How About Some Sacred Music?

Based upon John the Baptist's reference inJohn 1:29 to Jesus ("Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world"), the text in Latin is:

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

which means:

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

We now turn from the Mass as a sacrifice of adoration and thanks (referring to God), to the Mass as a sacrifice of propitiation and petition (referring to us).

Notice we use two words, propititation and petition. They are not the same.

1. The Mass is the most powerful means we have to obtain propitiation for sin. This occurs in different ways.
   
   
   • Through the Mass, God's mercy makes reparation for the want of divine love that we have shown by committing sin.
   • Through the Mass, God's mercy removes the guilt of repented venial sins and moves the sinner estranged from Him to return to God.
   • Through the Mass, God's mercy remits more or less of the punishment still due on earth to forgiven sins.
   • Through the Mass, God's mercy also remits more or less of the punishment which the souls in purgatory have to undergo before entering heaven.
   
   
2. The Mass is a powerful means of petition to God for the graces that we and others need in our pilgrimage through life.
   
   
   • Graces are necessary for the mind to know what is God's will and how it should be fulfilled.
   • Graces are necessary for the will to desire what pleases God, to choose what He wants us to do, and to sustain our choice by loving Him above all things.

I am writing this for those out there who for some reason cannot comprehend what it means to ask for God's mercy. I believe that somehow this is missing from the Mass that I attend. The reason I say that is that the accompanying music to the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) sounds like it comes from "Sesame Street Live." It is not reverent and certainly does not sound like we are asking God for his mercy. I don't know how music directors get away with such hideous music. It is contrary to the liturgy when it does not enhance it. If you and I had done something wrong to someone else and when we approached them and asked for their forgiveness we did so by humming a "happy song", or spoke in a tone that did not reflect the affect(the specific emotion at the moment), then they would think we are not being sincere. The Agnus Dei is not a happy song. We are pleading for God's mercy just prior to receiving His precious body and blood. Pleading - you notice we ask for His mercy twice and then for His peace. Yet the music that I have heard for the past two weeks you could substitute " Kermit the frog, come over here and talk to me" and wouldn't miss a beat.