How to Choose Songs for the Mass

Christmas is notorious for inappropriate song choices for mass. In the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice in the University of the Philippines, we were aghast when a choir sang, “Silver Bells” for communion, or “We, Three Kings” during the Season of Advent. In a remote island in Quezon Province, a Jesuit volunteer said that the locals sang “White Christmas” for the Preparation of the Gifts, while offering vegetables and a live goat for the holidays.

In sophisticated parishes, choirs perform Handel’s “For Unto Us A Child Is Born” from his famous opus, The Messiah, to an admiring crowd. During the singing of the Pater Noster, they sang Albert Malotte’s “The Lord’s Prayer” a cappella while the people stood quietly until the song ended.

How do we choose songs that are appropriate for a mass in a particular time and a particular place?

There are three judgments to follow, but one evaluation. Songs should pass the three judgments, not just one or two of them.

First, the Musical Judgment. Do you like the music? This is simple: why would you sing a song that does not speak to you, or a song you don’t like?

However, the music should be worthy of the mass. But artistic expression is not the same as musical style. Artistic expression is about quality. Musical styles are about genre. And “the Church has not adopted any particular style of art as her own. She has admitted styles from every period, in keeping with the natural characteristics and conditions of people and the needs of the various rites” (Sacrosanctum Concilium no. 123). That means the Church takes into consideration the congregation and the type of music that they can identify with; the type of music that would lead them to pray and worship the Lord. Here is one example from Himig Heswita that articulates the aspirations of people. Click this.

In recent times, the Church has welcomed different musical forms for liturgical worship. One hears rock music in masses with the young. Many Catholic charismatic communities use the songs of Don Moen and songs from the Hillsong Church in Australia. Don Moen and Hillsong are not Catholics. Albert Hay Malotte is an Episcopalian.

Choosing songs for the liturgy does not depend on the composer. We can use songs from a different faith tradition as long as they pass these three judgments. More importantly, the liturgical judgment. The lyrics should fit the Catholic faith.

Second, the Liturgical Judgment. Is the song right for the liturgy? To answer this question, you have to consider the following.

1. The Structure of the Mass. Every part of the mass has a corresponding function. The Entrance Song should be a song about gathering at the altar of the Lord. It should enhance the atmosphere of welcome and worship. The Psalms are sung prayers found in Scripture and they should foster meditation on the Word of God. Songs should meet the structural requirements of the mass.
2. The Liturgical Books. There are two main books in the liturgy. The Sacramentary gives you the present liturgical Season and the celebration of the day. It tells you whether the mass is a Solemnity, in which case, the Gloria will be recited or sung. It also indicates the saint of the day. In the Lectionary, you will find the readings of the mass.

The songs should fit the text of the liturgical books for a particular rite, in a particular season. For example, if we are celebrating Good Shepherd Sunday in the Easter Season, and the readings are about it, then it is proper to sing Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd especially if it is the Responsorial Psalm.

If the reading is from 1 Corinthians 13 especially in weddings, then this song from the Jesuit Music Ministry will be right. Click this.

Finally, the Pastoral Judgment. Can the congregation sing the songs? We want a congregation who actively and consciously participates at mass. In other words, they respond to the dialogues and they sing the songs. The pastoral judgment takes into consideration the actual community gathered to celebrate in a particular place, at a particular time. Thus, we consider factors like age, culture, education, and language. This is the mandate of the 2nd Vatican Council.

So, we evaluate songs using these three judgments.

Silver Bells will not be acceptable liturgically, but favorable musically and pastorally. We, Three Kings, however, will be acceptable in all three judgments when sung on the Epiphany of the Lord — never on the Season of Advent!

Handel’s Messiah and Malotte’s The Lord’s Prayer are all liturgically and musically excellent. But ordinary churchgoers will not be able to sing them well. Unless, of course, it is a mass of the Philippine Madrigal Singers or the UP Concert Chorus.

However, this music from the Jesuit Music Ministry will pass these three judgments for the Preparation of the Gifts. And to say that it will pass with flying colors is an understatement. Enjoy Christify!

How to Prepare for Mass

We sometimes forget what is pretty obvious. But sometimes what is common sense, may not be common after all.

So this post is a friendly reminder just in case we come to worship routinely.

1. Plan when to attend mass. Just as we schedule events in our calendars, affixing the date and time for mass means that we indeed intend to carry out a process. It tells us how important the mass is: it is the center of Christian life.

How important is it? The Eucharist is the central reference of all sacraments, prayers, visits to the Blessed Sacrament, devotions, mortifications, even our apostolates or outreach programs. The commandment to love God is first and foremost, and our love for our neighbors flows from it.

