Tony's Chips and Sawdust Article - October 2009

Sing To The Lord: Music In Divine Worship

"Why We Sing"

You may wonder where I (or anyone in pastoral ministry) get our guiding principles from for the work that we do. One of the realities of the Church is it publishes a lot of official documents. These documents range in weight of influence from Encyclicals put forth by the Pope, Apostolic Letters, official directories, and some documents which are put forth and approved for use in the Catholic Church in certain parts of the world. One example of the last type of document, which has a lot of bearing on those of us involved in music ministry, is Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship (STL) which was developed by the Committee on Divine Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). STL was approved by the Latin Church members of the USCCB in November 2007. STL is a revision of two earlier Church documents, Music in Catholic Worship and its companion, Liturgical Music Today (1982). One of the preparation guides that I use for the liturgy called, Today's Liturgy, has had a four-part series written by Rev. Virgin Funk outlining this important new document and offering commentary on it. Rev. Funk is the president emeritus of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (of which I am a proud card carrying member!) In his first commentary he summarizes the 14 reasons that STL puts forth on why, as Church, we sing:

1. God gave us the gift of song.

2. “Singing together in church expresses so well the sacramental presence of God to his people.”

3. The Jewish people were instructed to sing.

4. Jesus and his apostles sang.

5. Music strengthens our faith.

6. Our Catholic liturgical tradition uses music to proclaim Christ and to reply with worship and praise.

7. We continue the song of the victory: of the exodus, of the Resurrection, and of the eternal Song of the Lamb.

8. The paschal hymn continues in service outside of Church.

9. Inspired by song, we go forth to spread the Gospel; singing motivates us to action.

10. Sung worship allows us to participate in the action of the Trinity.

11. Sung participation is the source from which the true Christian spirit is derived.

12. Listening to sung prayer lifts our minds to God.

13. Even if we don’t have good singing voices, sung participation comes from our heart.

14. Through song, we honor and glorify the Trinity.

So what? If nothing else perhaps these ideas can give us some renewed focus on just how important singing is and how inextricably linked it is to our mission as Church.

These fourteen reasons appear in the first chapter of Sing to the Lord simply called, "Why We Sing", and, again just focuses on the WHY of what we do, and not of HOW we do it, or HOW we may strive to do it better. The later chapters are the ones that get into just how we do it. [And believe me, as a pastoral musician, it is no easy feat]. In the coming months, I'll continue to offer snippets of what this important new document says to us and about us. Soli Deo Gloria!