http://www.adoremus.org/1101musicliturgy.html

Quote["It goes without saying that the biblical and liturgical texts are the normative words from which liturgical music has to take its bearings. This does not rule out the continuing creation of "new songs", but instead inspires them and assures them of a firm grounding in God's love for mankind and His work of redemption"]

So “new songs” are good when done with respect to Biblical and Liturgical texts.

I also would note this section

Quote["Not every kind of music can have a place in Christian worship. It has its standards, and that standard is the Logos. If we want to know whom we are dealing with, the Holy Spirit or the unholy spirit, we have to remember that it is the Holy Spirit who moves us to say, "Jesus is Lord" (I Cor 12:3). The Holy Spirit leads us to the Logos, and He leads us to a music that serves the Logos as a sign of the sursum corda, the lifting up of the human heart. Does it integrate man by drawing him to what is above, or does it cause his disintegration into formless intoxication or mere sensuality? That is the criterion for a music in harmony with logos, a form of that logike latreia (reasonable, logos-worthy worship) of which we spoke in the first part of this book"]

I have never been to LIFT but I bet all the music inspires our Hearts to say Jesus is our Lord! I also bet it lifts the hearts of those participating!

Of course, the document probably has something to say about that, so I’ll check it out.

“Hence, music of this type (rock) must be excluded from the Church on principle…”
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, “Liturgy and Church Music”

Please read more of Pope Benedict’s writings on the liturgy and music. It’s impossible for me to adequately summarize what the Pope has to say (plus, I’m only sixteen), but I think you will find after reading his brilliant thoughts that you must either reject his claims and the truths they convey, or reject the tactics of LIFT.

Cardinal Ratzinger makes a good point, but it is a pastor’s job to watch for the dangers that exist in every flock. For example, there’s no doubt that the Tridentine Rite is a good thing, but is it a good thing that people drive 100 miles every Sunday because they refuse to attend a Novus Ordo Mass? Of course, the Church tries to guard against that “cultic character,” but it can’t be entirely prevented. Some people won’t go to church unless it’s a Tridentine Rite, and others won’t go unless it’s rock music, but thankfully the Church can embrace both ends of the spectrum.

The modern worship services draw a lot of young people and many of them may have a superficial faith. However, there are others, like my roommate who was raised in a nominal Catholic family, got into drugs, but eventually came to believe in Christ through a Baptist church that looks a lot like LIFT (minus the Eucharist and priests, of course). There are similar stories among the people attending LIFT who didn’t think the staid old Catholic Church they grew up in could speak their language. Let’s pray that LIFT not only draws thousands back into the Church, but also starts them on the journey to discover everything we love about the faith.

By the way, if we could read everything that Cardinal Ratzinger said beyond that quote, does he actually say that rock music should be completely avoided, or is he simply being a good pastor in pointing out the dangers to watch for when rock music is used in a worship context?

Pope Benedict, says it best in the book he wrote as Cardinal Ratzinger, “The Spirit of the Liturgy.” He is addressing rock music specifically, but his words seem to apply to LIFT: “…it assumes a cultic character, a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship. People are, so to speak, released from themselves by the experience of being part of a crowd and by the emotional shock of rythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe.”

Despite claims of LIFT and photos of the Eucharist, it seems that this is just another attempt to popularize the faith for the present moment, in a way that will not have a lasting effect

I read it evry day.

I do not know how many parishes there are in the diocese, but wouldn’t it be possible to cycle through them all if you spent every Sunday joining each one for Mass on some schedule, perhaps even faster if you included Saturday evenings?

I really enjoyed joining you for mass at the Men’s conference and I think that such a visitation cycle would be of great benefit to the diocese.

I also would like to answer to some extent the commentary made by Ian and perhaps a bit of a misperception about LIFT. I do this from the not-quite-inside position of a volunteer at LIFT. While the wonderful people who started LIFT perhaps envisioned it for a younger audience, I find a good number of “over 40″ adults actively participating in the audience. I am in that past 40 stage!
The night starts out LOUD! We shout to the heavens the praise of our God. We raise our hands in praise. We celebrate His glory loud in song. It is but one of many ways to offer our thanks and praise, perhaps feeling that in this way He will hear our voices of praise and worship. The night has a speaker who has always given the audience something to ponder and often a call to action as we heard from Cardinal Sean.
The evening is capped with a period of Eucharistic Adoration. Indeed, it is not silent adoration. We often have periods of soft contemporary music playing. I almost hate to admit it, but my fifty-somthing year old mind just will not shut off with quiet adoration. The music in the background, for me, acts as a way to center my prayer and adoration. When the evening is complete, my spirit is energized, and my mind is at peace.

