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Views from the Choir Loft

Liturgy vs. Social Justice

Fr. David Friel · August 31, 2014

F YOU PRAYED MATINS yesterday morning (Saturday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time), you read a passage from St. John Chrysostom that might have made you feel uneasy. Anyone reading this post is presumably a lover of liturgy, and Chrysostom’s words could easily, at first, appear like a challenge to liturgy lovers.

The passage is from a homily on the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25 (“Whatever you did to the least of My brethren, you did unto Me”). In the first paragraph of the selection, Chrysostom launches his first salvo: “What we do here in the church requires pure heart, not special garments. God does not want golden vessels, but golden hearts.” Fair enough, we say. It is agreed that the sacrifice of a humble, contrite heart is more essential than ecclesiastical finery. But, we would eagerly add, beauty in the liturgy—from architecture, to music, to vestments—is not merely superfluous. Not only is it integral to the sacred liturgy, but it is also essential for the health of the human soul.

Chrysostom would not disagree. He continues:

Now, in saying this I am not forbidding you to make such gifts; I am only demanding that, along with such gifts and before them, you give alms. God accepts the former, but He is much more pleased with the latter. In the former, only the giver profits; in the latter, the recipient does, too. A gift to the church may be taken as a form of ostentation, but an alms is pure kindness.

So often, the impression is given that there are sides to be taken, as though it were impossible to share an interest in both liturgy & social justice. Many who work with the poor are sharply critical of those who live in the realm of “impractical” things such as sacred music. Conversely, if we’re honest, there are many liturgists who are too quick to accuse those in the trenches of social advocacy of irreverence and disinterest toward divine worship. Need these things be pitted one against the other? Are they really such entirely separate domains?

Chrysostom speaks strongly about the moral duty to serve Christ in the poor:

Of what use is it to weigh down Christ’s table with golden cups, when He, Himself, is dying of hunger? First, fill Him when He is hungry; then use the means you have left to adorn His table. Will you have a golden cup made but not give a cup of water? What is the use of providing the table with cloths woven of gold thread, and not providing Christ, Himself, with the clothes He needs? . . . What if you were to see Him clad in worn-out rags and stiff from the cold, and were to forget about clothing Him and instead were to set up golden columns for Him, saying that you were doing it in His honor? Would He not think He was being mocked and greatly insulted?

No one has ever been accused for not providing ornaments, but for those who neglect their neighbor a hell awaits with an inextinguishable fire and torment in the company of the demon. Do not, therefore, adorn the church and ignore your afflicted brother, for he is the most precious temple of all.

We Catholics ought not to apologize for building beautiful churches or celebrating grand liturgies; the Catholic Church ought rather to be thanked for contributing these humanizing gifts to the world. Nor should the Church apologize for her missionary efforts to serve the underprivileged; she ought instead to be esteemed for the immeasurable aid given to the poor and suffering day after day throughout the world through the auspices of Catholic parishes, institutions, and associations.

As with so many aspects of theology, the best Catholic approach here is not one of “either/or” but one of “both/and.” Beautify the liturgy, yes, but also serve the poor. Work for social justice, to be sure, and also render to God the best of everything. These things are not incompatible. As my fellow blogger, Richard Clark, has written, it is not hypocritical for a parish to be both reverent and welcoming. Similarly, being a proponent of beautiful liturgy and being an advocate for true social justice are not mutually exclusive realities. In fact, it is hard for me to imagine the one not naturally leading to the other.

The words of St. John Chrysostom are challenging. They might serve as a good examination of conscience for folks invested in the careful celebration of the sacred rites. Am I as committed to serving the poor as I am to celebrating the liturgy?

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Beauty, Liturgy Wars, reverent and welcoming 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

    PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
    EVIN ALLEN was commissioned by Sacred Music Symposium 2025 to compose a polyphonic ‘middle section’ for the GLORIA from Mass III, often denoted by its trope name: Missa Kyrie Deus sempiterne. This year, I’m traveling from Singapore to serve on the symposium faculty. I will be conducting Palestrina’s ‘Ave Maria’ as well as teaching plainsong to the men. A few days ago, I was asked to record rehearsal videos for this beautiful polyphonic extension. (See below.) This polyphonic composition fits ‘inside’ GLORIA III. That is, the congregation sings for the beginning and end, but the choir alone adds polyphony to the middle. The easiest way to understand how everything fits together is by examining this congregational insert. You may download the score, generously made available to the whole world—free of charge—by CORPUS CHRISTI WATERSHED:
    *  PDF Download • Gloria III ‘Middle Section’ (Kevin Allen)
    Free rehearsal videos for each individual voice await you at #24366. Related News • My colleague, Jeff Ostrowski, composed an organ accompaniment for this same GLORIA a few months ago. Obviously, the organist should drop out when the polyphony is being sung.
    —Corrinne May
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Yahweh” in church songs?
    My pastor asked me to write a weekly column for our parish bulletin. The one scheduled to run on 22 June 2025 is called “Three Words in a Psalm” and speaks of translating the TETRAGRAMMATON. You can read the article at this column repository. All of them are quite brief because I was asked to keep within a certain word limit.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    When to Sit, Stand and Kneel like it’s 1962
    There are lots of different guides to postures for Mass, but I couldn’t find one which matched our local Latin Mass, so I made this one: sit-stand-kneel-crop
    —Veronica Brandt
    The Funeral Rites of the Graduale Romanum
    Lately I have been paging through the 1974 Graduale Romanum (see p. 678 ff.) and have been fascinated by the funeral rites found therein, especially the simply-beautiful Psalmody that is appointed for all the different occasions before and after the funeral Mass: at the vigil/wake, at the house of the deceased, processing to the church, at the church, processing to the cemetery, and at the cemetery. Would that this “stational Psalmody” of the Novus Ordo funeral rites saw wider usage! If you or anyone you know have ever used it, please do let me know.
    —Daniel Tucker

Random Quote

I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing—direct murder by the mother herself. And we read in the Scripture, for God says very clearly: “Even if a mother could forget her child, I will not forget you: I have carved you in the palm of my hand.”

— Mother Theresa (11 Dec 1979)

Recent Posts

  • PDF Download • “Polyphonic Extension” (Kevin Allen) for Gloria III
  • “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
  • PDF Download • “Text by Saint Francis of Assisi” (choral setting w/ organ: Soprano & Alto)
  • “Yahweh” in church songs?
  • “Music List” • Pentecost Sunday

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