If a center is consciously abandoned, the whole Christian life collapses. Observe this. When something is not scheduled, we consciously make that event as an aside: we go whenever it is convenient to us, or whenever we have done everything else.

2. Keep in mind why you come to mass. There are many reasons why we attend the mass. Most of the time, we have an intention to pray for. For some, it is a time to gather oneself, whether to find a time to pick up scattered pieces of our lives, or to ask pardon for the sins that broke our relationships with God and with others. Or we come to mass to thank the Lord in adoration, to join our community in worship, or to be with the Lord as a friend who accompanies us. If we are able to identify the needs to be brought to the altar of God, the mass becomes more meaningful. By preparing our thoughts and intentions, we unite with the cross of Christ with our own crosses in our lives.

3. Pray on the way to mass. It excites and focuses our hearts for what we are about to do. It is like going to a movie: on the way, we become excited to know what we are about to see. Some of us have bought tickets way before its first screening. I remember Star Wars and for some of my students, Twilight.

4. Come to mass with a spirit of prayer. The mass is the summit and peak of all Christian prayer. And thus, we must keep in mind that coming to mass means going to a sacred place to pray. Being with our family, friends or loved one is secondary to being with God. Of course, we can pray anywhere, but in the mass, we come to worship with the community of God. And thus, it would help if our attention is not distracted by our gadgets: perhaps you can play religious or meditative music on your iPod or MP3 players. Use your gadgets to help put you in the mood for the sacred.

5. Intend to participate at mass. Say to yourself: “I will consciously and actively participate at mass today.” There are mainly two factors that make the mass attractive: the music and the homily. However, many people say that the mass is boring. There are choirs who do not enliven worship. Unfortunately, many choirs distract people from praying than leading the people to God. They perform with their vocal calisthenics than serve. The best choir is the “no choir” — you don’t hear the choir because everyone is singing. The worse choir is when you hear ONLY them singing.

The greatest factor that makes a mass bland is the priest. The mass is uninteresting because there are many boring priests: those who do not give stimulating homilies and those who talk forever; there are priests who do the mass sloppily and perform the rites without passion.

This, however, is the good thing if you find yourself in a “tasteless” mass: it is not entirely hopeless. Remember what Jesus said about we being the salt of the earth? This is the time to add flavor: we can spice it up. We can contribute to make the mass better. We can respond, sing, and keep a prayerful silence when it is appropriate especially during the readings and after taking communion.

The mass is a dialogue. Simple: would you like to date someone who doesn’t say anything? That would be a nightmare. A congregation that is not alive, affects everyone else. To behave at mass does not mean that we have to be like the statues of the saints. To behave well today means to participate. Honestly, I get to be excited by people who are alive; but my energies are down if the congregation are unresponsive. I tend to prepare my homilies because the people respond to what I say: negative or not. We affect everyone around us.

There is one good reason why we have to respond by answering, singing and keeping a prayerful composure. When we were baptized we share the common priesthood of Christ. At mass we practice the common priesthood together with the ordained. Thus, the mass is not the sole “show” of the priest, it is OUR mass. We practice our common priesthood when we participate.

And perhaps, when we do, the boring priest and the incompetent choir will be put to shame.

And we will have a meaningful worship.

Why We Sing at Mass

Is worship participation influenced by economic status? In my years of experience, the poor sing and participate more than the affluent. There is no statistics that would prove this, but having said masses in congregations raging from the rural and urban destitute to the high-brow, a priest cannot help but wonder. It is easier to encourage the poor to sing than to coax the rich to open their glossy lips to praise the high heavens.

We don’t do something unless we know why. This is the bane of the educated: we must know the rationale behind everything that we do. And probably this is also the reason why we don’t sing particularly at mass. Many people spontaneously hum a melody when they are inspired. They sing anywhere, from the privacy of their personal potholes to the public park. Except at church.

The church is a place of the divine. It is sacred. And when a specific area is marked as holy, our behavior changes. We clip our wings when we enter the sacred door, but when we are out of it, we become exuberant. Our psychological tapes of our parents’ voices plays in our mind, telling us to ‘behave’ in church. To behave means to be quiet at mass, endure the boredom, and offer the suffering to the Lord. In other words, to be inactive, as if we are to imitate the sacred statues of saints on the sanctuary.

In addition, we were brought up attending masses that were priest-centered than congregation-focused. In the past, the priest faced the altar, unmindful of the pews and those who sat there. Participation was not in the liturgical vocabulary of our parents who were influenced by the old school before 1965, the advent of Vatican II.

