This is from John Burland‘s We Follow Jesus. I can’t see any changes in the sheet music from the version in “Into the World”, but I will include it here for completeness. It makes sense to include a Beatitudes song in a collection that is ideal for First Communion classes.
I already blogged the song here.
Blessed are the poor in Spirit
For theirs is the Kingdom of God
Blessed are all those that mourn
For they will be comforted
Blessed are the humble
For they will inherit the earthBlessed are you
Blessed are you
When you stand in love
And speak as one
Blessed are youBlessed are all those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness
Blessed are those who are merciful
For they will see God’s mercy
Blessed are the pure in heart
For they will see God’s faceBlessed are you
Blessed are you
When you stand in love
And speak as one
Blessed are youCome rejoice and be glad
For the Kingdom of heaven is yours
Come rejoice and be glad
For the Kingdom of heaven is yoursBlessed are the peacemakers
For they will be children of God
Blessed are those who are treated unjust
As they live and love in God’s wayBlessed are you
Blessed are you
When you stand in love
And speak as one
Blessed are you
Are you this is a JB song? There are no OOOs, AAAs, or YEAHs in it!
On a more serious note, I notice that virtually all the folk producing music for young people are in their fifties and sixties (as am I, so I’m comfortable being ageist!). This applies to OCP’s Spirit & Song artists as well as John Burland, Michael Mangan, etc. I’m fairly confident that in the entire history of pop music targetting teenagers, it has almost always been produced by people only a few years older than them. So I’m wondering if this style of music has any sway with teenagers. There is a style of music in certain ads that so annoys me (e.g. the one with soggy fries) that I wouldn’t touch the products being promoted, so may be that’s closer to a modern teenager’s style!
From what I read, most of the twenty something people going to Mass are religious conservatives that have little interest in contemporary style music at Mass, so just maybe, there should be more of an effort promoting traditional Catholic music to the young. I fear that those inspired by Hillsong lite are ending up seeking the real thing, outside of our Catholic churches. How many leave Catholic high schools unfamiliar with “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name”, let alone any Gregorian chant?
Chris
All very good points, Chris.
I think the marketing of this sort of music is to Catholic school teachers in the first instance, who are looking to engage their students. That is where the funding is available – it sure as heck isn’t going to parish musicians. Whether they could engage the students with chant, traditional hymns or repertoire from last century is questionable, especially as I know few teachers who attend Mass at all and fewer who come from a chant/trad background. Maybe I just move in the wrong circles. Some of the music aimed at schools is also suitable for liturgies, but economics suggest that is a secondary market.
The students themselves have no contact with the Catholic church outside school because their parents don’t either. The cliché that first communion is graduating from church is not far from the truth and then even at Catholic school, the only Mass attended is the occasional school mass.
The conservative twenty-somethings looking for chant / traditional hymnody have my admiration – they have found a spirituality that draws them to God. As long as they understand that in a volunteer music program, which is all the Catholic Church is prepared to fund (less than nothing – ie you pay for things yourself), it is their responsibility to follow the movement of the Spirit and do the work involved for that music to be taught to the assembly and played at mass. I get the impression that Cathedral music of a traditional nature gets funded by the Bishops for their Cathedral churches but we should not expect any support outside that for any other sort of music. Hobart is of course excluded from any criticism, as I don’t think any music of any sort is supported in Tasmania.
On the side of traditional hymnody is the PD nature of most the repertoire and excellent sites like yours to assist.
I would happy for anyone knocking down our doors to do music ministry. Due to family illness involving daily trips to visit the Launceston hospital, we haven’t been able to play at mass for the last month. The other musicians here are also fully committed so that means a lot of quiet masses again locally at present.
As far as younger songwriters, we use Gen Bryant’s material, but there isn’t much else out there, except emmanuelworship, who aren’t always Hillsong-lite these days. Monica O’Brien and the Willow people are looking at mentoring emerging songwriters, so I have hope that a formal way of collaboration and enhancement of music coming from isolated parish songwriters is possible and new music can emerge from the parishes rather than just the school system.
Otherwise, I’ve got some more songs from Erwin Cabucos hymns to look at soon that are very traditional lyrically and musically coming from a fruitful cultural perspective for Australia. That gives me hope.
This all sounds like me doesn’t it – miserable, pessimistic, yet you never know. I suppose I think that if the Spirit really moves the Church towards traditional hymns and chant, I will be knocked over and washed away by the flood and I should be.
Thank you for the food for thought, Chris.
cheers
Geoff
I agree with most of what you say here. The sad reality is that most parishes are struggling financially and there is no money to pay musicians, and volunteer musicians are typically getting long in the tooth! It is also fair to say that volunteers for other church functions such as cleaning and reading also seem to be getting thin on the ground!
A few years ago I went regularly to the local weekday Mass and classes would seemingly randomly turn up to liturgies that may or may not be suitable for them with teachers who may or may not know what is happening during the Mass. Also, because weekday Masses are low-key, the students were not getting any idea of what an inspiring liturgy is, especially as the vast majority are not going to Sunday Mass! I can remember one with a really long first reading that would have confused even the adults there if they hadn’t gone to the previous day’s Mass as it was the continuation of a particular event, and there was no preamble. So many students at Catholic schools; so many wasted opportunities for catechism and inspiration!
I would love to see a full time music leader, trained in liturgy, appointed to the Catholic school system here in Tasmania, not necessarily tied to the cathedral, but a Mass-attending Catholic whose job is to provide suitable music (which doesn’t need to be all traditional!) that teachers can choose from and use at school Masses. He or she should spend a considerable amount of time on the road visiting schools teaching, inspiring, and leading music at school Masses.
Amen
Geoff