Danger, Will Robinson, Danger! Don't attempt to speak for God in this way; it's a trap that leaves you more exposed than you think.

One response to sentiments of this kind is that they cut both ways: if it's not so big that God cares about it, then how much does God care that you (the parishioner) get your preference?

Well the cheeky response (which I don't recommend since you have to live with these people) is that if these things are so insignificant, then it shouldn't be difficult or be skin off anyone's back to do them as prescribed. "God doesn't care and/or is bigger than that" isn't an honest objection. What the real objection is could be a variety of things. For instance, I've read one account of a parishioner who pressed his priest on why he didn't use sanctus bells. After giving unsatisfactory pedestrian reasons he blurted out that he didn't use them "because nothing special happens at the consecration". So that is an example of a seemingly small thing masking a grave error. Now of course not all things are serious like this (and in good faith you shouldn't assume it is), but the point is that there is no profit trying to counter an objection that isn't genuine to begin with. "God doesn't care" is a condescending and dismissive hand-wave, not an argument of a serious and mature mind.

I would need more context. Is it that you are getting "God doesn't care" from your average pewsitter, or are you getting it from a parishioner that can directly or indirectly call the liturgical shots? If it's the former, it's easy--smile, nod, thank them for their input, and then continue to do the liturgically correct thing and if they don't like it, they can go pound sand. If they have some kind of authority, then it is lots trickier. You should take Fr. Z's "brick by brick" approach. Pick one battle at a time and work on it. Start with the ones that have the most explicit and detailed documentation and instruction. Cultivate the virtue of patience. You will need lots of it.

I do believe that God cares how we worship Him. The Bible is full of page after page about how Israel is to practice their priestcraft. So obviously it's on His mind, generally.

But seriously, no, I don't think He cares about what song we sing, or chant vs metric, or relatively tiny things like that.

The Church, however, DOES care about such things, and you ought to do her liturgy as She prescribes it. One downside to this line of argumentation is that someone CAN say "well, I'm part of the Church, and I don't want this!" As for me, I have to wonder why the Church doesn't have the right to regulate her own liturgy in these people's minds.

Another point against: We (mostly) aren't Presbyterians here. We don't have a relative rule of worship that limits us to only what God says we can do and nothing else. But, that being the case, what SHOULD we do, for our own sakes? That, I think, is a more compelling question.

Just remember that exchange between Cordelia and Bridey was not meant to show off Bridey as a model. Cordelia is the heart (pun intended) of that family's Catholic praxis (pace other interpretations, Lady Marchmain may be Mother Church, but Nanny Hawkins is the closest thing resembly a Godlike character).

IM,
I interpret your concern to be about motivation, rather than elements. I agree very much so with Liam's advice-if you appropriate God to abet and confirm your concerns, you end up on a very slippery slope. Our motivation as Christian pilgrims, armed with the two great commands and the commission, has outcomes both in this life and God willing, the next.
In that context, I have on occasion reminded myself and those under my charge as choristers of the upshot of Jn.10:10-"I came that you might have life and have it abundantly." Again, that can be expiated to mean "salvation," but it also means Christ desires conversion of heart in every living moment of this life. Well, when we choose wisely (elements of worship) and purposefully increase our discipline and talents in applying those elements, they He is working within us, changing us, bettering us. And by our fruits they (and He?) shall know us. I hope that wasn't too cryptic.

Melo - yes I suppose it's about motivation

I'm always taken aback by the assertion "God doesn't care" about small things. It makes me think of the following:

Matthew 10:29-30 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted.

Matthew 25:23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.

On that note, we cannot object if a LifeTeen Mass brings people to God-because there is no doubt that they often do. Where does that leave us if a pastor wants us to do these things?

If it gets people into the Church for at least a minute, let alone an hour, it is supposed to be a good thing, right?

I have realized God is big enough to take care of Himself, and will let me know when He needs my help. In the meantime...I am celebrating Earth Day by raising my interplanetary consciousness - I am having a Milky Way bar. ;-)

As far as chant goes, God has never objected to my use of it.

