Grassroots Liturgist

Have you ever been to the supermarket and spent time looking for something, only to realise that what you are looking for has now been moved to a different aisle?   You may be be at least a little frustrated and wonder to yourself, “Why change?   Everything was fine as it was!”   It’s even more frustrating to know that the reason that things were changed was most likely not for your benefit, but to bring other produce to our attention and, therefore, to increase their profits. In the Church, most of us have experienced at least one change in the celebration of Holy Mass.   The most recent was the New Translation of the Missal, when we were suddenly confronted with different wordings for the Gloria, Creed, Eucharistic Prayers, etc.   And, in December, we will have another change, with the introduction of the New Lectionary.   Some familiar phrases from the Gospels, Psalms and other books of the Bible may, overnight, sound a little different.   And we...

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, have you ever wondered at which point the father forgave the son who had offended him in every possible way?   Was it when he threw the extravagant party?   Or when he ran out to embrace his son?   Or when he first saw his son returning to the family home? For me, it was long before that.   We are told that the father saw his son while he was still a long way from home – he was scanning the horizon, yearning for the return of his beloved, if wayward, son.   Would he be doing that had he not already forgiven his son?   But it wasn’t until his son returned and fulfilled the other necessary conditions for reconciliation (contrition, confession and penance) that the joy of the reconciliation – symbolised by the lavish celebrations – could commence.   The son was burdened by the weight of guilt at his offence.   That burden was lifted by the reconciliation with his father, and the joy of the father's love could...

Included in the second tier of importance of things to be sung at Mass are the Entrance Procession, Gloria, Psalm, Communion Procession and post-Communion. The Gloria is the great hymn of praise of the Triune God and, personally, I am a little disappointed that it only makes the second tier.  That said, it is still considered more important than singing during the Preparation of the Gifts (Offertory) and the Recessional - and it is a daring parish liturgist that would miss out those!  There would be revolts in the pews!! Not so long ago, before the New (English) Translation of the Missal, it was permissible to sing a setting of the Gloria (and, indeed, all the Mass parts) that paraphrased what was actually in the Missal; the Peruvian Gloria, for example, proved popular with many.  That is no longer the case, as I found out myself when I submitted my first Mass setting (High Peak Mass) for permission to be used outside of my own parish; permission was at first withheld...

I was lucky enough to catch the BBC Radio 3 programme, Private Passions, while driving in my car the other week.   The guest was Eamon Duffy, Catholic historian and Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge. The whole programme is worthy of a listen, but at 23 minutes 42 seconds into the programme he is asked about the current state of music in the western Catholic liturgy.   He begins his response with, “That’s rather a depressing question”.   He singles out James MacMillan for praise and vaguely refers to (I’m guessing a very few) other Catholic composers, but otherwise he paints a very grim scene indeed.   I highlight a few key things that were said below…… #      “….we sing in Church the kind of music we would never dream of listening to and that we only otherwise hear at school assemblies….” #      “…[there has been] a radical impoverishment and a loss of the sense of the numinous.”   ...