Name That Tune

Music at mass is intended, as all Church art is, to lift our hearts and minds to God. The Catholic Church has produced some of the world’s most famous musicians and music styles. One then must ask, why at mass are we singing flakey pop-rock written in the last 5 years by people who don’t share our faith?

I find it extremely distracting after receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord to return to my pew and hear a song written with lyrics supporting a symbolic “communion.” Now I can understand that there are a wide variety of musical tastes and that not everyone likes the same songs; however, the massive variety of exceptionally well written songs throughout Church history providing a more than ample cache to choose from.

Now we have to ask ourselves why? Why, when we have songs like Mozart’s Ave Verum, Panis Angelicus, Holy God We Praise thy Name, Salve Regina, and Faith of our Fathers (just to name a few)….why are we singing dry vapid songs with little to no theological or aesthetic value i.e. (You are Mine, On Eagle’s Wings, Amazing Grace)?

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is more than a showcase for the latest flashing fad in popular music. Since Mass is a solemn offering flashy music is truly totally out of place, we must remember that the focus should be God, not the music. If the music isn’t conducive to the quiet contemplation of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ then it has no place at Mass.

Honestly, which genre is more appropriate for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?

This? The Soul Fire for Jesus Band.

Or this? The Vienna Boys Choir.

This is not to exclude any new music from Mass; after all, even the oldest works of music were-at some point-new. After all, there are several contemporary Catholic Artists who continue to produce music conducive to Catholic Worship. The intention is to exclude music from Mass which is either blatantly not Catholic (Wesley, Luther, and the others) and “less than Catholic” music-which I define as contemporary music which has lyrics which are in theological error and also are not conducive to Catholic Worship.

An interesting resource can be found here:

Confessions of a Recovering Choir Director