The Recovering Choir Director

Ugh. Lazy, Lazy, Lazy. Any church that can raise almost $5,000,000 for a capital campaign can find someone (not hire someone, find someone) to program better than this.

Did you see the travesty at communion? First Half…Verse 1…what? The only thing that is sung the entire way through is the Haas. They need only one verse of What Child is This, because heaven forfend they keep the congregation waiting at the end of Communion — giving the wonderful impression that nothing matters after Communion.

The awfulness of the Closing song has been discussed at length elsewhere. But it is obvious that someone realized, “Oh it’s also World Peace Day, so we gotta throw something in about that.”

Scary.

I agree with Hugh, disagree with Todd.

The logic for Haas is that Communion is a “community-event”–and the focus has moved away from Jesus Christ but on the Body of Christ of Believers. I disagree with this (not that the Eucharist doesn’t unite us, but the main problem is the focus being on us than on Jesus–and folks are wondering why it is that belief in the Real Presence hovers around 30%). Even so, the problem isn’t Haas or OCP even tho it’s quite fashionable to say that… once the Music for Catholic Worship document in the US says otherwise, folks will still go after the “celebration of community”/”downplaying the Holy Visitation” during the climactic portion of the most Holy communal prayer there is.

As for Todd, nothing wrong with only one Christmas song during a Marian Holy Day of Obligation. We don’t get too many Mary days, and I’d pull the guns out with the Marian hymns every chance I got. And if Mary’s Song is the one I’m thinking of (to the tune of Amazing Grace), then all the better because it’s a congregational-friendly melody to boot. It’s a Biblically-based God-focused improvement upon AG.

Nick

Our associate pastor pretty much picks what we’re going to do — here’s what we wound up with. [By the way, thanks for the format you use here in your posts -- I stole it (sheepish grin).]

December 31/January 1: Mary, Mother of God
Mass of Angels and Saints

Opening: O Come All Ye Faithful (ADESTE FIDELES)
Responsorial: Psalm 67 (intoned)*
Preparation: O Little Town of Bethlehem (ST. LOUIS)
Communion: Away In A Manger (MUELLER);
Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming (ES IST EIN ROS’ ENTSPRUNGEN)
Sending Forth: Cry Out With Joy and Gladness (Marchionda)

* original pick was “Let All The Earth” (Gather #61), which not only is the wrong psalm, it’s in a book that is in the church and is not allowed to be copied from. Two reasons why I’d rather just intone the right one.
The only Marian reference I was able to squeeze in there was a custom trope to the Agnus Dei — bordering on sacrilege, but I had to do something! *grin*

PS: great site! I’ve been enjoying all the current and archived posts/discussions; wish I’d come across this site sooner!

I have no problem with keeping most of the music focused on the Liturgies of the Word and Eucharist — that’s a given. And I *do* like the idea of silence after Communion — for some reason our priests have a problem with the “dead air space” — which is a problem for me. If I’m cantoring, I don’t have the luxury of a few moments to meditate upon the glorious Paschal Meal I have just partaken of.

Personally I would have preferred to do PLEADING SAVIOR as the ’song for sending forth’.

What a bunch of naysayers. It seems only those who are offended (included myself) speak out. Let is resolve to see the positive and to speak it and stop filling the blogs or whatever with our endless valuable opinions (yes including this one) . I must confess I still haven’t told our choir director how blown away I was by the Good Friday mass in total but the music especially. It was a “Wow” experience. All the negative opinions from the “know it alls” is just whining, Pridefilled BS (as we say in Texas) . Sorry to tell you to get a life. In a charitible way I hope.