Why the silliness in the Mass? - Page 8

Lochias · #**106** Jul 5, '12, 7:11 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by grasscutter

That sounds like a lovely tradition that you and your family keep! Maybe others will now be inspired to do likewise.

Did you know, when I was a child, the hymn (above all others) that inspired and brought me close to God was ``They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love``. It may too modern for some but it helped me. It`s a song I`ll still sing silently to myself when I (during daily life) want to draw closer to our Lord.

Peace be with you and your family!

Ha, I sing that one to myself as well, here and there. It does indeed help.

grasscutter · #**107** Jul 5, '12, 7:28 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lochias

Ha, I sing that one to myself as well, here and there. It does indeed help.

Especially the verse that begins with "we will work with each other" helps me to behave appropriately with my co-workers! Because (and I'm sure I'm the only one

) sometimes I need God to help me with that!

**pnewton** · #**108** Jul 7, '12, 4:12 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by grasscutter

Did you know, when I was a child, the hymn (above all others) that inspired and brought me close to God was ``They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love``. It may too modern for some but it helped me. It`s a song I`ll still sing silently to myself when I (during daily life) want to draw closer to our Lord.

Peace be with you and your family!

I use that as a closing hymn two or three times a year. I know that many here don't care for it, but those at my parish do, and that is plenty of people for me to worry about pleasing. While I am very open to criticism (within my parish) I think my willingness to step down the second someone else wants to step up deters some criticism. On the other hand, maybe I just hit enough variety to make most people satisfied.

JRRTFAN · #**109** Jul 7, '12, 4:25 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Presbyterian20

My question is out of curiosity not to get into some ill informed dog fight over instruments.

Well, if a dog fight starts, I'm in your corner. For some reason, and I do not know what it is, we Catholics seem to think we're making the Mass more "relevant" by using ditty type music rather than the treasury of sacred hymns we have amassed over 2 millenia. So many of the ditties are in the first person "I" being used only slightly less commonly than "we" as an identifier of who we are there to worship.

There is nothing more disconcerting to me than walking into dawn Mass on Easter and seeing the "contemporary ensemble" tuning up to use Morning has Broken as the processional hymn. The "Contemporary Ensemble" was Contemporary when Arlo Guthrie was coming of age. They are all, like me, grey and no longer Contemporary. My 32 year old Protestant son heard them and said to me: "No offense, Dad, but the music is really lame." I agreed. I guess it's a sign of the times, the times being 1968, and we never grew out of it.

englishredrose · #**110** Jul 7, '12, 6:24 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by pnewton

I use that as a closing hymn two or three times a year. I know that many here don't care for it, but those at my parish do, and that is plenty of people for me to worry about pleasing. While I am very open to criticism (within my parish) I think my willingness to step down the second someone else wants to step up deters some criticism. On the other hand, maybe I just hit enough variety to make most people satisfied.

actually I quite like it. Its not a favourite but its not unwanted by me either. Its cheerful but with practical messages for us all. I am happy because at one of the weddings next week, we are singing 'one more step along the road I go' and yeh thats cheerful too but like it mainly because about 2 year ago we had it on the Sunday and the day before we had been walking along a definate precarious (spelling) path and oops I definately had at least one point I wasn't going any further but to have gone back be as hard

But a nice song for all that. Or is it a hymn whatever the differences are... But we all have hymns and songs we use daily at times don't we and call upon them in prayer even secular songs have quite deep messages we can use when we stop and think about the words that bit more.