Day 157: God’s Word and Sacred Music (1153-1158)

• It’s Day 157!!

• WORDS AND ACTIONS

• SINGING AND MUSIC

• God speaks to us through Sacred Scripture and the Liturgical Word

• SINGING AND MUSIC is so important that out of all of the things that can help us pray well, singing and music is of inestimable value greater than any other art

• THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Let’s say a prayer!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and glory. We thank you so much for bringing us to this place. We thank you for communicating yourself to us in Sacred Scripture. Thank you for communicating yourself to us through the Liturgy, and not just speaking a Word from afar but coming close to us. Thank you for revealing your face and your heart to us in the Sacraments. Thank you for speaking to us as to children, inviting us to respond, eliciting some act of faith and of hope and of love back to you who are our Good and Heavenly Father. Thank you. Please just receive our thanks today that we make in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• GOSH YOU GUYS!!

• Paragraph 1153 says, “A sacramental celebration is a meeting of God’s children with their Father, in Christ and the Holy Spirit…”

• This is what is happening at every sacramental celebration in the Eucharist at the Mass

• BUT ALSO…

• IN ALL OF THE SACRAMENTS!!

• Think of the way that the Church has asked us to practice and enter into the Sacrament of Reconciliation

• It involves the proclamation of God’s Word

• When the priest welcomes us…

• (SQUIRREL!! 😉)

• A lot of times our experience of it is kind of simplified

• It’s a brief introduction and a blessing and then the person confesses their sins

• BUT…

• In the fullness of the liturgy, in the fullness of this action, there is ALWAYS a proclamation of God’s Word

• Sometimes that Word of God is very simple

• Sometimes that Word of God is a little more extended

• BUT…

• There is the speaking of the Father in Christ in the Holy Spirit that speaks to us and is meant to elicit FAITH

• THAT ALWAYS HAPPENS IN EVERY LITURGY!!

• If you’ve ever been part of Anointing of the Sick the Word of God is proclaimed

• If you’ve ever been part of the Sacrament of Matrimony the Word of God is proclaimed

• THAT IS SO SO IMPORTANT!!

• If this is going to be a meeting of God’s children with their Father, then the meeting takes the form of a DIALOGUE

• That dialogue happens through WORDS AND ACTIONS

• So there are the symbolic actions that are happening and the words of the Liturgy

• BUT…

• Obviously the Word of God is going to have a very important place

• Paragraph 1154 says, “The liturgy of the Word is an integral part of sacramental celebrations.”

• There are signs there that emphasize the role of the Word of God

• For example, we typically want to have a book of the Word called the Lectionary or maybe a book of the Gospels

• There is often VENERATION with a procession and incense

• Whoever is proclaiming the Gospel can incense the Word of God 

• If there is no procession, especially if there are a lot of priests at the Mass, wherever the Word is being proclaimed from all the priests who are standing will turn so that their whole body is facing whoever it is that is proclaiming the Word of God

• It’s a small thing

• BUT…

• It highlights what we are doing and the beauty and the power and the goodness and the gift that is the Word of God proclaimed in the Liturgy

• Paragraph 1155 says, “When the Holy Spirit awakens faith, he not only gives an understanding of the Word of God, but through the sacraments also makes present the ‘wonders’ of God which it proclaims.”

• The Holy Spirit helps us to understand God’s Word

• You can pray for this gift right now

• If you’ve ever felt like you can’t understand Scripture, ask the Holy Spirit to TEACH YOU

• “Holy Spirit, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.”

• What Jesus made POSSIBLE the Holy Spirit makes ACTUAL

• The wonders of God are made present by the Power of the Holy Spirit

• SINGING AND MUSIC

• THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

• THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!!

• Paragraph 1156 says, “‘The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art…’”

• We have statues

• We have incredible buildings, paintings, and icons

• All of these things are amazing

• What is the reason music is greater?

• Paragraph 1156 continues, “The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of solemn liturgy.”

• Here is the music

• Here are the words

• Paragraph 1158 says, “Indeed they should be drawn chiefly from the Sacred Scripture and from liturgical sources.”

• When you are making the art of sacred music, you are making this art out of God’s Word itself

• You are taking a Psalm and setting it to music

• You are taking the Divinely inspired, God-breathed words God has revealed to us and using them to create another piece of art

• The musical tradition of the Church

• That piece of art makes a NECESSARY PART of the Liturgy

• You can have a statue in the corner of the Church

• You can also have a big Crucifix that is beautiful and moves you to reflect on Christ’s Passion and love for us

• THAT IS AWESOME!!

• THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• BUT…

• Neither of those things are integral parts of the solemn liturgy

• When we sing the Sanctus, Kyrie, or the Psalms, they are a NECESSARY PART of the solemn liturgy

• THIS IS SO SO IMPORTANT!!

• St. Augustine says in Paragraph 1156, “He who sings prays twice.”

• There is something very powerful in the way the Church has asked us to utilize music

• The function of music in the Liturgy

• The more it is going to lift our souls to the Lord…

• The more it is going to bring us into contact with God…

• Paragraph 1157 says, “Song and music fulfill their function as signs in a manner all the more significant when they are ‘more closely connected…with the liturgical action,’ according to three principal criteria: beauty expressive of prayer, the unanimous participation of the assembly at the designated moments, and the solemn character of the celebration.”

• It’s not background music, it is meant to be prayer

• It’s not meant to be a solo

• IN FACT…

• We don't’ do pre-recorded music in the Liturgy

• Why?

• You’re just listening to prerecorded music

• Music in the liturgy is meant to have the unanimous participation of the assembly at the designated moments

• We are ALL meant to sing

• This doesn’t mean there can’t be a solo because it is LIVE and it is a member of the assembly offering up praise

• So that is the cantor’s job

• We always want to match the music to the character of the celebration

• At a wedding it makes sense for things to be joyful

• At a funeral it makes sense to have a more somber tone

• On Good Friday it makes sense for the music to be in a minor key

• On Easter Sunday it makes sense for the music to be lofty and exalted 

• Paragraph 1157 continues, “In this way they participate in the purpose of the liturgical words and actions: the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful.”

• SO GOOD!!

• WHAT A GIFT!!

• Paragraph 1158 says, “The harmony of signs (song, music, words, and actions) is all the more expressive and fruitful when expressed in the cultural richness of the People of God who celebrate.”

• So there is different music in the Far East, South Africa, in the West, etc. 

• THAT IS GOOD!!

• AND YET…

• It ALWAYS has to have that UNITY of the Church’s norms

• Hope that makes sense!!

• Every single day there is another thing that God is unpacking in our hearts and minds

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!