Here’s an idea. I would really like to see a new document come out from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In it the document would call for guitar and percussion instruments to be given high esteem. Liturgical dance would also be called out to be given pride of place. While we are at it we could also have experimentation with the liturgy to be also given pride of place. The document could then go on to list songs by Marty Haugen and David Haas and similar contemporary composers in other countries to be given high esteem.
Now you might wonder if I have flipped my lid, but the actuality is that words just don’t mean what we think they mean. For example Vatican II called for the pipe organ to be given high esteem and for Gregorian Chant to be given pride of place. After reflecting on this I realized that pride of place and high esteem means to virtually eliminate it from the liturgy. Or at least that seems to be the result of the interpretation of these documents. If only we could make impoverished elements of the modern liturgy the pride of place and high esteem that they gave the pipe organ and Gregorian Chant.
Today the New Liturgical Movement posted an excellent interview with Fr. Weber by Zenit concerning Gregorian Chant.
