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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

What’s so good about growing up?

Veronica Brandt · August 3, 2013

HERE I WAS IN A CROWDED ROOM at our local Community Health Centre, hoping my boys were being suitably well-behaved, trying to think how to represent my volunteer mothers’ group with the local health professionals. I recognised a nurse I had sat next to a few years ago, with a crinkled face and purple hair, whose twinkling smile drew me in like a tractor beam. After the usual questions about the baby in my arms she said “I have the best job in the world.”

She is a Child and Family Community Health Nurse. Her job is to keep in touch with new mothers, checking up on the baby and generally supporting them. I can imagine that a job looking after babies is pretty sweet, but the “best job in the world”?

“I get to watch people grow.” Of course she got to measure babies growing, but this was only a small part. She described how she watched the parents get stronger. Faced with the demands of a new baby, they had to confront their own short-comings and grow. While helping new parents with all the obstacles that pop up along the way, she could see these people, already physical adults, mature into real grown-ups.

What is it that we mean by “growing up”? In a world where “youth” ranges in age from about 13 right up to 35, we seem to have forgotten about helping people grow. So much is dumbed down so as not to present any obstacles to youth. We bend over backwards to make things easy for young people — and not-so-young people.

Think about things that make you feel like saying “Oh, grow up!” Things like emotional outbursts, over-reactions, cowardice, smutty jokes and gossip. Generally they are cases when passions or emotions get the better of reason.

Michael Voris says Feelings are Meaningless, but that may be over-stating the case. Our feelings or emotions can help us do right when guided by reason. We can even do our work better when our heart is in it. Human passions and emotions are running riot in the world today, but they were made to serve the rational animals.

Where the world has confusion, the Church has clarity. The psychologist Dr. Conrad Baars uncovered a gold-mine of good thinking on the relation between emotions and reason in St. Thomas Aquinas. I quote him at length in Integrating emotion, reason and will. With time and patience and love, humans can learn to handle their emotions and this will help them live more authentically human lives.

Plant an act; reap a habit.
Plant a habit; reap a virtue.
Plant a virtue; reap a character.
Plant a character; reap a destiny.
(remember the roots of the word “Virtue” are in manliness and power)

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 Veronica Brandt

Veronica Brandt holds a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering. She lives near Sydney, Australia, with her husband and six children.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    PDF Download • “Offertory” for this Sunday
    This coming Sunday, 12 October 2025, is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). Its OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (PDF) is gorgeous, and comes from the book of Esther, as did the ENTRANCE CHANT last Sunday. Depending on a variety of factors, various hand-missals (all with Imprimatur) translate this passage differently. For instance, “príncipis” can be rendered: King; Prince; Lion; or Fierce lord. None is “more correct” than another. It depends on what each translator wants to emphasize and which source text is chosen. All these pieces of plainsong are conveniently stored at the blue-ribbon feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Why A “Fugue” Here?
    I believe I know why this plainsong harmonizer created a tiny fugue as the INTRODUCTION to his accompaniment. Take a look (PDF example) and tell me your thoughts about what he did on the feast of the Flight of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Egypt (17 February). And now I must go because “tempus fugit” as they say!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Reminder” — Month of October (2025)
    Those who don’t sign up for our free EMAIL NEWSLETTER miss important notifications. Last week, for example, I sent a message about this job opening for a music director paying $65,000 per year plus benefits (plus weddings & funerals). Notice the job description says: “our vision for sacred music is to move from singing at Mass to truly singing the Mass wherein … especially the propers, ordinaries, and dialogues are given their proper place.” Signing up couldn’t be easier: simply scroll to the bottom of any blog article and enter your email address.
    —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 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

We should note that upon being opened up, the Scriptures proved to contain such “rich fare” that parts of the banquet were removed at once from the “table of God’s word,” lest they should prove indigestible to liberal stomachs. In twenty-two places the new lectionary expunges whole verses from the text of the Gospels used at Mass in order to remove references to the Last Judgment, the condemnation of the world, and sin.

— Fr. John Parsons (2001)

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