This year, I elected to help out at my dad's parish for Holy Thursday. In hindsight, I should have just stayed out of the whole thing, as it turned out rather disastrous. As my late, former employer used to say, "Prior planning prevents poor performance."

The Mass was to be bilingual, with the Introit, Gospel Acclamation, Mass parts, offertory and Communion antiphon sung/chanted in English, while the Psalm and the rest of the pieces in Spanish. Only the Pange Lingua would be in Latin.

There was a huge disconnect between the English and the Spanish. Whereas, we had chant and the organ, the Spanish choir had a guitar and a tambourine. The psalm was chanted using the same note all throughout, verse and response. We had the psalm prepared in English, but, the pastor would not allow the change.

There was also a problem with the Mass setting. I had emailed the organist that I would be using ICEL, since I had taught this setting to the faithful and they knew it. He was bent on using the revamped OCP Heritage Mass (not a particularly good setting). According to the email, we were set to use ICEL. As I started to chant the Sanctus, he railroaded the OCP setting and it was just horrible. He did the same thing to me for the Memorial Acclamation. Mind you, I do not know the OCP setting.

During the Mandatum (which was poorly organized), the Spanish choir started singing and strumming, along with the tambourine. The music was not anywhere to be found in the missallete, so the faithful could not join in even if they wanted to do so. When it came time for the offertory, we chanted "Where Charity and Love Prevail" and folks managed to sing, even though I have asked the organist repeatedly to bring the key down as my vocal range is not as high as his. I sounded like I was screeching, rather than singing.

We were supposed to have had two Communion hymns, one in English and one in Spanish. After I chanted the antiphon, the Spanish choir came in and it was a repeat of the guitars and tambourines. The music was more along the lines of Jesus and me than sacred. They went through the entire communion procession and did not give us a chance to sing. The only thing that turned out okay was the Pange Lingua.

Music aside, there were problems with the liturgy. According to the rubrics, the Tabernacle was supposed to have been empty, but, it was not. The lector was not at all prepared and seemed to have been picked at the last minute. The same held true for those having their feet washed. The celebrant seemed apprehensive when I asked him if he could give us Communion after Mass since we did not get to receive. The choir thanked me because they were worried, given that, of all days, they should be able to receive that evening.

After Mass, I had a talk with the organist. I reminded him about the email and told him that I did not appreciate being thrown under the bus. He said that he really wanted to sing the OCP stuff, but, I told him that he should have had the courtesy to tell me that he wanted to do his own thing. I told him that this does not show respect for the sacredness of the liturgy. I also added that we should have had rehearsals with the Spanish choir and maybe helped them choose music that was more fitting for the Mass, instead of the music they normally use at the charismatic services. The Mass certainly did not deserve what we were giving it.

As I left the church, I ran into one of the Spanish choir members. She could tell that I was upset. I told her that this was not what I had expected. She asked me why and I explained to her that the Triduum demanded sacred music. She asked me if I thought that what they were singing was sacred. I told her that I did not want to hurt her feelings, but, in a word, no. I explained to her about why the Church does what she does regarding music and she told me that no one had ever told them that. I told her that it was not necessarily their fault. She agreed that they had never been given proper direction.

The problem, as I see it, is that the particular movement that she belongs to really does not understand the significance of music in the Mass. They seem to be doing their own thing. When I participated in the English-version of that retreat about six years ago, I was very disappointed with the music because, while it may have been religious, it was not liturgical. During the retreat feedback section, I made that point perfectly clear to the organizers.

The choir member thanked me for the input and, while I did not return for Good Friday, I learned that the tambourine was absent from the music.

When I left the church that night, I began my seven-church pilgrimage. I was still upset. When I got to church number 3, I sat down and had a long talk with our diocesan director of worship. He helped calm me down quite a bit. We both agreed that more formation was needed, not only for the choirs, but, for the clergy as well. What happened at my dad's parish is a symptom of a bigger problem affecting our diocese.