8 July 2012
| Entrance | Christ be our light |
| Penitential Rite | At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group) |
| Gloria | At the Table of the Lord (Collegeville Composers Group) |
| Psalm 122 | Our eyes are on the Lord (mtgf) |
| Gospel Acclamation | (Murray) |
| Preparation of Gifts | Song of God among us (Huijbers) |
| Eucharistic Acclamations | Missal (ICEL) |
| Lamb of God | Lamb of God 9 (mtgf) |
| Communion | Eye has not seen (Marty Haugen) |
| Final | He who would valiant be |
It seems to me a key (set of) questions for those who prepare music has to be:
- Why this psalm?
- Why this response?
- How does this relate to the Gospel?
The first reading ends: (they) shall know there is a prophet among them' .'Our' in the response is us, the assembly and we are claiming that we will recognise Jesus both within the Gospel (i.e. at Nazareth) and also within this liturgy. Not only that he is a prophet but that we have faith and so he can show us is mercy. Singing psalm responses is dangerous stuff.
These thoughts partly come being asked about replacing the psalm. As will noted by regular readers we endeavour to sing what is given in the Lectionary each week. When musicians go beyond this it seems to me they are weighing two values: the Lectionary text and the value of singing at this point of the Liturgy of the Word. As usual there are levels of proximlty to the Lectionary text - the same psalm with a different response, a similar psalm and response on to a hymn which speaks of some of the same things. The further you get from Lectionary text the more levels of meaning you are losing. I commented a few weeks ago about the psalm being preached upon but I think there is generally an under appreciation of the role of the psalm in the Liturgy of the Word - and in particular its function and relationship. I am not aware of any book which explores this in detail among the myriad of Lectionary commentaries.
This reflection on the psalm makes a connection between faith and sight which is a familiar theme from from the Easter Season and guided many of the choices today.
No comments:
Post a Comment