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Contents © 1997
by Jim Holman.
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Cool and Jazzy Liturgy

OUR LADY ROCKS IN MALIBU

Fifteen minutes before Mass, the musicians were practicing. In addition to the two guitars, there were a pair of conga drums, maraccas, a clarinet, and a saxophone. The result was a cool jazz sound, reminding me of the instrumentals of the Mamas and the Papas hit, "California Dreaming." Rehearsal over, the participants chatted and laughed, and gathered in a circle, held hands, and recited the Lord's Prayer.

After they left, Msgr. Sheridan himself came in, walked into the sanctuary, gave the tabernacle (still enthroned in the center) a nod, and proceeded into the sanctuary. He was followed by the lectoress in a red dress, who gave the tabernacle a profound bow. After that came the altar girl and boy, neither of whom acknowledged the Blessed Sacrament at all. Nor did the boy make any sign when, a few minutes later, he came out solo to light the candles. Meanwhile, the congregation was arriving. Half of these followed the altar servers in their actions; the others genuflected.

At last, the procession came up the aisle: the altar girl was crucifetrix, followed by the boy, the lectoress holding the Gospel book, and at last, Monsignor. Upon their arrival at the sanctuary, while the others filed in, Msgr. Sheridan did indeed genuflect reverently by himself. The action of the Mass unfolded. Due to the intricacy of the musical accompaniment, the responsorial psalms were entirely the work of the choir/ band. The Gospel was the passage from St. John about Christ being the Bread of Life that came down from Heaven. Monsignor preached upon this, although--despite the Eucharistic nature of this passage of Scripture, he avoided any mention of the Blessed Sacrament. Indeed, although he spoke of the neccesity of faith in Christ and of adherence to the Ten Commandments, Msgr. Sheridan mentioned nothing specifically Catholic (though he did not contradict the Faith, either).

Our musicians did an interesting job with the Offertory Hymn. Set to the tune, "Picardy," it was a selection from the Music Issue I had not heard before. Most often associated with the song, "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence," the old French carol can be most haunting and reverent. Set to these words, whose refrain was something like: "All who love are God's, Jesus is our life, God is Love," the effect was a bit different. Moreover, the unique makeup of the band made the normally otherworldly "Picardy" sound a bit like the dance music from Oscar Wilde's Salome.

The second Eucharistic prayer came and went, and the Our Father was accompanied by a group hand-holding. Following this was the communion procession, as our cardinal calls it. The song which the band played was number 505 in the Music Issue, which, in part, runs as follows: "I myself am the bread of life, you and I are the bread of life, taken and shared by Christ that the world might live... Here is God's kingdom, given to us as food, this is our body, this is our blood; a living sign of God in Christ."

After we had all retaken our pews, an older couple, accompanied by five younger women (two of whom held infants), one by one proceeded up to the front, genuflected to the Blessed Sacrament, and then arranged themselves in front of the sanctuary facing us. The gentleman announced that they were associated with a Long Beach refuge for unwed mothers, of which he was the founder and president. He also mentioned that he is a Protestant pastor. As he described the work of his group, it struck me that, despite not having what was the Catholic belief in the Real Presence, he and his friends had behaved better than many who do.

His talk finished, he and the ladies genuflected and departed, after the congregation gave them a round of applause.

Msgr. Sheridan and the sanctuary party recomposed themselves as a procession, he once again made a lone genuflection, and they turned about and processed down the aisle.

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