Songs from Godspell at Mass

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I have heard songs from the musical played as Mass hymns, specifically Prepare Ye and Day by Day. The lyrics of those two songs seem benign enough and I know the musical is based on the Gospel but are these “secular” songs really proper for Mass? Not sure.
 
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Day by Day based on the prayer of St Richard of Chichester . Not secular .


Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord based on Scripture . Not secular .

 
Good points on those two, I guess they are. I guess I was thinking more of the musical itself with its setting and “hippie” theme…
 
The lyrics of Day by Day appears in The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America, 1940 , Hymn 429. Granted the setting used in Godspell is probably a far cry from what you find in that hymnal.

 
I heard Michael Jackson for the closing hymn so its probably fine.
 
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I heard this one at least twice at Mass.
 
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How troubling to hear this. But somehow, I’m not terribly surprised. It’s one of the reasons I prefer the Tridentine Mass! But that’s just me.
 
A priest once referenced these lyrics in the confessional when giving me advice.
 
I could be wrong but it’s funny how it seems the church looked at this musical more favorably than Jesus Christ Superstar for some reason. You’d also never hear a song from JCS played at Mass.
 
Well, unlike JCS the text of the songs of GS is pretty unproblematic, so the only issue really is the suitability of the musical style for Mass.

JCS is both musically out-there and at least somewhat questionable theologically.

Now I do love the music of JCS and can listen to the lyrics without it affecting my faith, but would never think it suitable for Mass.

When I was in school, however, I remember ‘Prepare Ye’ being used in a prayer service (not Mass) held during Advent. In which context the simple exhortation to prepare for the Lord’s coming was quite appropriate. And I remember singing ‘Day by Day’, but am not sure whether it was in Mass or not.

I should add both were done with minimal instrumental accompaniment - so no tambourines or jazzy piano etc snd none of the handclapping either. Which makes a big difference.
 
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JCS has always been problematic, considering it totally ignores the resurrection. The Godspell script is based on the Gospels, even if it has some funny stuff in it.

When I first came here, the youth choir used to sing the Lord’s Prayer set to “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” from JCS. It meant nothing to them but the only thing that kept coming back to my mind was “He’s a man, he’s just a man, and I’ve had so many men before in very many ways he’s just one more.” Not exactly what you want to be thinking just before Communion.
 
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