I think liams warning is wise. But why can't we argue that God wants chant? Aren't Catholics supposed to believe that God speaks to us through His Church? If it is Christ's liturgy, and the liturgy calls for chant, why can't we say that Jesus wants us to sing chant?

Twix is superior.

Twix is good, too, but lacking the cosmic dimension. As we say in the east, St. Lindt preserve us.

"God doesn't care" is an attitude that bothers me greatly.
"God has a preference on this point, which we can clearly know" is an also an attitude that greatly bothers me.

The spiritual reality of tabernacles does not imply the appropriateness of putting God into other kinds of boxes.

The fact that there is a box in most Catholic Churches wherein God lives should not suggest to us that is appropriate to "put God in a box," in a metaphorical or a rhetorical sense.

Also...

The official leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, while commending highly the use of Gregorian Chant and other styles of music, especially Renaissance Polyphony, has never said anything remotely like "this is what God prefers."

There is a degree of hypocrisy in the Church when it comes to such things. The bishops have met in conference and council, and written that we should do x then y, wink, wink. I am old enough to remember that the bishops wrote elegantly at Vatican II on appropriate music, among other things. Then the scoundrels came home and did none of it. Perhaps it is this type of hypocrisy that Pope Francis was referring to recently.

It's hypocrisy from the perspective of an Anglospheric view of law: our legal culture is such that we deem large discrepancies between norms and realities as either dangerous or hypocritical. In the Roman legal culture, such an incongruence is not necessarily viewed that way; the Roman way is often informed by something like "Che cosa si può fare?" and a humored, understanding shrug.

That certainly makes sense from an English perspective. A Roman might (in a more indulgent mood towards Bridey) still chuckle at Bridey (in a less indulgent mood, roll the eyes at least) and adore Cordelia (while hoping she gets some nicer outfits and finally finds herself a good husband and has a brood of wonderful bambini - or finally enter the convent as a Poor Clare). So many funny problems in Catholicism arise when it is transplanted to hostile climates.

If God didn't care, he'd have had them use duct tape to hang him from the cross instead of nails.

The sacred scripture and the liturgical traditions make it clear, certainly, that the details of divine worship are important; and we hold them, or at least obedience to them, to be of divine institution.

OK.

But it never says, anywhere, that the laity are supposed to be concerned with them. That's a priestly business. So the one who says to you "I don't think God cares about little things like that" is saying "I don't think you should be caring about little things like that on God's behalf". Well, half of him is saying that, the half that wouldn't say the same to a priest.

Pope Francis himself has begun to say so. We who are lay "directors" and other "doers" of liturgical things would be, by Francis's word, in danger of "spiritual worldliness". We all psalm-arrangers, hymn-writers, GIRM-readers, and the like, perhaps should down our books (and laptops) and go out to exhibit the Gospel life in the world, where we belong.

.

"I don't think God cares about the little things like that,"
said Cain to himself before selecting his offering before the Lord...

If it is not understood that the prayers, texts, music, graces, and the Sacrifice of the Mass is for the purpose of changing and aligning each of our hearts properly to God (in order to offer Him a more pleasing sacrifice of our own lives and to receive His salvation) and not some action of our own choosing that we to do FOR God (so that we can add another mark in the "good deed" category of our spiritual inventory) , this type of commentary will occur over and over again.

Does God love chant or does God love what chant does to the soul properly disposed to His grace?

We cannot answer the first definitively, but we might be able to speak of our own spiritual experience for the latter. We live in a society where most people are receptive to experience, but not to laws, rules or guidelines (including the vast majority of Catholics). To the comment above, a response that I might use to plant a seed is "Oh - but in my experience, I've noticed he does care about even the little things" (said with a tone of voice that indicates a pleasant memory of such an experience) and leave it at that.

...and then there's this:

http://www.catholicmemes.com/verses/leviticus-1012/

(I wish I had better Photoshop skills. I've been thinking of a series of posters like the recent anti-drug campaign.... "Liturgical Abuse: Not even once.")

