Wherever youth seek answers, the Church must be there, Holy Father teaches

[RobertLGarrett]

I would say that both is important. Obviously, one wants teenagers to fully understand their faith. But, then, faith is a journey. One is always learning. And experiencing. Part of that experience may well have something to do with emotional involvement that can help either draw one to or push one from the table of the Lord. So I wouldn’t be too quick to discount its importance.

When it comes to the Holy Mass, I do. The focus of far too many liturgists is on music and feel-good reaction, when they should be focussed on Our Lord.

When it comes to the youth community (youth group/faith formation), I think it is very important to include good music, games, etc. that foster community. At the same time we teach them so they can mature in their faith and don’t show up to Mass looking for a “community” to clap with.

 

[JReducation]

When it comes to the Holy Mass, I do. The focus of far too many liturgists is on music and feel-good reaction, when they should be focussed on Our Lord.

When it comes to the youth community (youth group/faith formation), I think it is very important to include good music, games, etc. that foster community. At the same time we teach them so they can mature in their faith and don’t show up to Mass looking for a “community” to clap with.

I would say that in the celebration of the liturgy one can have both, an emotional engagement and an cognitive engagement. St. Bonaventure built his entire theology on the heart. St. Thomas Aquinas built it on the mind. Both arrived at the same place.

During the early years of our community, Francis wrote Laudas, (songs of praise) for the mass. They were in Italian, not Latin. The music was that of the minstrels of his time, very romantic and very lively. One of the most beautiful ones that we still use at mass today is “All Creatures of Our God and King”.

Martin Luther wrote “A Mighty Fortress” which evoked an emotional response from the congregation. It used the popular music of his time. We still use it today among Catholics and Protestants.

We can’t forget Teresa of Avila who was a contemplative, a mystic and a musician. She would become emotionally and cognitively engaged in the celebration of the Eucharist.

John of the Cross was also very emotional and cognitive. He was a very romantic poet

Gregorian chant attempts to elevate the heart. It “assaults” the emotions.

Even architecture used in engaging the emotions.

I believe that we can bring youth to Christ using both, feeling and intellect. But I’m a Franciscan and feeling plays a very important role in Franciscan spirituality. Check out Friar Stan, one of our friars.

youtube.com/watch?v=Ddub2td3m0k&feature=related

JR

 

[RobertLGarrett]

Gregorian chant attempts to elevate the heart. It “assaults” the emotions.

JR

More importantly, Gregorian chant has its roots in the Jewish chant at the time of Christ. I know that makes me an evil “traditionalist” to some (though I have only been to one TLM), but I believe that is why it holds “pride of place” in the Church. Teaching teens an appreciation for our liturgy is more important than singing “my God is an awesome God” IMNSHO.

 

[JReducation]

More importantly, Gregorian chant has its roots in the Jewish chant at the time of Christ. I know that makes me an evil “traditionalist” to some (though I have only been to one TLM), but I believe that is why it holds “pride of place” in the Church. Teaching teens an appreciation for our liturgy is more important than singing “my God is an awesome God” IMNSHO.

If you watched Friar Stan’s video, teaching teens to appreciate the liturgy is teaching them to understand the meaning of each ritual and its theology. Gregorian chant has its place in liturgical worship. Teaching teens to appreciate Gregorian chant, without the theology of every ritual in the liturgy is not very helpful.

I do believe that youth should be exposed to Gregorian chant just as they should be exposed to other historical elements of our faith. But we must always present these elements in their proper context.

Gregorian chant is pre-eminent in our sacred music, because of its age and its effect on the heart. There is no teaching in the Church that says we must do away with all other forms of liturgical music that came after.

Do we want to do away with “All Creatures of Our God and King” because it’s not Gregorian chant? You may find 600,000 angry Franciscans at your door step in the morning. LOL Not a pretty sight

We don’t want to get rid of some of our beautiful Christmas music, such as “Silent Night” or other music that came after. We certainly want liturgical music to grow and to have as much variety as possible. The more variety the more visible the richness of the Church comes through for the younger generations.

The danger is when the younger generation is exposed only to the new and not the old as well.

Just like we teach youth secular literature and history to promote in them a sense of continuity between the present and the past, we must do the same in their religious education.

In fact, even Traditionalists are falling short when it comes to liturgy. The focus is often limited to the mass. The Church’s understanding and practice of liturgy also includes the Liturgy of the Hours.

Today, we leave the Liturgy of the Hours to those who are clerics or religious. In the past, the Liturgy of the Hours was part of the liturgical life of the Church. The laity joined the clergy and religious in praying the Liturgy of the Hours. Those who could not attend the celebration at the local Church prayed it in their homes. It became the moral obligation of clerics and monastics when it appeared that it was going to disappear, because the laity dropped the ball. Before that, it was the entire Liturgy that was celebrated: mass and hours.

