Posted on 07/21/2004 1:48:52 PM PDT by corpus
CHURCH-MUSIC Jul-20-2004 (770 words) xxxn
Theologian calls music ministers trailblazers of Vatican II church
By Catholic News Service
PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- Music ministers are trailblazers leading lay people to their proper role in the church following the Second Vatican Council, a leading theologian told a gathering of pastoral musicians in Philadelphia July 8.
Few Catholics realize the "sacramental significance" of the entire congregation of worshippers giving themselves to God in a collective song of praise, said Dominican Father Paul J. Philibert, one of the main speakers at the Eastern Regional Convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians.
"Who draws the assembly of the faithful into the church's work of praise? You do," he said.
Father Philibert, who teaches at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, said that, according to Vatican II, in the liturgy "Christ joins the entire community of humankind to himself, associating it with himself in singing his divine song of praise."
He said the council "identifies the church's sacrifice of praise -- its participation in the priestly sacrifice of Christ before his Father -- with the faithful's songs within the church's liturgy."
Yet "there are still people in the Roman Catholic Church, some of them ordained, who consider sacred music an ornament -- a nice addition if you can work it out, but not all that important," he said.
In the Catholic culture before Vatican II, "the Mass was the priest's Mass, and from it he gave the treasure of holy Communion to the laity. The laity were spectators at a sacred drama," he said.
But with the council the church's understanding of priests and laity "underwent a radical transformation," he added.
"The laity are no longer spectators, but rather the active subject of the church's liturgical action. ... The faithful present their very selves as a living and holy sacrifice pleasing to God," he said.
Another dimension of the council's theology was that the church's mission was no longer entrusted exclusively or primarily to priests and religious, he said. Rather, "apostolic action flows from the grace of baptism itself. ... Baptism is the essential consecration of Christians -- all other gifts and charisms flow from that."
Father Philibert described music ministers as "key players for the emerging new church in the age of baptismal empowerment."
"This is your vocation as a minister of sacred music. You are artist, leader, teacher, coach and spiritual director for your teams of musicians and for your parishes as well," he said.
He compared the work of Vatican II to the collision of two formerly separate land masses, dominating clergy and passive laity, to form a new, largely uncharted continent.
"On this new spiritual continent, the focus of the Eucharist is not principally upon the bread changed into the eucharistic body of Christ, but upon the people who become changed into the mystical body of Christ," he said.
"The very identity of the faithful is changed, making them 'one body, one Spirit in Christ,'" he added. "The Eucharist in its transforming power is the means of our sanctification. The building up of the body of Christ in the world is the end or purpose of the Eucharist."
In that context, he said, the central role of music in the liturgy becomes clearer.
"Sacred music is the rite. It is the Mass -- not something interesting done at Mass," he said. "The entrance song, response psalm, Communion song and meditations are neither entertainment nor diversions. They create the theological context that directly implicates the faithful of the assembly in the sacred action. ... The logic of faith demands that the people who are God's people give themselves together in song."
He noted that the late theologian, Father Hans Urs von Balthasar, called the transformation of the people in the liturgy a "second transubstantiation." In the Eucharist, Father Philibert said, Christ gives himself to the people in the sacramental sign of bread and wine, and the people give themselves to the Father in the sacramental sign of "their song of praise."
"It is not the beauty of the celebration so much as the truth of the sacrament that is our concern. ... Most of the faithful -- most of the ordained -- do not understand the sacramental significance of the church's common voice of praise," he said.
"From a liturgical analysis, something is missing from a celebration of Eucharist in which large numbers of those who have gathered to celebrate abstain from the common song of the assembly," he said. "That sacred common song is not only a symbol of the idea of solidarity in the body of Christ, it is the very instrument and vehicle of achieving the sacrament of that solidarity."
END
Where's the BARF alert!?
If these guys are the trailblazers, we're in big trouble.
Trailblazers!!!??? Too bad our resident authority, Desdemona, is out of town. I would love to hear her 'chime' in on this topic.
""On this new spiritual continent, the focus of the Eucharist is not principally upon the bread changed into the eucharistic body of Christ, but upon the people who become changed into the mystical body of Christ," he said.""
Hunh? Somebody want to translate this for me? Are we tripping into heresy here?
He said the council "identifies the church's sacrifice of praise -- its participation in the priestly sacrifice of Christ before his Father -- with the faithful's songs within the church's liturgy."
-At least he acknowledges what the Mass should be about - sacrifice.
In the Catholic culture before Vatican II, "the Mass was the priest's Mass, and from it he gave the treasure of holy Communion to the laity. The laity were spectators at a sacred drama," he said.