But the Church now is the same, but different in many ways. The mass is not the “show” of the priest, but the event of the whole congregation gathered, including the presider. The priest is not anymore called the ‘celebrant’ because the mass is everyone’s celebration. The priest is now called the presider, because he prays on behalf of the congregation from whom he has been chosen. Today, the priest faces the congregation to acknowledge their importance in the celebration. When a priest is ordained, the bishop asks the congregation if he is worthy of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The congregation gives their assent by applauding; the same way when a couple is accepted to the community of believers in marriage. Thus, the mass is very much a community affair.

Unfortunately, the new emphasis on the presence of God in the congregation has not rubbed off to many massgoers. Today, one of the utmost concerns of the Church is to enable “full, conscious and active participation” (Sacrosanctum concilium, Vatican II). In terms of music in the liturgy, it means: sing, sing, sing!

Why do we sing? The document, Sing To the Lord: Music in Divine Worship names four elements. I added the fifth. First, music is a universal capability and means of communication. Everyone loves music. Even the plants. They bloom when the flower grower sings to them. And therefore, music helps us bear fruit. It makes us happy; it articulates our sadness. It makes us pine for our loved one; or let go of them when necessary. It is a natural and universal gift. It is God’s gift to His people. It takes its source from every person. And since God dwells in each of us, then every time we sing, we manifest God’s presence in the world. We can imagine God singing with us; giving voice and melody to our aspirations.

Second, music moves us to a higher realm. Songs of the heart deepen our love. Songs about a brighter future intensify our hope. Spiritual songs inspire us to pray. St. Augustine once said that “singing is for the one who loves.” He explains that the continuance of our longing is the continuance of our prayer. We long for peace and prosperity. And so soldiers sing about their motherland during battle; it gives them courage to fight for the people they love and the peace they desire. We want people to remember the People’s EDSA Revolution, so we sing “Magkaisa” and “Bayan Ko.” Our Philippine National Anthem arouses patriotism; it solidifies our identity as Filipinos. When in foreign lands, how many of us are moved when we hear our anthem? Or we cry when Manny Pacquiao wins a fight. We cry not because of Pacman, we cry because we feel the passion and pride we have for our country.

Third, music connects us with our ancestors who reveled in this gift. In the Bible, when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, they sang praises to the Lord. Deborah and Barak sang to the Lord in victory. David and the Israelites “made merry before the Lord with all their strength, with singing and with citharas, harps, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.” (1 Sam 6: 5) Jesus sang with his disciples when they went to the Mount of Olives. Paul sang with Silas when they were imprisoned. James encouraged his community to sing when happy.

Fourth, music strengthens our faith and moves us to pray. Inversely, uninspiring music weakens it and distracts us from praying. The liturgical prayers at mass becomes more alive and fervent when we sing, and our prayer therefore makes us worship more intensely, powerfully and effectively.

In the early years of formation, seminarians are trained to sing. At least they are able to pick up a tune. In the Jesuit formation program, it is called, the chant class. The singing class is supposed to help the seminarian sing the parts of the mass when they become priests. Sung parts make the liturgy more solemn. However, it is also said that those priests who cannot sing in tune, should rather recite the prayers. Or else, they become the source of ridicule and distraction: the tone-deaf priest will make people sin than sing.

Finally, congregational singing is a symbol in itself. When we sing together, we also show unity. A song becomes a manifestation of a diverse people but one in heart, mind and soul. When we sing the “Our Father” together, our being children united in God becomes felt and real.

Moreover, the dynamics of a song harmonizes with the dynamics of faith and life. The rise and fall of the melody is like the ebbs and tides of life. To create a melody, a note dies to give way to another note. Inversely, if every note is sustained throughout, it produces not a melody but noise and dissonance. It is like the seed that dies in order for it to bear fruit. When our lives are given away for someone who matter to us, and many others follow suit, eventually humanity’s history becomes a song.

We use words, gestures, signs, symbols and music to proclaim Christ’s presence in our lives! We tell them. We raise our hands. We do the sign of the cross. We use tables, images and liturgical decoration. We sing to complete the package. We do everything possible so that everybody can palpably feel the real presence of Christ. We use any thing that would help people pray and participate fully, actively and consciously. This is the reason why St. Augustine said “to sing is to pray twice.” When we sing we exponentially intensify our prayer.

When we strip our worship of many of these elements, our faith weakens. And when it weakens, it dies. All it takes is a repetitive action: don’t sing and you’ll find your heart not in church, but somewhere else.