Egocentrism is not my thing, so you could legitimately be
wondering why I have spent two weeks talking about the use of first person pronouns
in the liturgy. If you have been around
here long enough, you know that the Mass is our most important act of worship,
and therefore the most important act in our relationship with God. You know that what we do at Mass both expresses
that relationship, and shapes it.
Therefore the words we use at Mass have an impact on our
understanding of God and our relationship to Him. Because they shape and form both, the prayers
and verses are carefully chosen; they are the work of two millennia of
discernment and direction by the Church.
The priest cannot change, adjust, tweak, or replace the words in the
Missal. So we must also turn a careful
eye to the words of the songs that we add to that sacred script.
Over the past fifty years, Catholics everywhere have embraced
the celebration of Mass in their own languages.
They have not only composed new musical settings of the words of the Mass,
but also added songs. Not all of
these songs have been good.
In the United States and many other English-speaking lands, the
texts of these songs have represented a trend in the wider culture toward
self-centeredness. The characteristic
cohort of this time period is widely known as the “Me Generation,” and the
songs it gave us bear out that nickname.
One of the types of songs that mark this period is what I call,
“Songs About Us.” Perhaps the most
egregious of this genre is the old saw, “Gather Us In,” which is ostensibly
addressed to God, but spends much of its time focused on, well, the singing us -- culminating in the dubious
assertion, “We have been sung throughout all of hist’ry.” Another remarkably me-oriented song is the
very popular, “Here I Am, Lord.”
Really? Really? Is THAT the big news of the moment? The list goes on and on; examine them. Is the first person used in the songs the way
it is in the actual texts of the Mass?
No.
But worse than that is the other type, the “I Am God Songs.” Not
content to be about us as we are, these songs allow us to speak for God, to speak as God. “Eagles Wings” is a great hit of the
era. But honestly, which of us will do it – “Raise you up on
eagles’ wings,” that is? Much less hold
anyone in the palm of our hand. What
about, “Be Not Afraid?” I, for one, do not go before you always. Do you know any earthly person who does? And I want to be clear about another
thing: I know the Bread of Life; I spend
lots of time with the Bread of Life; but I am
not the Bread of Life. So I
surely will not raise you or anyone else up on the last day! Do you know anybody who will? Who could that be, I wonder?
Check your favorite songs of the past several decades for these
tendencies. Of course they bring back fond memories; of
course they are associated with moments of divine grace in your life – because
you sang them at Mass! God
happens at Mass, even when we are singing about ourselves! You remember that grace, and rightly are
happy for it. But these songs did not
help you appreciate or receive that grace.
In fact, I submit that they impaired our understanding of it, and maybe
even our reception of it.
Yes, I say “our” because I lived and prayed with these songs for
much of my life too. I have fond
memories of some, even. But it was
always a question in my mind, why are we singing about ourselves, if we are
here to worship God? This fixation with us,
this assertion of ourselves in the context of Mass has lead to a confusion,
and perhaps even sometimes a substitution, of ourselves for Whom we
worship. Worship, like this column, is
not about me.
Monsignor Smith
