A Church which only makes use of “utility” music has fallen for what is, in fact, useless. . . . For her mission is a far higher one. As the Old Testament speaks of the Temple, the Church is to be the place of “glory,” and as such, too, the place where mankind’s cry of distress is brought to the ear of God. The Church must not settle down with what is merely comfortable and serviceable at the parish level, she must arouse the voice of the cosmos and, by glorifying the Creator, elicit the glory of the cosmos itself, making it also glorious, beautiful, habitable, and beloved.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, “On the Theological Basis of Church Music,” in The Feast of Faith, pp. 113–126 (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), p. 124.
3 comments:
Excellent. And not bad for a progressive approach to liturgy. We could probably extend this theologian's approach beyond music to liturgy (and its attendant arts) as a whole and criticize the pragmatic in Catholic worship, including perhaps the overuse of the Tridentine Low Mass, the lack of the striving for excellence in the modern Roman Rite as well.
As for Cardinal Ratzinger's criticisms here, I don't see much of it in parishes (even the ones that sing of welcome) that take liturgy seriously, do you?
"including perhaps the overuse of the Tridentine Low Mass,"
Really? Over use of the Tridentine Mass?
Where do you see this?
When?
Are you in the United States?
High OR low, its hard to imagine anyone thinks it is overused here, unless he wishes it weren't used at all.
Beautiful quote from the Holy Father.
A woman dancing around with incense in a tuna can,lousy hymns, ugly churches, DON'T speak of the glory of God. Going to church is supposed to be an uplifting experience. (A great book on the subject is Michael Rose's "Ugly as Sin",about the ugliness of churches being tied to liturgical ugliness)
As a religion writer here in the Napa Valley, I've seen sanctuaries turned into cafes for Christmastime (yes,there is the Christmas carol cafe),dry ice, music videos,etc.
Liturgy is supposed to be the foretaste of Heaven.
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