What do they sing to kick off Adoration?

[Tis_Bearself]

The game was played on Sunday, in Heaven’s own backyard
With Jesus playing quarterback, and Moses playing guard
The angels in the grandstands
Oh my, how they did yell
When Jesus scored a touchdown
Against the boys from Hell

Oh! Staaaaaay with God
Plaaaaaay with God
Jesus on the 20-yard line
Jesus doin’ mighty fine
Oh! Staaaaay with God
Plaaaaay with God
Rock 'em, sock 'em, Jesus knock 'em!
Staa-aaay with God!

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Growing up in a nondenominational quasiBaptist environment, one of the biggest things for me to learn was that Mass in particular is really for Catholics, whereas the services I grew up around as a kid were as much about inviting nonbelievers and others to see what we were all about was half the point of going to church.

I’ve tried (unsuccessfully in most cases) to get the parishes I belonged to and worked with over the years to understand this in terms of making the Mass more “visitor friendly” by having liturgy aids more readily available in clear, understandable terms a nonCatholic could follow.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Some churches do have liturgy aid cards in the pew with the responses. These are not just helpful for non-Catholics, but also for Catholic reverts. A couple years ago I had a revert come up to me at daily Mass and ask me how she could follow the Mass as it had apparently been a very long time since she was at one and everybody in the pews seemed to be doing the responses from memory. It was a daily Mass, so everybody at it was pretty experienced. I pointed her to the Order of Mass in the missal and told her she could likely find one online too.

However, I think being able to do all the responses and stuff when you’re not yet Catholic is missing the point of what’s going on. The old TLM had very little for anybody in the pew to do. The idea was to be in the presence of God and worship Him while the priest did the sacrifice. In previous centuries, and even today in some Eastern churches, the priest is doing a lot of his part of the Mass behind a screen.
Sometimes I think the Church should have left it that way.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

I know; the wife and I actually designed the 2011 version for our parish when the translation changes were made, and that was the most headway I ever made with making an aid that was visitor friendly. I have seen some excellent ones, don’t get me wrong, but they almost all make assumptions because they’re made from a Catholic perspective. Of course, if you made one from a non- perspective, it would turn into a book and defeat the purpose. As you say in your latter point, many visitors would be better off to simply “take it in” rather than try to follow along. (But it’s hard to fight that urge to blend in and feel like you’re doing everything “right”).

Oh well, have we derailed enough?