John Schultz: November 2002 Archives

Things I'm Thankful For

My very informal list of the simple things.

1. I'll get more traffic because Nihil Obstat will post that my title ends with a preposition.
2. My bed has enough space for my dog to sleep underneath
3. My cats are stupid enough to follow me out of the bedroom at 5:30am every morning thinking they'll get fed, when all I do is kick them out of the bedroom so I can get another hour of sleep.
4. My yard has tall trees.
5. My wife is loving, kind, holy and fun - and might even make a pie for tomorrow.
6. My choir works hard and understands why we're there.
7. My new spam filters for Outlook Express are working out well.
8. I've had all sorts of holy people in my life that have challenged me and help me grow.
9. Steve had a great idea to make this a group blog - it's more fun that way.
10. I've lost a few pounds since I cut back on the carbs.
11. Structured prayers like the Rosary and the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy help you pray when your mind or heart is not totally inclined to pray.
12. My parish has two great priests.

That's all for now. Post what you're thankful for in the comments.

My Wife Sings Like an Angel
I have to brag about my wife for a minute. She sounded great in the Mozart concert last night, as she does each Sunday. Her voice has a wonderful warmth and presence that is so moving. It's not a "was that a mosquito that just flew by my ear sound" but rather a 5 course french meal with all it's sophistication and complexity, and ultimate enjoyment.

What a gift and a blessing. We met in the choir too so that's another good reason for singles to join up!

Christmas Eve Liturgy

I'm slipping in a few things at Christmas Eve that are meant to deal with the Marty Haugen "Mass of Creation" factor.

1. We're going to do two chants in English - A Child Is Born In Bethlehem (Puer Natus) and another I can't remember.
2. We're doing the Victoria "O Magnum Mysterium" during Preparation of the Gifts.
3. A Cantor will sing the Christmas Proclamation at the beginning of Mass.

We'll be doing all the sacred Christmas Carols we normally do, so there will be plenty of familiarity for the congregation. We do the Haugen because of it's universality in the US Church. It's not the greatest but it does increase the chances that people will sing the eucharistic acclamations.

Tidbit from the GIRM

"The blessing of children or infants should not be encouraged while distributing communion. Children and infants are blessed with the full assembly at the end of Mass."

This makes perfect sense, but also makes perfectly sensible people get a little perturbed. After all, who doesn't want their baby to be blessed by a priest?
The solution: meet up with the priest in the Narthex and get the blessing after Mass.

I got your GIRM formation right here

Roman Missal Formational Materials are provided online by the US Bishops Committee on the Liturgy.

The interesting thing about many of the directives in the GIRM is they are crystal clear. The who, what, when, where and why of liturgy is encapsulated in a document that is both comprehensive and comprehensible. This kind of information makes a grass-roots effort at liturgical reform possible, and it speaks to the fact that there's a tremendous amount of willful ignorance and/or ongoing intent to remake the liturgy into something that it shouldn't be.

I'm blessed to live in a diocese where complying with the General Instruction and related directives is a priority. We have a pastor, associate and liturgy committee that are all on board. I know not everyone is, and I know that fighting the good fight can be tough when you have a crazy pastor, a renegade nun or a crunchy pastoral council.

Here's some quick advice:
Pick your battles. I would say that clearly defining the role and actions of the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist is more important than getting people to stop holding hands during the Our Father.
Get up to speed by reading up on the GIRM and related documents.
Pray and practice charity or else we have GIRM warfare instead of reform.

That's all for now. God bless.

Liturgy

There's a big push in the Arlington Diocese right now to get liturical practices in line with the new General Instruction to the Roman Missal (GIRM). I'm all in favor of that as it speaks to the "why" and "how" we worship God at Mass and ultimately makes the liturgy Christocentric rather than a celebration of man. At my parish on the first Sunday of Advent there will be several things that change to conform to the GIRM: no more blessing of infants during the distribution of communion (all are blessed at the end of Mass), no more Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist in the entrance procession, more uniformity and emphasis on gestures and posture, and more.

I was at the liturgy planning meeting for the parish when we discussed this - it struck me that in most U.S. parishes, there's never been that kind of a meeting. We had all reviewed the new GIRM and been to several workshops/seminars on the content. The liturgy director had created a list of changes we needed to discuss, and the consensus from pastor all the way down was that we need to "follow the rules." Not because they are rules, but because we understood and wanted to live by the theological implications of the guidelines that are in the new General Instruction.

I'd be curious to know if this is happening anywhere else. It's a perfect time for an candid, honest and open review of our liturgical practices in the U.S. I don't have to repeat that the liturgical mayhem of the last 30 years that has been caused by innovations and ignorance is not a good thing.

Remember my other blog?

Care and Feeding of a Catholic Church Choir is now back in action. My brother Steve told me somehow the link ended up in a Catholic magazine next to Mark Shea, Amy Welborn, Gerard Serafin, etc. I am both flattered and embarassed because until this morning, I hadn't updated Care and Feeding since August.

Christmas Music Mayhem

Several years back, before I started conducting at my parish, the choir had in their repertoire a Caribbean tune called "The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy" (note to liturgists: having a suburban DC parish sing Caribbean tunes is not a good example of inculturation.) The piece starts with a baritone solo, and he stood in front of the microphone and sang: "The Virgin Mary Had a Baby GIRL."

The congregation roared and giggled thru the entire Mass. And he never lived it down.

Say it ain't so, St. Joe!

I just got an e-mail from St. Joseph Communications, a publisher of Catholic tapes & CDs.
Subject: Special Christmas Offer
First Line: With only a few weeks left until Our Lord's birthday, there is still time to get the gift that will inspire all to a deeper understanding and devotion to this Holy Season.

Do you have any special offers for Advent? Do you have reservations about recycling marketing material from 12/05/01? I thought I had to go to Target to get deals on Christmas items!

Ethics in China

Regarding the Three Gorges Dam Project in China:
"Earlier this week China's official news agency reported that the Three Gorges Dam project has been free of graft and embezzlement since its launch in 1993."

Maybe that should go on a plaque or something...

En Garde!

See my retort to Bryan's post in the comment boxes.