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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

Right Priorities

Fr. David Friel · November 4, 2012

Life is full of priorities. Sometimes we get them out of order:

• A father who spends all weekend watching TV.
• A woman who works 18 hours a day to further her career.
• A student who plays Xbox instead of starting the project that’s due tomorrow.
• The couple that buys a shore house without being open to another child.
• The adult child who lives at such high speed that he or she never bothers to call home and check on aging parents.
• The young family that skips Sunday Mass to participate in a soccer tournament.

Every single one of us has, at times, been guilty of these or similar things, haven’t we? We’ve all had poor priorities.

We get a clear message, however, from Moses in Deuteronomy and again from Jesus in the Gospels: we must get our priorities straight. In Deuteronomy 6, one finds the passage that Jews call the Shema. They recite these words every morning and every night: Shema, Israel, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai echad. “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone!” The passage continues: “Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words!”

Jesus repeats those words of Moses in the Mark 12. That’s His way of doing a voice-over at the end of the commercial, saying, “I approve this message”! The message is that God is our number one priority. St. Thomas Aquinas teaches us that God is our first priority, followed by our obligation to our parents and family, followed by our obligation to our country—what he calls our patria, our homeland. After those top three, of course, a lot of smaller things fit in.

Just as we have to prioritize things in our personal lives, we also have to prioritize things in our public lives. This past week, because of Hurricane Sandy, lots of people on the East Coast got an opportunity to practice prioritizing. Lots of residents down in the shore towns wanted to stay to prepare their houses for the storm. Preparing for the storm is certainly a good thing to do, but there came a point when it was dangerous to stay any longer. So they evacuated, because, when it comes to matters of life-and-death, we don’t mess around. Any reasonable person could see that getting off the barrier islands was a smart move.

But not everyone is so clear-thinking when it comes to politics. Sometimes, people make a big deal out of this or that particular issue—unemployment, poverty, taxes, jobs, clean energy, etc. All those issues are important, but they’re not life-and-death. So, important though they may be, they should never be prioritized over issues that are life-and-death. That would be like a resident of Cape May deciding to stay there last Monday so they could cut their grass. In the face of a storm that could threaten your life, who would be worried about cutting the grass?

Let’s say, for instance, we want to improve education for children—an idea everyone can agree is important. If at the same time, though, we maintain that it’s okay for parents to abort their children, what does the education system matter?

If we take up the noble goal of solidifying Social Security and Medicare for seniors, but we also say that “doctors” can euthanize the elderly, all the programs in the world are just a waste of time.

We want to cure cancer, so let’s say we advocate to increase research funding for scientists. If part of the research, however, involves harvesting & destroying embryonic stem cells, we’ve just perpetrated an evil much worse than the original disease. There’s no sense at all in arguing over the policies that govern people, so long as those very people are treated as expendable.

In both our personal lives and our public lives, we need to have priorities. If our faith has any value at all, then it should teach us which issues have priority over others. There are lots and lots of good things we should support—ideas and causes that deserve our energies & support. But, when it comes to matters of life-and-death, we can’t mess around. There can be no compromise. We must defend life with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our strength!

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and serves as Director of Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    (Part 2) • Did they simplify this hymn?
    Choirs love to sing the resplendent tune called “INNSBRUCK.” Looking through a (Roman Catholic) German hymnal printed in 1929, I discovered what appears to be a simplified version of that hymn. Their harmonization is much less complex than the version found in the Father Brébeuf Hymnal (which is suitable for singing by SATB choir). Please download their 1929 harmonization (PDF) and let me know your thoughts. As always, the Germans added an organ INTRODUCTION. For the record, I posted a different harmonization a few months ago which was downloaded more than 2,000 times.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF • “Lectionary Comparison Chart”
    Various shell corporations (in an effort to make money selling Sacred Scripture) have tinkered with the LECTIONARY texts in a way that’s shameful. It’s no wonder Catholics in the pews know so few Bible passages by heart. Without authorization, these shell corporations pervert the official texts. Consider the Responsorial Psalm for the 1st Sunday of Advent (Year A). If you download this PDF comparison chart you’ll notice each country randomly omits certain sections. Such tinkering has gone on for 60+ years—and it’s reprehensible.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Monsignor Klaus Gamber Speaks!
    An interesting quotation from the eminent liturgist, Monsignor Klaus Gamber (d. 1989): “According to canon law, a person’s affiliation with a particular liturgical rite is determined by that person’s rite of baptism. Given that the liturgical reforms of Pope Paul VI created a de facto new rite, one could assert that those among the faithful who were baptized according to the traditional Roman rite have the right to continue following that rite; just as priests who were ordained according to the traditional Ordo have the right to exercise the very rite that they were ordained to celebrate.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Of course, the Latin language presents some difficulties, and perhaps not inconsiderable ones, for the new recruits to your holy ranks. But such difficulties, as you know, should not be reckoned insuperable. This is especially true for you, who can more easily give yourselves to study, being more set apart from the business and bother of the world.”

— Pope Saint Paul VI (15 August 1966)

Recent Posts

  • (Part 2) • Did they simplify this hymn?
  • PDF • “Lectionary Comparison Chart”
  • “Can Choral Music Survive?” • 3 Reasons It Will
  • A Simple Way to Sing and Notate Organum Harmony
  • Monsignor Klaus Gamber Speaks!

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