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Thursday, June 07, 2007

I apologize to the world....

I didn't realize Haugen/Haas/Joncas were from Minnesota. Maybe I heard that awhile ago, but maybe the presence of Msgr. Schuler overshadowed the shadows.

Apparently they won't be offering "concerts" anymore. And that includes at Mass, apparently around the world. Their last "concert" is bring held in MN on June 10, according to our Archdiocesan rag, The Catholic Spirit.

On Sunday, June 10, Haas, Haugen and Father Joncas will play one of the final two concerts they have scheduled. The 7:30 p.m. program at Guardian Angels in Oakdale is a benefit for “Music Ministry Alive!” — the summer program at the College of St. Catherine that trains young Catholic liturgical musicians. Last year’s concert was sold out.

I am not one bit surprised that it's associated with another local black eye, the College of St.Catherine wherein rule the mostly-pagan-in-practice-and-belief eco-feminists Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. (How far that order has fallen! Pray for their conversion to their roots, for their roots were incredible!).

Anyway, back to the article, the only snipped I want to comment upon:

“We’re not interested in doing just fun Christian music,” Haas said. “When I teach young people about liturgical music, I say you’ve got to keep your ears open and antenna up about what’s going on in the church and what the church needs, what the church is really calling for in its music.


He is apparently a teacher at a local school. Now, to be clear, I'm sure he's a fine and talented musician, perhaps a wonderful teacher and a wonderful human being. I cannot comment on him personally as I do not know him.

However, I get nothing but red flags when I read his comment about "what's going on in the Church and what the Church needs, what the Church is really calling for in its music." (Church, as a proper noun referring to the Catholic Church, needs to be capitalized. Catholic Spirit editor, where were you on that!?)

Anyway, if people are really LISTENING to what the Church wants, needs, and is calling for, they would be going back to GREGORIAN AND AMBROSIAN CHANT!!!!

Not folk-pop music being classified as "liturgical".

I'm going to come out and admit I don't dislike all their stuff, some is actually enjoyable and I understand they were going off of their idea of reverence when they wrote the music. I love music...I'm a musician myself, albeit a fallen-away one. But music remains in the soul, and if one is taught correctly, a barometer is installed.

My barometer never went away, thank God!

And yes, I do like some of their music, and some of it brought me back home, but it wasn't so much the music as it was the sentimentality of songs I grew up with. Had I grown up with Gregorian Chant, I'm sure I would have literally DIED when I heard the powerful strains of "O Salutaris Hostia", but since that was outside of my experience, it was "Here I am, Lord" that hit me. God can use anything to bring us home. But why should He have to when we had perfectly good, reverent music before the misinterpretation of Vatican II?

I'm fine with their concerts. By all means, perform in concerts, and that is the correct setting for much of their music...not the Mass.

I wonder if we'll ever recover from the last 40 years of bad liturgical music?

9 comments:

Father Tim said...

A.D.T.,

I am sure you've been to this website many-a-time, but just in case you haven't, here's a useful link:

SMMMHDH

Oh... wait... I'm signed in as Fr. Tim. Uh... DON'T GO to that website! I rate it as a C,T,F,PH,O

Adoro said...

father tim....You are SO BUSTED! LOL!

Ok, really....is that some sort of joke, coming from you? Or does this have to do with you finally realizing I'm not going to "covert" and your effort to be church with me?

Unknown said...

Adoro

How does Father Tim post html links on your page. Should I be updating my Blogger account?

Anonymous said...

Ray ~ You should know better than to ask me technical questions. I don't know how to post links in the com box.

Maybe if you pretend to be a dissident, Fr. Tim will help you! :-)

~ Adoro

Anonymous said...

FYI, The Catholic Spirit uses AP style and, for church-related style questions, Catholic News Services' style book. According to CNS, whenever the word "church" appears alone, without the word "Catholic" or the proper name of any other church (i.e. Lutheran Church) before it, "church" is always lower-case.

Sanctus Belle said...

I'm an Alum of St. Kates. Good education, very bad theology in practice on the campus - worse now I suspect then back then (class of 1990). Thankfully my two theology courses were taught by good priests from St. Thomas and they were splendid.

I did more recently (2004)unwittingly stumble into a "retreat" held by the "sisters". Two days of anti-hierarchy/male/church rhetoric, yoga, a film on goddess worship, a blasphemous "translation" of the Our Father, candles, rituals and what's with the St. Hildagaard of Bingen obession? The sister running the retreat wore an oversized t-shirt with a tree pin as her "habit"

Was a weekend of suffering. I'm fairly certain some of the attendees were wiccans - all quite disaffected with the church. I fasted the whole weekend and prayed and tried to keep to myself. I should have left but I chose to stay just to see how bad things would get. I merely watched most of it and did not participate in the new age practices.

Sometimes an order is so far gone that they just need to be cut off, like a limb without a blood supply so as not to give disease to the rest of the body. St. Joseph pray for us.

As for Marty Haugen, I suggest checking out this link - hilarious!

http://oxfiles.blogspot.com/2006/03/ten-step-marty-haugen-song-writing.html

Cathy_of_Alex said...

Adoro: I knew about the Terrible Trios concert appearance a while back but I've been in denial. You are, IMHO, absolutely correct. Their music belongs in a concert hall and not in a Catholic church.

It's not evil music but the lyrics are often laughable (remember Angela's "Gather Us In"? LOL) and the theology is questionable at times.

Fr.Tim: What are you doing over here? Perhaps, you seek Truth? :-)

Anonymous said...

Church, as a proper noun referring to the Catholic Church, needs to be capitalized. Catholic Spirit editor, where were you on that!?

Actually, it should be lower-cased. Just as when you capitalize City Council on first reference and call it a council (lowercased) in subsequent references, the same goes for the Catholic Church. Catholic Church is a proper noun, but church in reference to it is not. Just check the Associated Press stylebook if you don't believe me.

Adoro said...

Anon, I appreciate what the stylebook says, but the stylebook is secular in origin and thus does not consider the fact that in the proper context, "The Church", as a commonly shortened form of "The Catholic Church", with reference to an official religion and institution, is a formal title.

Sorry, the stylebook is wrong. Study theology if you disagree with me.

Thanks for your input, but there is a reason I never pursued journalism..