The problems with the current American Catholic state of mind are ever apparent in a site I stumbled upon after an interesting AIM consersation with a Aggie Catholic friend from Friendswood, TX. The conversation, which began innocently enough on the music of the mass and our preferences, led ultimately up to the question: is Marty Haugen, the composer of so much of the "modern" Catholic church music (most often sung by many choirs in the U.S.) , Catholic? Frankly, neither of us knew at the time, so I did a little internet research (which I'm beginning to do more and more often) and found a number of web pages after doing a search on Marty Haugen, and I came up with this web page: "Marty Haugen in Concert and Workshop at Monastery," from a Catholic web site, thedome.org, ran by the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand, Indiana. Turns out he's Lutheran. Figures.
Anyhow, back to the humor part of this rave post. In the meantime of doing this search on Haugen, I stumbled on a tongue-in-cheek, Catholic blog web site, The Curt Jester, with a parody on the American Catholic liturgy called "Liturgy for Ignoramuses." I highly suggest you follow their suggestions for mass next Sunday! It really hits home to my previous post on the "Life Teen Craze" that's effecting a number of parishes here around Houston and elsewhere in America.
It's also worth sharing that that Jeff Miller (of The Curt Jester), another Catholic blogger like myself, has his own rant on this 'clappy,' 'feel-good' kind of Mass popping up more and more frequently nowadays. It's nearly identical to my couple encounters with this nerve-racking, mass-killing phenomenon that is supposed to bring the youth to Catholicism. Unfortunately, if these proponents want to do that, why not act CATHOLIC?! At any rate The Curt Jester is a wonderful blog on everything Catholic, including a more traditional mass stance. Be sure to check out The Curt Jester's Rant, too.
Forgive the slight ranting tonight, but it seems necessary whenever approaching a topic such as the "modernization" of the Catholic Mass in America.
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