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Extending my earlier metaphor...
...what if I decided to bring my wife flowers, but I decided to get the cheapest ones I could find.
...what if I brought her tacky fake flowers?
...what if I had good reason to believe that her favorite flower was a Bird of Paradise, but I brought her tulips instead because that's what I like?

And, yet- on the other side of things...
...what if I was generally a jerk to her all the time, but brought her beautiful flowers once a week to appease her, with no intention of being less of a jerk?
...what if she specifically asked me to take care of something important on the way home, and I didn't because I was too busy picking out flowers?
...what if I assumed that any man who doesn't buy his wife flowers obviously doesn't love her?

I am a first time poster... So take everything I say with a grain of salt...

I am lucky to be Music Director of a parish with Masses in the OF and EF... I am lucky to work with both forms every Sunday, it is a joy and a blessing, it is a bane and a curse.

I have also been blessed with Pastors and Administrators who when it has come to the music life of a parish said, "You're in charge.". I had a moment like that this morning as a matter of fact. Sure, I don't have carte blanche to go out and purchase a $450,000 dollar pipe organ, which we sorely need. But I have been trusted, in part because I always consult with Father and keep him updated. I also make it a point to check in with him on Sundays and ask if there is anything going on which I need to know about or inform him of something he should know so he doesn't feel taken by surprise. I also try to see him after Mass, sometimes if it is just to say, "Yeah, I took the Sanctus a bit to slow."

However...

I love the EF. I love the order, I love the rubrics, I love that The Church has given me a structured guide to work with. I love the fact that I can spend most of my time working with the choir and seeking out interesting and unique music for something most people are not experiencing on a Sunday Morning. I enjoy finding music ranging from Palestrina to Perosi to do use on Sunday, which was explicitly written for the EF. I love the people of that liturgical persuasion. (Note- Most people in the parish are fluid between the two.)

I also love the OF. I love the resurgence of chant which I am graciously permitted to use. I love the inclusion of sturdy hymnody, which at it's best is a vernacular expression of what we believe. I like using CMAA sponsored music in order to stick it to large publishers. Publishers which I avoid using. I also like being able to go from Sunday to Sunday using switching between chant and hymnody. Thankfully no one complains about that. I also love the people of the OF who are a lovely mix of new comers to the parish and stayed parishioners who share a common history.

What I also love is being able to discover what I should be concerned with and what I shouldn't concern myself with... Anytime I think of something novel I usually do my research/prayer/thinking and realize that either the church does not ask that of us liturgically or that my novelty will get in the way of the public prayer life of the parish. I also have to temper myself because while I could certainly make my life easier and do the SEP followed with the proper psalm, I know that is not for everyone in the OF. So I always include the Propers for the Sunday and usually include a congregational hymn. (The parish is by and large a group of pretty lusty singers.) I also am graciously permitted to use a chant ordinary, either in the vernacular or in Latin for the OF, again with no rumbles if I go for several weeks using Latin exclusively.

It all sounds pretty good right? Plum spot. Parish of our dreams...

It hasn't always been like this. I hasn't been all tea and crumpets. It wasn't all friendly banter and back slapping during coffee and doughnuts. Sometimes things, "flared up", they still do. But so is the life of a parish. Being a public figure in a parish can make one the whispered target... But we get over that... The choir loft is supposed to provide some kind of out of sight out of mind mentality right?

To answer the question, "Does God care?". Do I have an answer? No.

However, I think God cares when we chose to do our own thing to the detriment of the people who participate in the public worship of the church.

God doesn't need sacred music, sacred art, or the whole of public worship. For God is God, he wants those things, because they aid us in being directed to him. But he does not need them. God wants to gather a people unto himself and in the end I think he does care when we inflict our own ideas in an unwieldily way upon that portion of God's vineyard which we are tasked with. God cares about us, our motives, and our actions... I do think The Church would be better served if everyone involved in the administration and worship life of the church kept that in mind.