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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

Startlingly Human

Richard J. Clark · August 30, 2013

ESUS, THE WORD MADE FLESH, is both Divine and fully Human. I have great difficulty wrapping my brain around this truth. However, I accept it joyfully as a matter of faith. Still, it will likely remain an unreachable understanding throughout my life.

That humanity is entwined in the divine is no more evident than in the Book of Psalms. Consider that “the Psalter is the basic songbook of the Liturgy.” (GIRM, no. 102.) Therefore, our greatest prayer, the Mass, weds the human with the divine, as does the crucified Jesus. This is a notion of great beauty, considering how fragile our humanity is.

St. Paul refers to our body as a “tent.” It decays. But as Catholics we believe in not only the resurrection of our spirit, but of the body. Sometimes we forget this or even deny it. From the Requiem Mass, the chant Credo quod Redemptor emphatically cries, “I believe that my Redeemer lives, and that on the last day, I shall rise from earth and in my flesh I shall behold God my Savior.”

“…and in my flesh” … This is astounding!

SALM 139 (138) most extraordinarily describes complete faith in the divine that mercifully upholds humble humanity. (Most telling of the importance of this psalm is that it is prescribed for the Introit, Resurrexi, on Easter Sunday.) Humanity’s intimate relationship with the divine is evident in its first lines:

You have searched me, Lord,

and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

God’s watchful eye over us is most evident in this psalm. No matter how we try to flee from God, He will find us:

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

Some of the most famous (and controversial lines) are in found here, in the wonderment of our human creation:

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

Towards the end, King David reveals, as he often does, the despair and ugliness of humanity. In his song and prayer, he calls for the defeat – the blood of his enemies. He describes his hatred for God’s enemies. He laments that God does not destroy them.

If only you, God, would slay the wicked!

Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

They speak of you with evil intent;

your adversaries misuse your name.

Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,

and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

I have nothing but hatred for them;

I count them my enemies.

That perhaps we can relate to this, may be disturbing to us. That we may pray for this may be frightening. These sentiments are startlingly human.

And so, the human is immersed in the divine with this conclusion of the psalm. Like the capitulation of a musical theme, David prays that God will search him and know his heart, and to lead him out of his great sinfulness:

Search me, God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

May we find the divine though our humanity. God will always find us, even in the depths of our earthly imperfection and sin.

MEZZO-SOPRANO, Katherine Dulweber sings a concert setting of Psalm 139:

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 Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    “Music List” • 30th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 26 October 2025, which is the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the top-notch feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Little Encouragement?
    In the Gospel, our Savior tells about 10 lepers who were healed. Only one went back to give thanks. Precious few express gratitude, yet many have endless energy to complain. For that reason, I deeply appreciate receiving messages like the following, which arrived a few days ago (about the parish where I direct in Michigan): “Last Sunday, a couple I knew from Grand Rapids was at Mass at 10:00 a.m. I got a chance to talk to them after Mass. I wanted to let you know what they said about the choir. They were absolutely floored by our sound!!!!! They both said they could continuously listen to our choir and the beauty of it. They asked me: “Do you always sound like that?” And they were also very surprised at how packed the church was. They said it was nice for them to be in such a full church. I just thought you would be interested to know their thoughts about our choir.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    (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

Quick Thoughts

    “Our Father” • Musical Setting?
    Looking through a Roman Catholic Hymnal published in 1859 by Father Guido Maria Dreves (d. 1909), I stumbled upon this very beautiful tune (PDF file). I feel it would be absolutely perfect to set the “Our Father” in German to music. Thoughts?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    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

Random Quote

“The council did not say Latin should be abolished. It said Latin should be used. […] While at Ecclesia Dei, I once received a letter from a chancery office in the United States, asking me if I didn’t know that the council had abolished Latin!”

— Cardinal Mayer, Prefect (1985–1988) of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship

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