Here is a glimpse at some art and gospel music from the African American Tradition. Most of these images are of the Protestant traditions but in the African American Catholic Parishes there is a significant borrowing from especially Gospel Music. For example in my own Parish of Holy Comforter – St. Cyprian we are singing the song featured here to begin our Year-long preparation for a major evangelization program. Come and Go With Me, to My Father’s House!
2 Replies to “Diversity on Display”
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This is terrible! This is not liturgical music! The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not a Gospel sing! This is why we lose so many to protestant groups. The Mass is not about us or our feelings or likings. Awful.
Hmm… What is it about the song in particular that you don’t like? Also, how is this song not liturgical? The message seems positive and invites one to Mass and the Churhch’s liturgy: “Come and Go With Me to my Father’s House.” I might add in this same parish we also sing a significant amount of classical and Traditional music. For example, Messiah, Beethoven’s Hallelujah from the Mount of Olives, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Haydn’s Creation, Ave Maria both by Bach and also by Schubert. etc. We aim for diversity but since this is a largely African American Parish, Gospel music and the Spirituals are a significant part of culture and tradition. The thing I like most about Gospel Music is that it is focused on God. One of the things I don’t like about some other modern Church Music is that it is too much about us, the assembly, the gathering. But Gospel music is almost always about God and how good he is, how powerful and how holy He is. Finally I might add, the title of the section is Diversity on Display. In this series of articles I feature not only African-American Parish life but I have also featured the Traditional Latin Mass (twice) and also the charismatic movement. The point of the series is to illustrate diversity. You or I do not have to like every aspect of diversity in the Church, everyone has their preferences, but it is good to acknowledge the diversity when it is legitimate and within liturgical norms. In my own predominately African American Parish, culture is surely on display but we follow the norms of the liturgy carefully.