My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, (I know this is long, but please at least skim...)

This weekend I was blessed to travel 100 miles north to my in-laws and meet up with them and my parents for the Super Bowl game. As such, I was gone from my parish (where I serve as music director and organist) for this weekend's Masses and instead attended Mass at their parish, (one of two parishes for a town of 20,000 + people.)

When I walked into this carpeted parish, the elderly organist was 'rockin' on the organ to some Praise and Worship song; I think it was 'Now is the Time to Worship' or something. She was playing the pedals as if they were some kind of techno beat - very interesting! As we got started off, Father sings, from the back, the Entrance Antiphon in some sort of out-of-tune chant-ish melody. Ok, not great, but a good effort. We then sang, from the OCP songbook, 'O Bless the Lord, My Soul'. Not sure how that really related to the readings of the day or the Psalm, but not a tacky hymn in its own right... Father starts to chant the Greeting and I'm like, "Wow, things are better..."

Then the other shoe drops. He starts dropping in little comments and whimsicle jokes. He starts telling the people on what page the prayer he is going to pray is. He starts narrating the Mass instead of praying it, and it just feels tacky. The Responsorial Psalm is from one of Owen Alstott's tunes (which in my mind gives chant a bad rap) and is sung by a very elderly woman who raises her hands whenever the congregation is to make a peep. The Gospel Acclamation is from the same. Offertory was a tacky folky song, with the 'Holy, Holy', 'Memorial Acclamation' and 'Lamb of God' being from a never-before heard of Mass setting that was so feminine and mushy that no other man in the parish, besides the pastor, was singing. Interesting that the pastor held up the chalice so briefly at consecration that I literally blinked and missed it! Immediately after that, a squadron of 'Extraordinary' (lol) Ministers come up and take their places behind the pastor before the 'Ecce Agnus Dei', which was most certainly NOT said in Latin. Now the EM's were dressed as if they were ready for their couches to watch the big game too; of the 8! who were up there, all the men had jeans on, a few with sweatshirts (not sweaters) and the women had both jeans and windpants. 'We Remember How You Loved Us' was belted out, with all the "and so we CEL-E-brate"s in full cantor amplification.

After Holy Communion, we all sat down as the priest ascended his centrally-located throne, eh, I mean 'Presider's chair' and the priest said something about Jesus being present with us. (It's interesting how all of the congregation members kept genuflecting to the middle both before, during and after Mass, even though the Tabernacle was far off to the left)... Anyway, he immediately goes into the big Prime Rib feed happening the next weekend, and bringing your girlfriend or your wife to the Valentines' Day dance, happening on such and such a date. Knee-jerking, anyone! Jesus, Incarnate Son of the Most High God, Prime Ribs, and date night? I am still so ticked I can hardly take-it. We then ended Mass with 'We Are Companions On a Journey' by Carey Landry, a song that caused the cantor to make three false-start entrances on the verses, two on the same verse and whose words, again, had NOTHING to do with the Mass' readings or really anything other than how great a community we are. The parishioners then walked out of that parish like it was a big meeting room, with Jesus barely a blip on the radar screen. I'm so tired of this nonsense.

I can hear some of the people out there saying "Well, what are you there for?" I know what I'm there for, and it's Jesus! It's not to sing some campfire songs, to socialize, to participate in a self-adulation ceremony, etc... We had all the right words (except for the Propers) and Mass was still a liturgical nightmare. I know it can be worse. But I can't live like this! No wonder so many have left the Church!

Thoughts!?

JIF