I run a monthly column in the weekly bulletin at my parish, something you should ALL consider doing. The purpose is mostly to present a variety of informative and catechetical points, although it's hard not to turn it into "why I'm right and every one of you is wrong." Anyway, I'll try to share them with you as I write, and I'm particularly pleased with the one for this coming Sunday.

A bit of background info first: For the second year in a row, we'll be singing the Gloria VIII throughout Easter at the late Mass, which this year began at our Easter Mass. Furthermore, we had a priest from "Food for the Poor" (WARNING: DO NOT ALLOW THIS GROUP TO SPEAK AT YOUR PARISH) who was highly heterodox. He removed any masculine pronouns from the liturgy and Gospel, refused to say "Jesus Christ", wore a stole over his chausible, etc. Furthermore, in his sermon he blamed Katrina on Bush (perhaps a debatable point, but not suitable for a seromon), and said that pentecostals are more "joyful" than Catholics, who he says "don't care about Jesus's resurrection." Of course, this was during the introduction of the Gloria, during which he had that liberal pout of "We are church! We don't do Latin!" So now here's the article:

Christos anesti! Christ is risen!
Alithos anesti! He is Risen indeed, alleluia!
You may remember a priest who visited last year in the Easter season to ask support for his charity. You may also recall that, in the course of his homily, he asserted that Catholics are less joyful about the resurrection than people in other Christian traditions. That is quite an offensive claim to make, and is often made against any liturgical church. However, I noticed he rushed out during the closing hymn and remained silent during the Latin Gloria at the late Mass. The Gloria is one of the most joyful texts in the Mass and the closing hymn was no doubt a festive Easter tune filled with alleluias – where is the joy in shunning this music?
This Easter at our late Mass, like last year, we are privileged to sing the ancient “Gloria” chant in the original Latin. This is the most familiar of the chant settings, nicknamed “Mass of the Angels”. The beauty of this Gloria has inspired countless saints through the ages. I have no doubt the founders of this parish intended that music’s beauty to compliment the beauty of our church.
Some may object, as a matter of opinion, that they do not find chant to be joyful. I’m reminded of my brother, a Marine who occasionally attends the evangelical ministry at his base. At first it was very strange for him, accustomed to the Mass, but eventually he came to like the upbeat music and high emotion. However, one day in discussing church with him he confessed to me, “Sometimes I want to get really happy and praise the Lord, but a lot of the time I’m too worn out to get all that joyful. It makes me feel like a bad Christian.” What he was beginning to understand is that contemporary worship idioms are designed to create joy, not to express it. Contrarily, the Church’s ancient liturgies give us a place to express our joy in the Gloria, to praise in the Sanctus, to beg forgiveness in the Kyrie and Confiteor. These parts of the Mass do not manufacture emotion, but give us an outlet for the soul’s disposition towards God. True, sometimes we may not feel the Easter joy, but that does not make our alleluia any less pleasing to God, since it is the soul which sings and not only the intellect. Thus let us truly rejoice that the Gloria has been restored in this great Easter season, and sing our joy with the Church!