Here's a good point:
...the major problem in your average vernacular Mass I think, is that in general Catholics have forgotten that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a miracle that touches Heaven down to earth. It's otherworldly. It's not fellowshipping (is that really a verb?) or 'community-making'. It is flat out worship of an awesome God and the offering of the perfect Sacrifice. Forgeting that has cost us dearly. I pray that collectively we can let the Holy Spirit pull us back.
That's my issue in a nutshell with the character of liturgical music - I believe it needs to speak to the transcendence of God in expressing the sacred rather than the conversion of contemporary cultural styles into some that is quasi-sacred because it includes the word "Jesus" intermixed with "called" "chosen" "community" etc. It's the classic sacred vs. mundane: just because I impose sacred expressions onto something mundane doesn't mean it's truly sacred.
The tempation here is to completely dismiss music and liturgy that doesn't conform to one's ideas about how mere mortals should express the sacred. That's a mistake along the same lines and walking up to someone on the street and saying "Are you saved?" Without a context for the discussion and an experience of the sacred, there's no basis for continuing a discussion. And that's the key to getting acceptance of truly sacred repertoire at your average parish: slowly reintroducing truly classic and sacred expressions. If we're smart, we'll be patient about using some of today's "fast food" music while leaning toward hymns, chants and choral pieces that try to transcend rather than sanctify our contemporary culture.
So now you know why we do a little Haugen. You die-hard latin folks should consider this approach, because the "us vs. them" approach will not win converts - patience and love is the key.
