[Part III] Music and Liturgical Populism: Intentionality and Sacred Music

Football people have often diagnosed and chided the Administrators of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) for having an incessant taste for already-made players, a depreciating interest in player welfare, and a lack of conscious intentionality to groom players for the proper needs of our football ecology.

So much so that, when players who have been made capable and attractive by Outsiders decide to give in to what often appears to be opportunistic demands from the GFA, the players even without malice, find themselves wanting necessities like the appreciation of the differing cultural scope of the local football space that hugely contribute to their excellence. Hence, their lack of form and unattractiveness in the contemporary history of local and international football. The perennial concern then is: beyond slogans, statements, and conferences, is the GFA truly concerned about the future of Ghana football?

Concluding our series on ‘Music and Liturgical Populism,’ we may ask if there is any commonality between that popular football observation and the Church as regards the proper management of the diverse gifts She is blessed with- especially when related to the ‘lay people, put simply, the vast majority of the People of God’ ( Evangelii Gaudium, 102)? For instance in the Church, is there any deliberate management of sacred music and its primary stakeholders; Composers, Singers, and Instrumentalists?

With all that has been said in Parts I-II, it is fair to state that, unlike magic, the ordinary Catholic composer or musician may not easily appreciate those ministerial details of sacred music without proper formation and investments.

As it stands, “two new factors are thus at work in Church music. Artistic freedom increasingly asserts its rights, even in the liturgy. Church music and secular music are now each influenced by the other. This is particularly clear in the case of the so-called ‘parody Masses,’ in which the text of the Mass was set to a theme or melody that came from secular music, with the result that anyone hearing it might think he was listening to the latest ‘hit.’ It is clear that these opportunities for artistic creativity and the adoption of secular tunes brought danger with them. Music was no longer developing out of prayer, but, with the new demand for artistic autonomy, was now heading away from the liturgy; it was becoming an end in itself, opening the door to new, very different ways of feeling and of experiencing the world. Music was alienating the liturgy from its true nature.” (J. Ratzinger, ” Music and Liturgy. ” In The Spirit of the Liturgy, Ignatius Press, San Francisco 2000, 145-6).

The Church then, recognizing how great the importance of music in the celebration of the Mass is, with due consideration for the culture of the people and abilities of each liturgical assembly (cf. GIRM 40), asks that great importance be attached to the teaching and practice of music not only in formation centers like seminaries and novitiates, but also that lay composers and singers must be given genuine liturgical training. To impart this instruction, teachers are to be carefully trained and put in charge of the teaching of sacred music, and it is also desirable to establish higher institutes of sacred music whenever this can be done (cf. SC 115).

This instructive article of the sacred Council indicates a positive ecclesial intentionality towards sacred music, which needs to melt from the crown to the feet of Christ’s Body, the Church. Thus, we should be very deliberate in the production of various stakeholders in the Church’s musical space, and equitably enable them to exercise their proper ministry, especially in the various liturgies.

Humbly on their part, singers, instrumentalists, and ‘composers, filled with the Christian spirit, should feel that their vocation is to cultivate sacred music and increase its store of treasures. Let them produce compositions that have the qualities proper to genuine sacred music, not confining themselves to works that can be sung only by large choirs, but also providing for the needs of small choirs and for the active participation of the entire assembly of the faithful. The texts intended to be sung must always be in conformity with Catholic doctrine; indeed, they should be drawn chiefly from holy scripture and from liturgical sources’ (SC 121). Not only in favor of adults, but also with much consideration for children, whose Catholic music may properly be accompanied by  pedagogical motions.

With trust in his promise of eternal fidelity to his Church (cf. Jn.14:16), we can be assured that God will never allow his Church to be mocked for a lack of those necessary gifts that edify Her. Thus, ‘the Holy Spirit leads us to the Logos, and he leads us to a music that serves the Logos as a sign of the sursum corda, the lifting up of the human heart. Does it integrate man by drawing him to what is above, or does it cause his disintegration into formless intoxication or mere sensuality? That is the criterion for a music in harmony with logos, a form of that logiké latreia (reason-able, logos-worthy worship)” (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. ” Music and Liturgy. ” In The Spirit of the Liturgy (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000, 151).

However, if sacred music is to be prioritized, deliberate efforts must be made to identify, nurture, resource, facilitate, and enable talents like composers, singers, and instrumentalists for the greater glory of God and his Church. And if liturgical music has been said to be a ministry (Part II), then, the vision should go beyond the physical walls of the Catholic Church to facilitate the evangelization ad genes. If not, we may have to comfort ourselves with ‘mediocrity’ or, sooner or later, be discomforted when those refined talents meant for the Church’s edification treat their mother Church with handouts or with pure business models, especially when they are identified, groomed, resourced, and rightly encouraged by others from without.

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In conclusion, I humbly suggest that amidst the many possibilities at our disposal that may only need proper management and availability to be fructified, we cannot perpetually seek to harvest where we do not plant.

St. Agnes, pray for us!