Friday, June 10, 2011

Why Praise and Worship Music May Be Praise, But Not Worship

While Father Christopher Smith "paints with a pretty broad brushstrokes" in his comments on The Chant Cafe blog about praise and worship music in the liturgy, his points are generally very well made and worth serious consideration.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

A Universe Brimming with Fruitful Spiritual Life: Reflecting Transcendence in the Liturgy

Bishop James D. Conley, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver, provides an exceptional reflection on the new translation of the Roman Missal which we begin using the First Sunday of Advent this year.

In an excerpt from his address at the Midwest Theological Forum, quoting Father Roman Guardini, Bishop Conley says:  "...the liturgy aims to create a new world for believers to dwell in. A sanctified world where the dividing lines between the human and the divine are erased. Guardini’s vision is beautiful: 'The liturgy creates a universe brimming with fruitful spiritual life.'  The new translation of the Mass restores this sense of the liturgy as transcendent and transformative   The new translation reflects the reality that our worship here joins in the worship of heaven.  And also from Pope Benedict XVI:  'The essential matter of all Eucharistic liturgy is its participation in the heavenly liturgy. It is from thence that it necessarily derives its unity, its catholicity, and its universality'.”

The entire article is well worth reading!  Thank you, Bishop Conley!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Greeting Christ

George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, Australia, served as chairman of the Vox Clara Committee, formed to oversee the new translation of the Roman Missal.  In the June 2011 issue of Columbia (the Knights of Columbus' monthly magazine), Cardinal Pell provides an excellent and succinct explanation of the new greetings that will be used at the beginning each Mass when the use of the new translation of the Roman Missal begins in the United States the First Sunday of Advent this year.