-Same old propaganda about the pre-Vatican II Church
"The laity are no longer spectators, but rather the active subject of the church's liturgical action. ... The faithful present their very selves as a living and holy sacrifice pleasing to God," he said.
-Isn't that what the Blessed Sacrament is supposed to be, not ourselves?
Another dimension of the council's theology was that the church's mission was no longer entrusted exclusively or primarily to priests and religious, he said. Rather, "apostolic action flows from the grace of baptism itself. ... Baptism is the essential consecration of Christians -- all other gifts and charisms flow from that."
More propaganda....
"On this new spiritual continent, the focus of the Eucharist is not principally upon the bread changed into the eucharistic body of Christ, but upon the people who become changed into the mystical body of Christ," he said.
-Thank you for revealing your viewpoint.
He noted that the late theologian, Father Hans Urs von Balthasar, called the transformation of the people in the liturgy a "second transubstantiation."
Where to start with this?
Overall, this priest is "drinking the Kool-aid."
NPM is the locus of all evil in the Church. They're "trailblazers", all right: marking out the Highway to Hell.
That's a wonderful site!
I cringe when I hear, "Eat His Body, Drink His Blood, and we'll sing a song of love, Allelu, allelu, alleluuuuuuiiiiiaaaa...." Accompanied by guitar, of course.
Don't know who wrote it though.
If you'd lose the crappy music, buttmunch, more people might sing. Ever thought of that!!!
I'll translate: the worthless filthy freak is a heretic, denying the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. He's trying to distract the people from worshipping the Lord God Almighty, and get them to worship themselves instead.
He serves his lord and master well ...
Where to start with this?
A simple "Father von Balthasar was not available for comment" would do -- ;-)
Kumbaya ping.
Is it possible to offer the Mass without music at all?
Is a Mass with no music better than a Mass with bad music?
Is a Mass with no music better than a Mass with heretical music?
Should we simply nuke the site of the NPM convention from orbit, on the grounds that it's the only way to be sure?
"Should we simply nuke the site of the NPM convention from orbit, on the grounds that it's the only way to be sure?"
It's been a long time, but it sounds like a quote from the movie "Aliens" - am I right? At any rate, I think you missed a "huh????" quote:
"Father Philibert described music ministers as "key players for the emerging new church in the age of baptismal empowerment." "
What on earth is he talking about???
"Oh, I forgot, the laity are just too stupid to learn Latin. Something happened to our brains after 1970."
Before VII we were merely "spectators" and didn't know any better. The music was in a "dead" old language that nobody knew and nobody knew what was going on at Mass anyway. Now that we are part of the liturgy, we can write and sing "real" music that people can understand. (sarcasm)
First off, the Nat'l Ass'n of Pastoral Musicians (NAPM) has long been known to REAL musicians of the Church as "NAPALM"--better fitting their agenda over the last 25+ years.
NAPALM was founded as a direct and opposite reaction to the Church Music Ass'n of America, which was created by joining the Gregorian Institute (St. Gregory Society) with the Society of St. Caecelia (Caecilians) both of which have roots going back well over 100 years in the US, with the Caecilians established in Europe since the time of the Regensburg reforms of Church music in the mid-1800's.
Briefly, NAPALM's history is as short as its "philosophy."
That said, the lecture (as reported above) is not filled with NAPALM's typical inanities and vacuities; IIRC, the management of NAPALM changed recently, and maybe they are actually going to resemble church musicians rather than entertainment directors.
It is absolutely TRUE that (sacred) music is "pars integralis" (an integral part) of the Mass. It is so stated in the DOL of VatII, and every thinking church musician agrees. It is also true that for many, music was (and still is) a "decoration." They were wrong then, and are wrong now. That's the reason that Chant was underlined and highlighted by VatII: regular people can sing Chant ordinaries (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei.) You don't have to be Pavarotti.
Further, it is TRUE that a properly-formed Church musician IS a teacher and CAN lead the congregation and choir to a better understanding of the Mass and the texts thereof. That's the nature of the music which (according to Ratzinger) illuminates the text (which is the Word--you know, texts from Scripture or the Mass.)
Finally, it is TRUE that certain of the ancients saw David the Singer as a type of Christ and also 'baptized' Orpheus, an old mythological singer/figure in the legitimate effort to inculturate the Orhpeus 'thing' into the Davidic/Christological Singer of the New Song. (Cf. Cdl. Ratzinger, Fr. R. Skeris, Ph.D, Crux et Cithara..)
I'll catch more of the article and respond in a twinkle.
This guy is a low grade moron, I do not care if he is a theologian or not, what a moron. New Church? Give me a break. It is a shame at the Centeral provice of the Dominicans are still a septic tank of heresy, in contrast to the Eastren and to a lessor extent, Westren provice of the Dominicans.
What! When did this happen?
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