I am fairly certain, as evidenced by Ian’s comments, that some people will not find this a good, satisfying, “proper” worship experience. I can only believe we have a Church which is broad enough to celebrate wonderful and diverse ways to praise, worship, adore, and pray to our God and still adhere to core principles which maintain that we may still be Catholic. Every person is at a different place on their journey of faith and LIFT offers young and old alike a call to mover forward in that journey that is hard to resist. The people who run LIFT are dedicated to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and truly believe this is good and will inspire us to do more for the Church, for others and for our faith. God Bless All.

But we are grateful, many of us, for the witness and example you give. Thanks so much.

http://www.massresistance.org/media/video/brainwashing.html

First our children are brainwashed into accepting homosexuality at an age when they are too young to understand sexual complementarities, sexual morality, and God’s plan for human sexuality.
Then they are taught homosexual pornography in guise of sex education.
Next, they are invited into homosexual clubs where pedophiles await and abuse them.
This is when they become addicted to a dangerous lifestyle that is deadly for their mental, physical, and spiritual health!

No, it was not priests who committed horrible pedophile crimes and undermined the church! It was homosexuals who infiltrated the church, wolves in sheep clothing, who found a secure place to deceive and to abuse. Not only did they infiltrate many seminaries, they have also infiltrated the educational system with the aim of abusing our children and converting them to their lifestyle!

Are we going to watch in silence our children get confused, deceived and abused?

Only YOU, OUR SHEPHERD can save our children!
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:10-20.

Just want to say thank you once again for your weekly blog each as interesting to read as the other. I am always amazed at the amount of ministry that you perform weekly. How do you do it ? Its almost of the miraculous. God bless you and your important ministry as an excellent shepherd. Sr Cécile in Moncton NB Canada

Regards,
Nurse

Hello from the Archdiocese of St. John’s, Newfoundland. I’ve noticed a few Bishops with a web presence (for example Cardinal Justin Rigali’s reflections on YouTube.com), but yours is by far the most candid. I feel sure that this came directly from your fingertips, and that it’s not at all scripted. That, if you ask me, is the distinguishing characteristic of blogging, and you’ve nailed it.

It was interesting to have a fly-on-the-wall view of the Bishops’ meeting (and your other travels), but the event I’d like to comment on is the new ministry: LIFT. I read that this was not your personal initiative, but I think you were well-justified in offering support to any effort that brings young people together for adoration of the Eucharist.

Being perhaps 1500kms away, I naturally wasn’t in attendance, but I have observed similar events in my own diocese, and I wonder if the enthusiasm of the crowd might be a little misdirected. I’m 23, and am often encouraged to attend similar meetings (so when exactly do I stop being *youth* lol – I digress); but I am skeptical. Is it not true that God himself chooses the medium by which he speaks to us?

In that case, I’m concerned that if he chose to speak in the form of a gentle breeze, it might be lost among the sound and fury of this style of worship. By adding special effects and amplified music to the adoration – which I’ve always thought of as a unique opportunity to be still and listen to what the Lord has to say (as well as offer prayers) – might we be adding something artificial to something which, on its own, is beautifully authentic?

I worry that this may be a case of pouring old wine into new wineskins (resulting in the obligatory “pop”). In taking traditional elements of Catholic worship, like Eucharistic Adoration, and adding the secular trappings of a rock concert, are we maybe causing more confusion in the long run?

I was listening to the Vatican Radio podcast this morning about the guidelines for the 2008 synod in Rome; one of the major points of discussion will be “diffused ignorance and uncertainty regarding church teaching.” I’m not saying there is anything doctrinally wrong with LIFT (and who am I to judge), but is this a time when we should be radically changing time-tested forms of worship? For young people searching for something solid to grasp onto, I think consistency would be a much better strategy. The Gospel and the Church have always been counter-cultural; why are we now trying to dress them up in secular clothes?

Perhaps some of this will come up in 2008! In any event, now that I’ve discovered this great blog, I’ll be looking forward to your future entries; and I hope I didn’t come across as overly critical, that wasn’t my intention. I just love the Church and worry about Her sometimes

Dominus Vobiscum!

Ian

i always look forward to reading your blog every friday. with your busy schedule, i think it’s amazing that you make time to communicate with boston Catholics and, since you’re on the web, Catholics here in the Archdiocese of Miami!

i like your style. May the Lord Bless you with the strength to do His will.

best,

ernie