologically unclear, thereby contributing to a weakening of Church teaching and to a misunderstanding of prayer. A** few responses made particular mention of music and singing at Youth Masses. In this regard, it is important to avoid musical forms which, because of their profane use, are not conducive to prayer**. Some responses note a certain eagerness in composing new songs, to the point of almost yielding to a consumer mentality, showing little concern for the quality of the music and text, and easily overlooking the artistic patrimony which has been theologically and musically effective in the Church’s liturgy.

These are not my words; they are the findings of the Synod Fathers. Unfortunately, proponents of this particular genre of music seem to have a blind devotion to it that they cannot see, in my opinion, that this particular style is not at all fitting for use in the Mass. Nor do they want to admit that Pope Benedict’s response, in Sacramentum Caritatis, addresses this problem when he notes that:

1. In the ars celebrandi, liturgical song has a pre-eminent place. (126) Saint Augustine rightly says in a famous sermon that “the new man sings a new song. Singing is an expression of joy and, if we consider the matter, an expression of love” (127). The People of God assembled for the liturgy sings the praises of God. In the course of her two-thousand-year history, the Church has created, and still creates, music and songs which represent a rich patrimony of faith and love. This heritage must not be lost. **Certainly as far as the liturgy is concerned, we cannot say that one song is as good as another. Generic improvisation or the introduction of musical genres which fail to respect the meaning of the liturgy should be avoided. As an element of the liturgy, song should be well integrated into the overall celebration (128). Consequently everything – texts, music, execution – ought to correspond to the meaning of the mystery being celebrated, the structure of the rite and the liturgical seasons (129). **Finally, while respecting various styles and different and highly praiseworthy traditions, I desire, in accordance with the request advanced by the Synod Fathers, that Gregorian chant be suitably esteemed and employed (130) as the chant proper to the Roman liturgy (131).

In fact, in this document, he gives certain parameters that should be followed. Unfortunately, the composers and publishers of the musical genre used at these Masses often ignore them. Protestant Praise and Worship is fine for the Protestant ecclesial communities, but, it cannot be that way with the Church’s liturgy.