In our parish, we have begun to introduce the kids to the LOH and they like it. They’re not very precise when they celebrate it, but that will come.

Everything takes time, patience and gentleness.

JR

 

[RobertLGarrett]

If you watched Friar Stan’s video, teaching teens to appreciate the liturgy is teaching them to understand the meaning of each ritual and its theology. Gregorian chant has its place in liturgical worship. Teaching teens to appreciate Gregorian chant, without the theology of every ritual in the liturgy is not very helpful.

I do believe that youth should be exposed to Gregorian chant just as they should be exposed to other historical elements of our faith. But we must always present these elements in their proper context.

Gregorian chant is pre-eminent in our sacred music, because of its age and its effect on the heart. There is no teaching in the Church that says we must do away with all other forms of liturgical music that came after.

Do we want to do away with “All Creatures of Our God and King” because it’s not Gregorian chant? You may find 600,000 angry Franciscans at your door step in the morning. LOL Not a pretty sight

We don’t want to get rid of some of our beautiful Christmas music, such as “Silent Night” or other music that came after. We certainly want liturgical music to grow and to have as much variety as possible. The more variety the more visible the richness of the Church comes through for the younger generations.

The danger is when the younger generation is exposed only to the new and not the old as well.

Just like we teach youth secular literature and history to promote in them a sense of continuity between the present and the past, we must do the same in their religious education.

In fact, even Traditionalists are falling short when it comes to liturgy. The focus is often limited to the mass. The Church’s understanding and practice of liturgy also includes the Liturgy of the Hours.

Today, we leave the Liturgy of the Hours to those who are clerics or religious. In the past, the Liturgy of the Hours was part of the liturgical life of the Church. The laity joined the clergy and religious in praying the Liturgy of the Hours. Those who could not attend the celebration at the local Church prayed it in their homes. It became the moral obligation of clerics and monastics when it appeared that it was going to disappear, because the laity dropped the ball. Before that, it was the entire Liturgy that was celebrated: mass and hours.

In our parish, we have begun to introduce the kids to the LOH and they like it. They’re not very precise when they celebrate it, but that will come.

Everything takes time, patience and gentleness.

JR

We are in full agreement…not sure what you were reading into my statements about Gregorian Chant. I didn’t say to do away with all other music. Nor, did I say to teach it “without the theology of every ritual in the liturgy.”

I did take a swipe at “Awesome God” but it is well deserved. As you mention, “the danger is when the younger generation is exposed only to the new and not the old as well.” The emphasis I have seen in many teen programs does exactly that. They embarrassingly take the position of agreeing with the kids that “Mass is boring” rather than instructing them on the beauty and glory of the Mass and what it means.

Pax Christi,
Robert

 

[JReducation]

We are in full agreement…not sure what you were reading into my statements about Gregorian Chant. I didn’t say to do away with all other music. Nor, did I say to teach it “without the theology of every ritual in the liturgy.”

I did take a swipe at “Awesome God” but it is well deserved. As you mention, “the danger is when the younger generation is exposed only to the new and not the old as well.” The emphasis I have seen in many teen programs does exactly that. They embarrassingly take the position of agreeing with the kids that “Mass is boring” rather than instructing them on the beauty and glory of the Mass and what it means.

Pax Christi,
Robert

I was not taking exception to what you were saying. I was just adding a few ideas.

JR

 

[RobertLGarrett]

I was not taking exception to what you were saying. I was just adding a few ideas.

JR

Fair enough. …that’s not the way it read though.

 

[iblessem]

Hi,

In 1975, many years ago , I was a teen involved in Catholic Christian Music and I was a youth, searching for Love.
Today, I’m the old guy still involved at our Catholic Church leading the youth mass. Love of Christ was rare back then and committment to him was very rare then, as now.

Christian Love is still a pearl of great cost and a treasure beyond compare. If you dedicate your life, all of it, you may add to the treasure. All the music is wonderful, but really, here is the truth…

If you just really love Jesus Christ, his Mother Mary, and our Father and the Holy Spirit, you will discover as the years of your life fly by; your service will affect others. They will look to you as Christ’s light. You will make a difference in their lives.

We have no control over the spirit of Christ. Just like the wind, Christ blesses lives wherever his spirit blows. Make yourself a vessel of his love and you will, through Christ, become a blessing.

When you are old and gray people will come to you and say,“I remember you when I was a child and your light saved me” So don’t wait…become his follower now. Jesus loves everyone.

iblessem

 

[JReducation]

Hi,

In 1975, many years ago , I was a teen involved in Catholic Christian Music and I was a youth, searching for Love.
Today, I’m the old guy still involved at our Catholic Church leading the youth mass. Love of Christ was rare back then and committment to him was very rare then, as now.

