• 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
  • Pew Resources
    • Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal
    • Jogues Illuminated Missal
    • Campion Missal, 3rd Edition
  • MUSICAL WEBSITES
    • René Goupil Gregorian Chant
    • Noël Chabanel Psalms
    • Nova Organi Harmonia (2,279 pages)
    • Lalemant Polyphonic
    • Saint Antoine Daniel KYRIALE
    • Roman Missal, 3rd Edition
    • Emporium Kevin Allen
  • Miscellaneous
    • Site Map
    • Saint Jean de Lalande Library
    • Sacred Music Symposium 2023
  • 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

It greatly helps us if you subscribe to our mailing list!

* indicates required

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

    Don’t You Agree About These?
    If you want to make Jeff Ostrowski really happy, send him an email with effusive praise about the individual voice recordings for hymn #296. [Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass] They came out dazzlingly sensational, don't you agree?
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
    Here's a live recording of one of the choral “warm-up” exercises my choir enjoys. It was taken during our rehearsal on 27 January 2023. It’s good to make sure each chord is perfectly in tune and balanced before moving to the next one. That only happens when each singer has the correct vowel. If you like, you can freely download that vocal exercise.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    26 January 2023 • FEEDBACK
    “Jeff, I wanted to personally thank you for your spiritual witness at the Symposium & often blogs that you write too. Praying that prayer in the mornings My God, my Father and my all (by Cardinal Merry Del Val), mentioning saints’ stories of Brébeuf, Jogues, John Vianney, monks who fought in WWII, their hard work in spite of terrible conditions, their relentless zeal for the faith, their genuine love for the laypeople they served, etc. Overall though—more than anything concrete I can point to that you did or said—it was your demeanor at the Symposium. I could tell you really absolutely love and believe the Catholic Faith. You don’t get that everywhere, even in Church circles. And your humility is what then makes that shine even brighter. It is super inspiring! God is working through you probably way more than you know.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

And since it is becoming that holy things be administered in a holy manner, and of all things this sacrifice is the most holy, the Catholic Church, to the end that it might be worthily and reverently offered and received, instituted many centuries ago the holy canon, which is so free from error that it contains nothing that does not in the highest degree savor of a certain holiness and piety and raise up to God the minds of those who offer.

— Council of Trent (1562)

Recent Posts

  • Don’t You Agree About These?
  • Choral Vowels? Yes? No?
  • Crucial Tip For Choir Directors
  • Father Herbert Thurston • “I Fear the Man With One Book”
  • 26 January 2023 • FEEDBACK

Subscribe

Subscribe

* indicates required

Copyright © 2023 Corpus Christi Watershed · Isaac Jogues 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.