Wednesday, March 29
That's "Christ our God to earth descendETH," thank you very much.
The Subcommitte on Music and the Liturgy has released a powerpoint outlining its recommendations for liturgical music guidelines in the US.
Part of it reads rather like an examination of conscience for your hymnal:
- Do our liturgical songs fail at times to present the Trinity as the central mystery of the Christian faith?
- Does the language used in referring to the Persons of the Trinity contribute at times to a lack of clarity?
- Is there a reluctance to use “Father” for the first person of the Blessed Trinity?
- Is Jesus the Savior often overshadowed by Jesus the teacher, model, friend, and brother?
- Is there an imbalance in our emphasis on the humanity or divinity of Jesus Christ?
- Do the texts give insufficient emphasis to God’s initiative in the world with a corresponding overemphasis on human action?
They go on to pick on a few specific hymns, such as the following:
Sing Praise to Our Creator
The original text spoke of being “baptized into his grace,” but was changed for the sake of vertical inclusively to: “baptized in living grace.” What does this mean?
"What does this mean?" I think we've all been wondering that for a long time. Glad they're finally asking.
(HT: several blogs, including this one, and an IM conversation)
![[SMMMHDH]](http://www.mgilleland.com/music/smmmhdh.png){kind=small}
