• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

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

  • Our Team
  • Catholic Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

Not “What” but “Why” is Fascinating

Richard J. Clark · March 17, 2017

HE ROMAN RITE is a fascinating area of study. There are centuries upon centuries of history. There are multiple forms of the Rite, plus numerous rites that are in union with Rome. The options and variations related to the Novus Ordo alone are often a challenge to keep up with, but fascinating nonetheless.

Some people are put off by this. Some are bored to tears. I am fascinated. Why? Possibly there is something terribly wrong with me. Or, perhaps it is because the Church, in her infinite wisdom of the ages, has given us gift of the Mass which is something we can grow with during our entire lives.

It is like a great piece of music or great literature. As we mature, our understanding of the music or art grows. We gain additional insight from it. And so it is with the Mass, our greatest prayer.

Now, keeping track of all the rubrics, and the liturgical calendar, etc., etc., can be a bit much. We can handle it by being dismissive of it all, and simply say, “They don’t matter.” “There’s no point.” I don’t blame others for not finding this topic interesting. God calls us to be interested in different things.

We may learn “what” we are supposed to say, sing, wear, move, etc. during a given Mass. But what I find fascinating is the “why.”

Why are we worshiping God in the first place? God has no need of our worship, yet it is important for us to not only do so, but to center our lives around worship. Why are certain external movements or words important? God has no need for externals and expressed as much in Matthew 15. But they have something to do with the formation of what is internal, which is also impressed upon us in Matthew 15. This is fascinating.

This is an endless topic that cannot be addressed fully here. Of course it can’t. It is a beautiful pursuit of a lifetime.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote in Sacramentum Caritatis, no. 14:

The Church’s ability to ‘make’ the Eucharist is completely rooted in Christ’s self-gift to her…We too, at every celebration of the Eucharist, confess the primacy of Christ’s gift..the priority of the fact that it was Christ who loved us ‘first.’ For all eternity he remains the one who loves us first.”

Timothy P. O’Malley’s commentary on Benedict’s words are passionate:

”In this sense, our participation in the sacrifice of the Mass is a return gift of love offered to the God who made the first move of love toward us…He loves us first, and he loved us unto the end, dying upon the cross as a supreme act of love. And he still loves us, drawing us closer to his side.” (Bored Again Catholic, How the Mass Could Save Your Life, Pg. 31.)

HE MASS IS SUCH A JEWEL, that we can grow into it throughout our lives. The opportunity is simply there for the taking: if we give God all our love and devotion, offer Him our best, and return to God what He gave us first—His love.

Jesus’ love for us is a start to understanding every single “why.”

AMDG

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

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

Richard J. Clark

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).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

19 January 2021 • Confusion over feasts

For several months, we have discussed the complicated history of the various Christmas feasts: the Baptism of the Lord, the feast of the Holy Family, the Epiphany, and so forth. During a discussion, someone questioned my assertion that in some places Christmas had been part of the Epiphany. As time went on, of course, the Epiphany came to represent only three “manifestations” (Magi, Cana, Baptism), but this is not something rigid. For example, if you look at this “Capital E” from the feast of the Epiphany circa 1350AD, you can see it portrays not three mysteries but four—including PHAGIPHANIA when Our Lord fed the 5,000. In any event, anyone who wants proof the Epiphany used to include Christmas can read this passage from Dom Prosper Guéranger.

—Jeff Ostrowski
6 January 2021 • Anglicans on Plainsong

A book published by Anglicans in 1965 has this to say about Abbat Pothier’s Editio Vaticana, the musical edition reproduced by books such as the LIBER USUALIS (Solesmes Abbey): “No performing edition of the music of the Eucharistic Psalmody can afford to ignore the evidence of the current official edition of the Latin Graduale, which is no mere reproduction of a local or partial tradition, but a CENTO resulting from an extended study and comparison of a host of manuscripts gathered from many places. Thus the musical text of the Graduale possesses a measure of authority which cannot lightly be disregarded.” They are absolutely correct.

—Jeff Ostrowski
2 January 2021 • Temptation

When I see idiotic statements made on the internet, I go nuts. When I see heretics promoted by people who should know better, I get angry. Learning to ignore such items is difficult—very difficult. I try to remember the words of Fr. Valentine Young: “Do what God places in front of you each day.” When I am honest, I don’t believe God wants me to dwell on errors and idiocy; there’s nothing I can do about that. During 2021, I will strive to do a better job following the advice of Fr. Valentine.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“From the responses received, it is thus clear that by far the greater number of bishops feel that the present discipline [Communion on the tongue and not in the hand] should not be changed at all—indeed, that if it were changed, this would be offensive to the sensibility and spiritual appreciation of these bishops and of most of the faithful.”

— Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship (29 May 1969)

Recent Posts

  • 19 January 2021 • Confusion over feasts
  • PDF Download • “Mass Propers For Sundays And Holydays Set To Simple Melodies” (429 pages)
  • Hidden Gem: Salvum Fac Populum Tuum (Bruckner)
  • Landmark Documentary on the Renewal of Sacred Music
  • Thou Hast Saved the Good Wine until Now

Copyright © 2021 Corpus Christi Watershed · Charles Garnier on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.