Need for Praise

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Meggie

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In my life most of my significant connections to events, how I remember things, and what I like comes through music. However, I’m very sensitive to musical in an odd way, music can make me feel anywhere from annoyed to fearful.

Also, in my faith, alot of my re-conversion and being brought close to the Church came through praise & worship starting with world youth day & then, much later, youth masses. (It was because of WYD that I was drawn towards Mass) What I learned that year with more “upbeat” music changed my life. The tempo, the words, especally the fact that it was live (hearing difficulities partly at fault)…and with serious ADD that I strugle so hard to control, it really pulls me in satisfing the nutty part of my brain, letting me sit in wonder and awe of the Eucharist. My biggest breakthroughs in my spirituality have come through praise oriented Masses becuase my brain stopped and my heart accepted the AWSOME gift that God gives every Mass.

Now, three years into college I’m struggling without prasie type masses.

Very traditional mass, with chanting, flips me out, and no matter how hard I try I cannot be comfortable with it. Any chanting freaks me out. The old 70’s hippie music is o.k. but for personal reasons I struggle with it.

Now I’ll often go to the Mass without music becuase I can’t stand the annoyance of not having the music that brings me closer to God.

I’ve been contemplating two things
  1. break down and find a teen mass to go to
  2. go to a protestant praise service
  3. suck it up
I don’t want special consideration, but I do want to actually focus on God and my own spirituality and spiritual health.

Anyway, for whatever answer you pick, please give a reason.
 
  1. suck it up or if you must 1.
I say three because going to a protestant service just because you don’t like the style of music at Mass is not an acceptable reason to do that. If that was the case I should og to the Russian Orthodox church down the street because I like Russian Chant or the SSPX church because I like gregorian chant. It doesn’t matter if the people at the Mass are pleased with the externals of the Mass, so long as the correct form is done and it is done reverantly it is pleasing to God and that is all that matters.

I don’t particularly see why you feel that “praise and worhsip” music should be played at a Mass anyways, the Mass is not some sort of social gathering or rock concert , it is the re presentation of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. Surely it deserves more respect then Guitars and tambourines.
 
God love ya, what an incredible burden to carry, ADD. I completely understand what you are saying here, I have many friends that suffer from ADD and various other attention difficulties (mostly due to drug abuse). Its not easy.

The “praise and worship” music, mainly a more high energy faster paced style of music, seems to be most agreeable to those who minds seem to zip along at a rapid rate of fire. I can see how more traditional Sacred music, the drawn out phrasing as well as the stretched words would be most difficult to grasp onto.

I thought about suggesting a chaplet or even the Rosary during these musical interludes, but thats not a real option. Telling you to focus on the instrumental isn’t an option either since your mind will latch on to the words rather than the music if both are present.

Perhaps join the choir? That way you would be physically involved making it easier to assimilate, you wouldn’t be as distracted.

Charismatic parished are an option as well, though getting a good solid orthodox one is sometimes a bit troublesome. Gee, I wish I could just whip out some pat answer for ya, but you have a cross to bear I would never wish on anyone.

I will pray for you and if you find a good solution, please let me know so I can pass it on to others.
 
May I suggest you also study what the chant is and what it means? I find it to be much deeper and made me contemplate the Divine in a much more thorough way than the same line over and over and over again.

Remember faith is more than feelings. Just because the music might not make you want to leap up, it shouldn’t mean your faith is shaken. Faith should also be based on knowledge and reason. A faith based soley on feeling is a house built on sand.

adam
 
Meggie said:
In my life most of my significant connections to events, how I remember things, and what I like comes through music. However, I’m very sensitive to musical in an odd way, music can make me feel anywhere from annoyed to fearful.

Also, in my faith, alot of my re-conversion and being brought close to the Church came through praise & worship starting with world youth day & then, much later, youth masses. (It was because of WYD that I was drawn towards Mass) What I learned that year with more “upbeat” music changed my life. The tempo, the words, especally the fact that it was live (hearing difficulities partly at fault)…and with serious ADD that I strugle so hard to control, it really pulls me in satisfing the nutty part of my brain, letting me sit in wonder and awe of the Eucharist. My biggest breakthroughs in my spirituality have come through praise oriented Masses becuase my brain stopped and my heart accepted the AWSOME gift that God gives every Mass.

