Obedient to Whom?

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NetNuncio

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Here’s a toughy…

I am an expert in liturgy and direct music at a fairly liberal Church (sigh…gotta pay the bills). I am also a servant to Holy Obedience and joyful obey all the commands of my religious superiors.

However, recent I was told not to sing the Gloria on Ascension Sunday (Transfered the Solemnity from Thurs. to Sun., with the indult of the Holy See) because of a baptism and first communion that would take up extra time. I know this was an abuse and inappropriate, but who is my obedience to? Should I obey my pastor and do as he says and report the abuses to the Archdiocese (which I know will do nothing) or obey the Holy See and the Institutio Generalis Missale Romanum and risk my job out of Holy Obedience to Rome?

Also, a note to say this isn’t a one-time thing. Sometimes they will omit the Credo (not replacing it with renewal of baptismal promises, but going straight from the Homily to the General Intercessions), sometimes a required Sequence will be skipped, etc…all in the name of saving time. We’re a big parish and have a tight Mass schedule.

What is a loyal servant of the LORD and the Church to do?

As always, obedient to Rome;

Adam

PS - I’m gonna post this for the apologists, too.
 
The previous post answers the question of how to go about reporting the abuse, but could you possibly suggest to your pastor that when time needs to be saved, that the Gloria simply be prayed in a spoken manner, rather than sung? It seems to me that the abuse lies in omitting the Gloria altogether, and not just in failing to sing it. Praying a spoken Gloria shouldn’t add enough time to the Mass to make a difference, schedule-wise.
 
Indeed…I suggested that. and to no avail.

He insisted we skip it all together.
 
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NetNuncio:
Indeed…I suggested that. and to no avail.

He insisted we skip it all together.
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That is very sad, then, because there’s just no way that the spoken Gloria takes up enough time to lengthen the Mass appreciably.

As a test, I tried praying the Gloria out loud, slowly, at a speed that would typically be used during Mass. It took 40 seconds. Does your pastor really think that 40 additional seconds could be such a big problem? 😦
 
Alas, our pastor is like this too. He will omit the Gloria because of baptisms and has cut out other parts of the Mass in order to make sure Mass lasts only 60 minutes. Much different from another pastor whose Masses would regularly run 15 to twenty minutes late - but we loved them.

I don’t know of any solution. He’s the pastor and has control over your job. Antagonizing him will not be helpful - so I would just “make suggestions” (gently) and just let it go. He’s the one signing the paychecks after all.

Situations like this also tend to more complicated because many priests tend to rule their parish like a fiefdom, and woe to any who step on their toes!

So I would treat it like a job that is outside the Church. You make suggestions, respectfully disagree, but ultimately, the guy with the cash makes the decisions.
 
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CarolAnnSFO:
That is very sad, then, because there’s just no way that the spoken Gloria takes up enough time to lengthen the Mass appreciably.

As a test, I tried praying the Gloria out loud, slowly, at a speed that would typically be used during Mass. It took 40 seconds. Does your pastor really think that 40 additional seconds could be such a big problem? 😦
Click to expand...
If he cannot give up the 40 seconds inwhich to say/sing the Gloria, suggest to him that maybe he could cut the announcements after Mass short. Alternatively, perhaps he could walk a bit faster when coming down the center isle to serve at the Mass. Maybe instead of singing 2, 3, or 4 verses of the entrance hymn he could have it so that only one verse was sung. Alternatively, maybe he could schedule one extra Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Communion to serve at Mass, thereby allowing Holy Communion to take a little less time. There seems to be many options available to him; I fail to understand why it is he would want to cut the Gloria out to save 40 seconds. Maybe I am missing something.:confused:
 
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