Chorale

It's interesting how many times something happens where the Catholic faith needs to be defended. This is especially true here at USM. Everyday I realize just how liberal and anti-Catholic it really is. It's frustrating, but thankfully there are several of us around campus to constantly defend the faith.

This semester in chorale, we are singing a piece called "African Sanctus." Basically, the composer took the text from the mass and put them in what he calls an "unorthodox setting." With this, he then has the chorus singing over a pre-recorded tape of Muslim prayer music. When I first learned of this, I was a little taken aback but was willing to trust our conductor on his decision. I later discovered how much I would dislike it. There is a beautiful version of the Kyrie that the chorus is singing, but then we added the taped music; the Muslim Call to Prayer. I couldn't believe that someone would actually take such sacred music from both religions and combine them. I understand that the composer was trying to encourage peace between the religions, but doing it with music, which is a very sacred eliminate to any religion, is unbelievable.

With this in mind, our conductor (who I have and will always greatly respect) decided to have a discussion about how people felt about the music. I was amazed to learn how many people thought it was a wonderful concept and saw absolutely nothing wrong with it. Eventually, I decided to stand up for what I believe. I talked about how I have been a Catholic my entire life and that this piece made me extremely uncomfortable, to the point where I cannot wait for the semester to be over.

Although I was glad that I spoke up, it was really interesting to hear how other people embraced their spiritual life. One person talked about how she is a Catholic with Buddhist tendencies while others said that they were spiritual but didn't claim a specific religion. I felt bad for them. They are so lost that they feel as though they need to create their own religion that suits them. In thinking about it from my own perspective, I find it amazing what the Catholic Church offers. We have anything from extreme traditionalist to charismatics. Every person can really find somewhere between these that fits them spiritually so that they can best love and serve the Lord.