Monday, January 30, 2006
What If You Can't or Won't Sing?
John asks some good questions below.
Do you really think that Vatican II's call for greater active participation in the Mass was a call to turn every Mass attendent into a performer?
I get squeamish about the word "performer." "Participant" is more to my liking and to what I would see as the object of Sacrosanctum Concilium. For those who lean heavily on the Mass as a vehicle for the praise of God, I suppose "performance" applies, in the sense that people strive to add their part to the overall effort.
What of the faithful Catholic who can't sing, and/or doesn't care to sing the songs on offer? He has no place at the Mass as you imagine it, it seems.
I hope not. Faithful Catholics who are unable to sing because they are mute have the option of praying the text while the people around them sing. As for a faithful Catholic who doesn't care to sing a particular song is nevertheless obligated to pray during the time allotted during liturgy for a communal expression of prayer. Folding one's arms and pouting would be an extreme example of disengaging from liturgy for one's own choice. But I'd have no problem with a parishioner who detested a particular song to turn to another hymn in the book or to a prayer or other text and join in the common prayer of everyone else.
I think everyone has a place at Mass, but not every attitude is a welcome one, even the most heartfelt ones.
