The Faith which the Catholic Church proclaims is a Faith of
joy. It is the Faith of the Good News that Angel Gabriel brought to Mother
Mary. This was an event of great joy. On
Christmas night, the Angel announced news of great joy – the coming of Emmanuel,
God with us. After going through untold human suffering and dying on the cross
for our sake, he resurrected on the third day. His resurrection was, and is a
great joy for the world.
Our Faith is not a morose or gloomy Faith. The solemnity which we are called
upon to give to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist must not be interpreted to
mean the absence of joy or the absence of cheerfulness. This solemnity means seriousness, sincerity, orderliness
and respect. But everything must be done
with joy; for how can we receive the Good
News and not be joyful? In Colossians
3:16, we read that as the Colossian faithful assemble in expectation of the
Lord’s return, Paul the Apostle exhorts them to sing together ‘Psalms, hymns,
and spiritual canticles (Col. 3:16).
Many Catholics have understood the joy of singing at Holy
Mass and participate fully in it. Many
priests continue to educate and encourage Christians to join the choir to sing
and not wait for the choir to sing alone.
While some people heed this call, many are still to do so especially the
men. Many men sit in Church with their
lips tight as if they had been stitched.
Many men do not take their hymnals to Church. Some take them only to
show the world that they are God-fearing and devout Christians. They will not use them to sing. When a hymn is being sung, you find them
sitting and listening passively as if they were only passers-by with their
hymnals lying there in front of them.
Dear fellow Catholic Christians, the importance of singing
and fully participating in the
Eucharistic celebration with joy cannot be over-emphasized. Talking about Holy
Mass, Vatican II Council document on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium tells us “it is eminently desirable
that extensive use be made of singing in the course of the celebration.” Acts 2:46 says, “singing is an expression of
joy.” According to an old Proverb, “he
who sings well is praying twice over.”
Catholic women deserve a pat on the back for they do more of
the singing during the Eucharistic celebration.
They give the Mass the color of a joyful feast as during the singing
of the Gloria – the ‘ancient and
venerable hymn by which the Church,
gathered together in the Holy Spirit, offers praise and entreaty to God the
Father and to the Lamb’ (Constitution on
the Sacred Liturgy – Sacrosanctum
Concilium). Sweep the Church with your eyes next Sunday during the
singing of this joyful song. You will
find a reflection of the inner joy of women on their faces, their bodies, and
their gesticulations. They will gracefully respond to the joy which the Good
News announced by the Angel has awakened in their hearts. Meanwhile, the men
will stand stiff as pillars as if they were fighting to resist the emotions that
well up in them. At the same time you
know their hearts silently sing with joy.
The question is why men would sing inside and strongly refuse to
externalize that inner feeling. Is it
unmanly for a man to dance at Mass to the tune of a melody as our women do?
Young people more readily join the women to express their inward feeling, but
not the men especially those of the old school.
Either they are feeling too big, too proud, too old fashioned, not confident
enough or not humble enough to behave like little children before the Lord.
Real men do show their emotions. There
is nothing wrong or degrading in showing joy when we celebrate the Good News
that brings joy. There is no reason for women to be so alive during offertory
processions in Church while the men move as if they were soldiers marching; or as
if they were accompanying Jesus on the road to Calvary.
Let the joy that our Faith generates be seen in the way we participate
in the celebration of the Eucharist and in other Church activities.
