A corollary to the Our Father cadences: I'm never quite sure what to make of singing the Our Father. In theory, I've got no problem with it. Song's a great way for a commmunity to pray together. But the versions of it that I generally hear at parishes are just dreadful. They sound like dirges. If you were outside the church at the moment they were being sung, you would think people were inside weeping.
That is not the right tenor (no pun intended) for the Our Father. It's a prayer of petition, yes, but it should express our desire to be open and our hopefulness for the kingdom. It needs a good amount of joy.
As I wander around I see a lot of parishes where they sing the Our Father. Cearly there's a desire to express that prayer in song. So, if you write liturgical music or you know someone that does, please, write us some good Our Fathers. It would be a great service to the Church. We really need them!
No comments:
Post a Comment