My Late Reply

A reader, Matt, commented on my post way back on Sept 24 and since I’m so late with my reply I will post it as a new post and promise to be much faster with my replies in the future.  The post and comment were about the Latin mass in Japan.

 My reply
Sorry for the late reply.  I googled Latin mas in Tokyo and came up with the vague info that yes the SSPX does have one somewhere but I have no intention of seeking them out.  I had heard about them a little before but as you wrote they are schismatic and I don’t want to get involved with that. 

The Japanese masses Ive been to are fairly conservative, no guitars for one thing, just an organ, and definitely no dance.   Some women even cover their heads with lace mantillas which stunned me the first time I saw that because I had no knowledge of that custom.  I am not sure how receptive Japanese would be to a Latin mass although the head covering ladies would likely be all for it.  The English mass I attend which is run by the Filipino community also have no idea how open they would be to it since they appear to be more casual. 

I really like a reverential mass but interestingly the casual English mass has a very reverential priest and the conservative Japanese mass some of the priests are seemingly in a hurry or bored.

I would love to go to Italy but the yen euro exchange rate right now is not helping.

Mediocre Music

This post at Cathcon and listening to the music left me speechless.

http://cathcon.blogspot.com/2007/10/here-i-am-lord.html

 Why?  If you go to the link and listen to the cd Here I am, Lord Anthology 1970-1985 at least half of those songs I heard at mass every Sunday growing up.

http://www.danschutte.com/recordings.html

Growing up I did not know there was any other style of mass besides the one I attended.  I wasn’t fully aware of the beautiful church music that was out there although I always thought the mass where they used the pipe organ instead of guitars was more impressive and worthy of church.  As a teen I had purchased a cd of Gregorian chant and would listen to it to relax at the end of the day once in a while but I don’t think I was aware at that time that that could be used in mass.

Only in the past year or two have I really discovered the history of the mass and sacred music, and finding these things out has been a bit like tasting really good fresh ground coffee for the first time or top quality sushi made with freshly caught fish.    The senses are awakened and one discovers a while new richer world.  Upon seeing art or architecture painted or constructed hundreds or thousands of years ago one can see why it may be popular to this day.  There is quality and exquisiteness that draws people to it.. With the mass Christ draws us to him but at the same time the way we respond to that and worship should be worthy of the words timeless, exquisite, quality.  Not words like mediocre, current, or relevant.

 People wonder why church attendance is low, especially among young people and I think one reason is people want the best, and that includes the best music not necessarily the most current music.  I suspect on some level people begin to think if this is the house of God why is the music so bad?

P.S the church I attend here in Japan uses an organ at mass.  As for what the songs are I have no idea what they are singing since it is in Japanese and there is no English translation of the song book.