Music and Mass
April 14, 2009
Easter Sunday Mass, a text message hits my phone. "What do you think about this music?" - a reference to the folk rock concert breaking out next to the altar. I succumb to the temptation to respond: "it's cool." The reply from my fellow cell phone usage protocol violator came back, "not very Roman Catholic," to which my final response was "no, it doesn't belong here during Mass, but it's still cool and the kids are getting into it!"
The battle between tradition and mass appeal (pun intended) rages every Sunday in parishes across America. Make Mass fun and entertaining, engage more people, and leave them looking forward to next week? Or...not. The worship of God should, in my opinion, be set apart from everyday existence. Life is already a spectacle tailor-made for consumption by the throngs of humanity. Why should church be? Is it that much to ask of us to take 1 hour out of 168 hours each week to step back in time and just do it like it's always been done (or at least like it's been done since Vatican II)? An electric guitar and rockin' drum beat can get the blood flowing and the knees bouncing, bringing us all into unison with one another and especially with the performers leading us - but not with God.
I recall no Gospel or Old Testament text that instructs us to get a band together to facilitate our communion with the Lord. In fact, we are told quite the opposite, time and again: go and find a quiet place, talk to God, listen for the response. It is there. Sure, it's probably not the adrenaline rush that a concert provides, but we're all pretty good at mustering our own excitement outside of that hour per week, aren't we?
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