Worship and Evangelization Outreach / Andrew Motyka

Music can help to edify or erode your faith

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center uncovered a disturbing fact about the beliefs of American Catholics: that only 31 percent believe in the Church’s teaching that the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Christ. There has already been much discussion of this survey, from criticism of its methodology to many attempts at explaining the causes of this lack of faith.

While the final statistic of 31 percent could be disputed, it is still lamentable how few people believe in the Eucharist. It is impossible to boil down this crisis to just one or even a handful of causes. It is usually the accumulation of several factors. While we certainly need to improve our catechesis of the sacrament to those who do not understand, often our lack of belief stems from what we do, not just what we say.

One such factor is how we worship. The Church has a saying: lex orandi, lex credendi (the law of prayer is the law of belief). It means that what we say and do—our words and gestures—ultimately influence what we believe. Not only our minds, but also our bodies, are involved in our belief.

A person who genuflects every time they walk past the tabernacle reinforces his or her belief that the Eucharist truly is Jesus: body, blood, soul and divinity. If a person shows no reverence in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, he or she signals to everyone that they do not believe. Our children will notice this dichotomy between faith and practice. Our outward gestures do more to influence their faith than any class time could, and children pay more attention to what we do than to what we say. Our behavior in the presence of the eucharistic Lord signals to each other and to our own souls just what it is that we believe.

Singing is one of the primary ways that we, as lay people, participate in the Mass. Since almost the entirety of the Mass can be sung, and everyone is capable of singing, it invites us to participate in a way that the spoken word cannot.

Opening most hymnals, however, and turning to the section on the Eucharist will highlight the fact that most, if not all, pieces found reference “bread.”

Bread and wine, food and cup: this is the way we reference the Eucharist in song much of the time. This is not a criticism of any reference to the Eucharist as bread and cup. Jesus, after all, calls himself the Bread of Life. If, however, this is the only way that we refer to the Blessed Sacrament in song at Mass, we do ourselves a disservice.

How often do we sing of the body and blood, not just in a general “we are the Body of Christ” way, but rather in an intentional reference to the Eucharist as the true Body and Blood of the Lord? The words we choose to sing over and over, week after week, eventually shape our beliefs about the Eucharist.

Leo Nestor, a respected conductor, composer and pastoral musician, died on Sept. 22. He was the director of music for the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington for many years, and also my professor in graduate school. He used to warn students to “always be careful of the words you put into the mouths of the people of God.” He also cautioned against music that can “rot your teeth and erode your faith.” We have a tremendous responsibility to be careful when selecting music for the liturgy, so that we can build up, rather than tear down, the beliefs of our Church.

We read in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians that “anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1 Cor 11:29). This means that whenever we receive holy Communion, we should be aware of what it is that we are receiving. We can form not only our intellects, but the rest of our lives in this truth by speaking, praying and living the actuality of just what it is God gives to us in the Blessed Sacrament: the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.
 

(Andrew Motyka is the director of Archdiocesan and Cathedral Liturgical Music for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.) †