Replies

Familiar is comfort and in this present age, I’m all for comfort. It is not, however, comfortable for me, so I hope, with all my heart, that I can finish out my life as a convert with what comforts me — the liturgy and prayers in a language I can understand. I’d love to go back to the music from the Latin right (I said to my husband on Sunday, I never thought I’d see the day that we had an electric bass guitar in the sanctuary). It was quite nice, however, and hopefully, that won’t be an every Sunday event — the jazz rifts on the hymns was unsettling. See, I’m all about what comforts. ;-)

I never thought I’d see the day that we had an electric bass guitar in the sanctuary

Careful. We ended up switching parishes over music. It started with acoustic guitars. Then they added a drumset. Then they started writing their own music, and eventually replaced every intercession in the mass. (no more singing along to familiar hymns)

We finally got the pastor to start publishing their schedule in the bulletin. Attendance at the "rock" mass plummeted, the other masses became over-crowded.

Solution? Why, remove the music schedule from the bulletin, of course! You never knew what you were going to get at any given mass. It could be the choir, or the hippie band.

After leaving mass several times with my wife and kids and registering several complaints with the parish council (3 members of which were in or related to the band) we finally switched parishes.

You and your fellow parishioners should nip this in the bud.

I think Benedict sees a situation in the future in which both forms of the Mass will be available. Also, he probably foresees some changes.

When I was a child, just before Vatican II, there was a trend to offering the old Mass with the people making the responses (this was called a “dialogue mass”); this was done in Latin and even in the vernacular in some parishes that had permission to do so. However, the changes of Vatican II short-circuited the organic evolution of the Mass (which may well have resulted in having it in the vernacular, the way the Orthodox do).

So I don’t think you have to worry about any dramatic changes in the future. There will be a new translation of the current Mass that goes into effect next year, but it is better, more reverential and will not be hard to understand or get familiar with.

One of the good things is that having a new translation will possibly put the brakes on some of these awful musical groups that you mention. They can be a real affliction and I don’t think a lot of pastors realize how much people dislike them and try to avoid them.

...I never thought I’d see the day that we had an electric bass guitar in the sanctuary...

Well, we have had drums, electric guitars, and many other such things, but thank God they have yet to put any of that in the sanctuary. So far it has always been with the rest of the choir or musicians. How would they even fit it in there? Wouldn't they be afraid of knocking things off of the altar?