an article over a beer

Sep 14, 2011

Over a beer this afternoon I read the article below.

Many of you have heard me speak about the beauty of Gregorian Chant. I much prefer jazz or classical music when I go to a concert. But Liturgical music is different. 

In Liturgy the purpose of music is not to entertain. Gregorian Chant is THE music of the liturgy of the church. I have struggled to explain this to parishioners. At Our Lady of Victories we have certainly tasted the beauty of this prayer.

And then I found this article. You might like to set aside 15 minutes to ponder the content. You might think as you begin that it is a bit beyond you. But this is not true. If you are able to follow a cooking recipe, understand a car manual, or make sense of the ingredient list on a supermarket product, (none of which I can do) you are certainly up to understanding and appreciating this piece.

Jonah Lynch presents the most robust, comprehensive and relevant appreciation of the contemporary music listening experience that I have ever heard or read.

And you will appreciate immediately the nature of Liturgical music as a live experience rather than a recorded objective perfection.

Let me know what you think.

http://www.communio-icr.com/articles/PDF/lynch36-4.pdf

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

Ascension

Ascension

Most people think of the Ascension of Jesus as being a ‘departure’ moment. Jesus was here and now he is gone. We imagine Jesus going up into the clouds and the disciples waving farewell from below.
This is an unhelpful image.
It is essential that we understand what does happen and what does not happen in the Ascension event.
It would be easy to wrongly think that in his ministry showed us how to build the city of God on earth, and now he has gone and the mission is left to us.

touching the sacred

touching the sacred

A few years ago I was on Rēkohu Chatham Islands for what has become one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most sacred days, the ANZAC day of remembrance in gratitude for those who gave their lives, their health, their youth, their service that we may live in peace.
The art above was produced by one of the students at the local Te One school.

every which way

every which way

A good number of Food For Faith readers have discovered one of the more recent FFF initiatives, the weekly Homily Studio.
The recording of this half-hour podcast is one of the highlights of my week.

in the room

in the room

Today’s reflection marks the end of the FFF Lent-to-Easter daily email posts. Thank you for your company on this journey.  While these daily posts (for those who have signed up for the Lent / Advent reflections at this link) will take a break until Advent, those who have signed up to receive every post or regular posts at this link.  You might take a moment now to visit this page now to check your email preferences.

During retreat this week I found myself pondering just how difficult it is to accept that God, in Jesus, is really with me today.

disciplined discipleship

disciplined discipleship

As I write I’m nearing the end of retreat days with a group of fifty priests from across the USA.  As I mentioned a couple of days ago the diversity and youth of the group is remarkable with the majority being aged under 40 and a good number ordained for fewer than five years.