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Music in Our Liturgy, Part 3
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Having set the groundwork for what I undertake in my bulletin column for the coming weeks, and explaining the term “liturgy” as the work of Jesus, the head, in union with the his body, the Church, I now turn to some concepts that have acquired multiple interpretations in order to clarify what the church teaches concerning them and how they apply to our liturgies.
Active Participation
The Second Vatican Council encourages the full, conscious and active participation of the faithful at the liturgy. Very often, this has been understood to mean one must be doing or saying something at all times in order to fully participate. I argue that the post-Vatican II desire for intelligibility of the liturgy comes from this desire. People do not want to be passive spectators at the liturgy, and rightfully so. But this desire to be involved in all parts of the liturgy has often led to an erroneous and misdirected busyness during the liturgy. One result is that silence becomes frightening and something to be minimized, if not, eliminated. We think we must be saying or singing something at all times. There is therefore the need to clarify what the Church means by active participation.
First, a distinction is to be made between “Internal and External” participation. Internal participation suggests the harmony of one’s mind with the liturgical action. It includes listening and praying in silence. We listen to God’s Word as it is proclaimed, and we meditate on it in silence. External participation includes such actions as responding to the readings, acclamations, responsorial psalm, singing the propers and ordinary of the Mass, bodily gestures such as standing, sitting, kneeling and so on. It is ok when we cannot sing because we either do not know the music, or have the music in front of us. We still participate silently by meditating on the words being sung. This is why there are times when the choir might sing some meditation which the congregation does not know, yet they are still actively participating at the liturgy. The participation of the priest is different from that of the congregation. The Second Vatican Council encourages everyone to perform those parts of the liturgy that pertains to them. Whereas the priest sings/recites those parts of the prayers that are reserved to the president of the liturgical assembly, the people participate by their acclamations and responses. The point I am making is that one does not always have to do something to participate actively in the Mass; being is also participating.
A good understanding of active participation resolves the struggle people have when they attend Mass and it is celebrated in a foreign language, or the music is unfamiliar to them. They can still participate actively by their silent prayer. Sometimes the choir might perform a musical piece that requires some training. The congregation participates by their mental accent, and by meditating on the words of the music. While we often encourage the choir to sing songs known to the worshipping community, to imagine that the congregation must know every piece of music before it can be used in the liturgy is to close all possibilities to accessing the rich repertoire of music that we have been so fortunate to have, and which can edify the worshipping assembly. Whereas it is right and just to lift up both our hearts and voice to God in praise, where possible, it seems important to remark that vocalizing is not the only way to praise God. Infants and non-verbal adults praise God too. And creation is not left out in this praise. Laudato Si'.
With blessings from my heart,