Now, three years into college I’m struggling without prasie type masses.

Very traditional mass, with chanting, flips me out, and no matter how hard I try I cannot be comfortable with it. Any chanting freaks me out. The old 70’s hippie music is o.k. but for personal reasons I struggle with it.

Now I’ll often go to the Mass without music becuase I can’t stand the annoyance of not having the music that brings me closer to God.

I’ve been contemplating two things
  1. break down and find a teen mass to go to
  2. go to a protestant praise service
  3. suck it up
I don’t want special consideration, but I do want to actually focus on God and my own spirituality and spiritual health.

Anyway, for whatever answer you pick, please give a reason.
Click to expand...
Given your personal situation and background… go with #1.
Our faith is a very dynamic power… it is NOT stagnant. As you grow and mature in the future you may feel drawn to a more conservative, chant-filled traditional Mass… so leave opportunities open for this dynamic aspect.

I agree that it’s important to find a parish that is orthodox in it’s teachings. Maybe try calling the diocesan office to get a recommendation from them?

Don’t let a small aspect of the faith (music) turn you away or make you feel like you have to turn away from Catholicism.
You CAN find a teen Mass that is orthodox…

God bless!
 
I would say a couple of things -

First, 3. Suck it up and go - except remember that you are there to bring and offer yourself up to Christ, even if it’s difficult to concentrate. You’re not there to feel good, but to grow. You can also find a youth Mass. The main thing is that it is the Mass no matter what kind of music. It is still Christ there and just as beautiful either way. 🙂

Secondly, in addition to this, finding a Protestant service that does praise and worship is not a bad thing as long as your faith is solid and it doesn’t interfere with going to Mass first. Or if possible, find some fellow Catholics who love praise and worship and get together and spend an hour singing and praising. You could even possibly ask to do this in the church, if done respectfully and obviously centered toward Christ in the Eucharist. I had my “reversion” in high school through a youth conference and fell in love with praise and worship music. Then, I went to a school where it was common to have this music in Mass, plus praise and worship sessions were common. All of this aided in learning to really appreciate and love the traditional music. Now, I prefer traditional any day. However, I still miss my praise and worship, so on my way to Sunday Mass and back, I usually turn on the Christian radio station and sing then. Every once in a while, my husband and I will sit on our bed, facing the crucifix, and sing and praise God then :). Hope this helps!
 
Keep in mind that many with hearing problems are misdiagnosed with ADD. People thought I was just spacing in out with ADD when in reality I couldn’t hear.
 
Thanks for all the imput.
As far as learning about Gregorian Chant, or any other types chant, I’ve taken time to read about them learn when and where thy were used and what they say and are meaning. The words are beautiful but chanting just bugs me.

It dosn’t have to do with being entertained. My problem is that I don’t know if I have a truly solid faith basis yet. I’d like to grow the shaky one that I have but nothing-catachism, daily Mass, religion classes and even adoration.
I’m not sure if my faith is sold enough, and thanks for pointing out the fact that I do need to be sold in my faith. I’m solid in my knowlege, although its confusing sometimes. I have to find the connection between knowledge and faith, I guess.

I go to the non music mass simply becuase its hard to focus. Non music masses are 30min and I can focus and consentrate somewhat on God.
 
One suggestion I didn’t see mentioned is to look into Spanish Mass. The Spanish Mass at my in-laws’ parish can be seriously upbeat with songs that rival many Protestant “praise” songs (my favorite is Alabaré a mi Señor). The only problem would be if you don’t know Spanish…:rolleyes:

If this isn’t an option for you, or if you don’t want to learn Spanish (if you don’t already know it), then I would suggest option #3.
 
Some parishes offer praise & worship outside of mass, some offer it before mass starts, and others offer it during mass. There are a lot of options, you just have to look around.
 
Actually, I know latin, and spanish isn’t a far cry from latin. the words aren’t alike but I can easily get the idea of what they are saying.

I learned Alabaré a mi Señor at WYD. I’ll have to look for some multi-cultural offerings. I know in Chicago they have phillipinos who have cool Masses.

Thanks!
 
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