S&F-Confessions of a Cradle Catholic I: Music

I was born an raised as a Catholic.  Even times when I wasn't active in the church, I still saw being a Catholic as a big part of my life.  And part of being in part of the Catholic laity, I was raised to be non-questioning in the Church.  Afterall, how can I say that I know something better than an institution that is 2 centuries old with a leader who is actually can use the phrase "Infallibility of the Pope."

That being said there are some things I wish were different about the Church in the current day.  And risking excommunication (although hopefully none of these are going to anger the Pope that much), I am going to put together a little series of things I miss from the Church I grew up in that are missing in today's Church.

I hate the Music.

There I said it.  I love the people that do the music.  They are extremely talented singers and musicians.  However, it seems like the modern hymns that they choose are only being sung by the choir or cantor. Most of the congregation chooses not to sing, either because the songs are unfamiliar or flat out beyond the level of most of the people in attendance.  There seems to be overlaying of lyrics on top of other lyrics that make the normal person in the church struggle to follow.  We aren't supposed to be singing a round of Row-Row-Your Boat where different people jump in at different times.

I used to go to a church in Virginia where the Our Father was sung.  It was kinda nice to really reflect on the words as we sung them slowly.  Them problem was the men would start and then the women would come in later.  It just seemed disjointed and if you didn't know it was coming, you could get lost in one of the most important parts of the mass.

I wish we could go back to the days where the music was simple and familiar.  The instruments were led by things like organs and not tambourines and rain sticks.  The cantor and choir were there to lead the congregation in song praising God and not use the time as an opportunity to show their talents.

I know there are a lot of people who love the music in church.  But I do look around and see a large majority of the people just mindlessly sitting there waiting for the song to end so we can get to the next part of the service.  And that's sad.  Music should enhance our worship.

I wish I could come up with a fix for the music.  I do know some churches have "no music" masses. That's actually kind of disappointing we have gotten to that level.  But maybe it is time to look at the music chosen and make sure that they are ones that the congregation can really get behind.  We are supposed to be participants and not just spectators in the mass.  That's what Vatican II was supposed to change over 50 years ago.