Christian Love is still a pearl of great cost and a treasure beyond compare. If you dedicate your life, all of it, you may add to the treasure. All the music is wonderful, but really, here is the truth…

If you just really love Jesus Christ, his Mother Mary, and our Father and the Holy Spirit, you will discover as the years of your life fly by; your service will affect others. They will look to you as Christ’s light. You will make a difference in their lives.

We have no control over the spirit of Christ. Just like the wind, Christ blesses lives wherever his spirit blows. Make yourself a vessel of his love and you will, through Christ, become a blessing.

When you are old and gray people will come to you and say,“I remember you when I was a child and your light saved me” So don’t wait…become his follower now. Jesus loves everyone.

iblessem

This is beautiful and so true. Sometimes we want to guide the hand of God, instead of allowing his hand to guide us. I can share a wonderful example from my own community.

For many years, since 1978, the Secular Franciscan Order was liberated from the Franciscan Friars. Pope Paul VI wanted the Order to return to its roots, as it was founded by St. Francis in 1221. At that time it was an active order of penitents who lived outside the cloister, but nonetheless members of a religious order. They were bound by a solemn promise of obedience to live the Gospel as Francis described it in his rule.

Well, through the years there has been a great deal of confusion, which is pretty normal when you get an order that has over 600,000 members in 114 countries and has been subservient to another order for 500 of their 800 years of existence. Then you cut them loose. What do you get? Confusion. Things take time to fall into place. That’s my point. It has taken us from 1978 to our General Chapter in 2008 to get it on paper correctly. To do so we had to look at our own growth and development from 1978 to 2008.

What we found at our General Chapter was that during the last 30 years, we have grown by more than 60,000 members under the age of 35. While those of us who were older were feeling our way around in the dark after Vatican II, the younger generation was studying our holy father Francis and embracing his life as he lived it. They were not as interested in every single little word in this document or that, as they were in the life of the man whom we call our holy father, Francis of Assisi.

Today we have Brothers and Sisters of Penance who are married, some are priests, some are single and celibate, some are living alone, others live in small communities, some have an active ministry in their diocese and others are more contemplative. But all in all, the young have brought with them the spirit of Francis that the older generation has been trying to recapture for 30 years.

While we were looking at documents and laws etc. The young were looking at Francis’ life and his determination to live a life of obedience, prayer, penance, asceticism, joy, humility, poverty and apostolic service to all.

The young have risen to the occasion and often they help us old birds see things that we do not see too well, because we are too set in our ways.

When we become set in our ways we tend to say that this is God’s will, when in reality it is not God’s will, but our own insecurity about change and most of all our own insecurity about putting our hands into the hand of Christ’s Holy Spirit to be guided to the Father’s house.

Fraternally,

JR ****

 

[iblessem]

Amen,

listen to this young life that is blessing me now.

imeem.com/misswan/music/7C2aHBIW/corrinne_may_journey/

 

[JReducation]

The young want to show that they can do it. They can rise to the occasion and bring the world and the faith into a state of reconciliation, rather than deny the world that God created, loved and redeemed through the blood of his son.

The young are not interested in the internal politics of the laity. I say this because this is what one of our novices told me.

“The laity is involved in a one-sided power struggle with the bishops and clergy. Francis lived during a time where there were many weaknesses in the Church and all kinds of heresy. Why is it that he never said one negative thing against the bishops and the clergy? How come he forbids the entire Franciscan family from engaging in conflicts with the hierarchy?”

Instead of answering for them, I asked the novices to tell me why Francis had taken this position. The novices gave me a rather insightful response.

“History has proven that when the laity engages in a power struggle with the hierarchy of the Church there is only one winner, the bishops. The laity has no jurisdiction in the Church. The role of the laity is not to govern or guide the Church. The role of the laity is to live the faith in a way that shows Christ to the world, like Elizabeth of Hungary did. If bishops need converting, they will convert by the grace earned by God’s people, not by the disobedience and opposition of the laity.”

I thought that was an answer that deserved thoughtful reflection. As I went around the room with 12 novices between the ages of 20 and 35 I found that they wanted no part of these arguments and debates with the hierarchy. They want to live the Gospel as Francis lived it. They want to become like Christ. They want to find Christ in the Church, the sacraments and in service to others. As I spoke with the youth who came back from World Youth Day in Sydney, I received a very similar response, even though none of them were part of the Franciscan family. It is not Franciscanism that drives them, but faith in the Church.

This begs the question, how much of our agonizing over everything in the Church actually attracts the young? Maybe what attracts them is the courage of people like Francis, Elizabeth of Hungary, Teresa of Avila, John Paul II, Mother Teresa or Vincent de Paul. They dealt with the challenges that were within their power and sphere.

Fraternally,

JR