Father Cory Sticha: 'We are Church? No!'

Father Cory Sticha recently blogged about the Chrism Mass in his local Archdiocese. He was a little surprised at the songs that were chosen for the Mass. The words seemed to send a confusing, if not improper, message to those at the Mass. (You can read his entire post here: "We are 'Church?' NO!").

What really struck me about his post though was the conclusion. The majority of the post was about music and its relation to Mass. He talks about how the focus of the music, and really everything, at Mass should be on God and not on us as people or the congregation. Here are his concluding paragraphs:

When we do place our focus on ourselves, the most important thing about the Mass becomes what I “get out of it”. If I’m not affirmed, uplifted, interested, etc., then something needs to change in order to fulfill me. This is why there’s so much concern about making the Mass “relevant”. Priests change the words and actions of the Mass to what they feel makes it more “relevant” to the people. Music is written in popular styles so that it will be “relevant” to youth. The Mass becomes religious entertainment seeking to help people find something that they will “get out of it”.

Conversely, when the focus is on Christ, the Mass becomes more about each one of us individually, and the congregation as a whole, gathering to worship and adore God, and what we “get out of it” is receiving Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. A properly celebrated Mass with chant will lift our minds and hearts to God, helping us to worship our Creator and Father who loves us and gave His Son so that we might love Him in return.

(N.B.: This is why I will never ad-lib the Mass. The role of the priest is to lead the congregation to Christ, not himself.)

To solve this problem, both priests and laity need to actively work at redirecting our focus back on Our Lord and off of ourselves. If chant is not an option due to lack of training or materials, hymns need to be chosen carefully that center on God. Priests need to stop making up their own words and actions, and start following the principle “Say the Black, Do the Red“. All of us who gather for the celebration of the Mass need to remember that the honor and glory needs to go to Christ, not to ourselves.

This is an important way to look at not only the music at Mass, but our mentality in general. We must redirect our focus at Mass back on to Our Lord. Why else are we there?


-Posted by: Joe