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“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

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Views from the Choir Loft

More unites us than divides us!

Jeff Ostrowski · April 22, 2014

IRST I’ll give the problem, then I’ll suggest a solution. A few years ago, I attended Mass at one of the rich parishes here in town. This was while Benedict was still pope. My family dressed up, and I wore a suit. The music was really troubling to me. They had guitars and drums, and while the music was performed well, it was totally inappropriate for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I couldn’t help tapping my feet.

I felt absolutely ridiculous for dressing up in coat and tie: the music made me feel like I was at a beach party. They used a projector to show the lyrics, on a big screen at the front of church, but this seemed like a waste of time, since almost nobody sang. Besides, one song was “It’s all about Jesus” repeated over and over again, so there was no need to project it on the screen.

In my heart, I believe there is a “silent majority” out there who agree that such music is not called for by our church documents. The problem is, we’re afraid to speak up and challenge anyone. More importantly, we don’t unite with one another, because musicians tend to be very “picky” people who don’t get along with one another, especially if somebody says something bad about Chopin or Beethoven or whoever our favorite composer is.

So, what can we do? I’m not sure, but I feel we should begin the process of uniting. More unites us than divides us.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Reform of the Reform Last Updated: February 4, 2023

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“Iconographic tradition has theologically interpreted the manger and the swaddling cloths in terms of the theology of the Fathers. The child stiffly wrapped in bandages is seen as prefiguring the hour of his death: from the outset, he is the sacrificial victim, as we shall see more closely when we examine the reference to the first-born. The manger, then, was seen as a kind of altar.”

— Pope Benedict XVI (2012)

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