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Views from the Choir Loft

Pastoral Plan (Part 1 of 2)

Andrew Leung · April 30, 2015

CTL Pastoral Plan FEW WEEKS AGO, I had a chance to meet the Archbishop of Atlanta at a deanery meeting for the Archdiocese Pastoral Plan. His Excellency Archbishop Gregory explained his pastoral plan and answered some questions from priests and staffs from different parishes. As a music director, my mind started thinking, of course, about the implementation of the Plan in the music area of the parish.

The Pastoral Plan was finally released to the public last week. There are four main points in the Plan:

(1) Knowing Our Faith;|
(2) Living Our Faith;|
(3) Spreading Our Faith;|
(4) Evolution of Our Parishes.

Here are the explanations of the four points and my thoughts about how to implement them to a parish music program.

Knowing Our Faith — This is the first and basic step to “be a Catholic”. We have to discover and understand our faith. We must know what we believe in! As I contemplated on this first point and tried to relate it to my parish music program, the word “Catechesis” came to my mind. As I mentioned before, liturgical catechesis is very important and it helps us to understand the Liturgy and to participate more deeply. Teaching people the importance of music in the Liturgy and the basic Church teachings on Sacred Music is the first step to build a successful program. It is the key to have a congregation that sings loud and proud. Liturgical catechesis should also be given as a formation to choir members. As church musicians, we need to make sure that we are prepared and understand the spirit of the Liturgy, so we can lead others to God through the Sacrifice of the Mass.

Living Our Faith — Once we know our faith, we need to live out our faith in our daily lives. We can express our faith by having a good prayer life, reaching out to the poor, living a virtuous life, fighting for the good moral values, etc. From the liturgical musician’s perspective, we live out our faith through our singing and our service to the Church. This is the more technical part of music. For example, we learnt that the Church asks that all liturgical music to be “true art”. So, we practice on our own and rehearse with other members in the choir so that we can sing or play beautifully. Latin is the Church’s language and most of us can’t speak or understand it fluently, so we learn the text with the help of translations and understand what we sing. To make quality music and to pray through it is how musicians can “live our faith”.

For our brothers and sisters in the pew, the implementation of the second point would be to learn the responses and the ordinaries of the Mass, to sing the hymns and praise God in the Liturgy, engage in prayer and meditation while the chants or polyphonies are sung. Participating in our liturgical roles actively is definitely a way to live out our faith.

Point 3 and 4 will be discussed in my next post

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 Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Bugnini’s Statement (6 November 1966)
    With each passing day, more is revealed about how the enemies of the liturgy accomplished their goals. For instance, Hannibal Bugnini deeply resented the way Vatican II said Gregorian Chant “must be given first place in liturgical services.” On 6 November 1966, his cadre wrote a letter attempting to justify the elimination of Gregorian Chant with this brazen statement: “What really gives a Mass its tone is not so much the songs as it is the prayers and readings.” Bugnini’s cadre then attacked the very heart of Gregorian Chant (viz. the Proprium Missae), bemoaning how the Proprium Missae “is completely new each Sunday and feast day.” There is much more to be said about this topic. Stay tuned.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    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

Random Quote

“Those who teach Latin must know how to speak to the hearts of the young, know how to treasure the very rich heritage of the Latin tradition to educate them in the path of life, and accompany them along paths rich in hope and confidence.”

— Pope Francis (7 December 2017)

Recent Posts

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