Music Suggestions
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

• Crown Him with Many Crowns (AH #481, CBW #549, CH #525, HPSC #145, ICEL #106, PMB #96, WIII #496, CHB #141, SMH #272, EH #352)
• Let All Things Now Living (WIII #559, HPSC #208, CH #567, SMH #393)
• O Sun of Justice (WIII #424, HPSC #264, HH #71)
• Sing Praise to God Who Reigns Above (WIII #528, ICEL #246, HPSC #301, HH #203, SMH #527)
• The Church of Christ in Every Age (WIII #626, CH #613)
• What Does the Lord Require? (WIII #624)

AH = The Adoremus Hymnal, Ignatius Press

CBW = Catholic Book of Worship II / Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

CD = Cantate Domino / Hymnal Supplement, GIA Publications, Inc.

CH = The Collegeville Hymnal, The Liturgical Press

CHB = The Catholic Hymn Book [London Oratory], Gracewing Publishers

EH = The Hymnal 1940 (Episcopal), used by many Anglican Use Roman Catholic parishes

HH = Hymnal of the Hours, GIA Publications, Inc.

HPSC = Hymns, Psalms & Spiritual Canticles, out of print but excellent

ICEL = ICEL Resource Collection, GIA Publications, Inc.

PMB = People's Mass Book, World Library Publications, Inc.

SMH = The Saint Michael Hymnal, Saint Boniface Church, Lafayette IN

WIII = Worship, 3rd Edition, GIA Publications, Inc.

• "Come, Let Us Worship" (Howard Hughes, SM)
• "Gloria in C" (Layton James) CNP Catalog #3131
• "How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place" (Randall DeBruyn) [Oregon Catholic Press]
• "Mass of Saint Agnes" (B. Andrew Mills) CNP Catalog #3118
• "Modal Mass" (Calvert Shenk) CNP Catalog #3115

• "Green Fields" (arr. Virgil Thomson)
• "He Watching over Israel" from Elijah (Felix Mendelssohn)
• "Humbly I Adore Thee" (J. David Hart) CNP Catalog #5019
• "In spiritu humilitatis" (Calvert Shenk) CNP Catalog #5117
• "Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier" (J.S. Bach)
• "Tantum ergo Sacramentum" (Christopher Bord) CNP Catalog #5099
• "There Is a Balm" (arr. William Dawson)
• "Three Sacred Rounds" (Colin Brumby) CNP Catalog #5133
• "Whom Shall I Send?" (Jean Berger) [Augsburg]

• "Andante sostenuto" (Hermann Schroeder)
• "Elevation" (François Couperin)
• "Prelude in a" (J.S. Bach)
• "Thema met Variaties" (Hendrik Andriessen)
• "Tiento" from Suite medievale (Jean Langlais)

From the August 2009 edition of Newsletter of the Bishops' Committee on Divine Worship:

A Question of Balance

Through our celebration of the Liturgy since the Second Vatican Council, we have come to the realization that music is indeed an ordinary part of the Church's liturgical life. We know, however, that its use must be governed by the principle of progressive solemnity. There is a great distance between the extremes: (1) liturgy at which nothing is sung, and (2) those situations in which everything that demands singing is, in fact, sung.

Since the Second Vatican Council even the nature of weekday Mass has shifted. Various melodies for the acclamations have become part of the Catholic consciousness and need only to be introduced by one person for all to join in singing a cappella. Attempts are presently being made by some composers to see if even simple refrains might be able to be used for the psalm response at weekday Mass.

The priest must exercise good pastoral judgment in choosing what should be sung at a particular liturgical celebration. Elaborate singing at the 6:30am weekday Mass in Ordinary Time does not manifest the sense of balance one wishes to achieve. While leading the people to a deeper appreciation of the use of music in the Liturgy, the priest must have the wisdom to know when he is simply forcing his own approach upon the people rather than helping them to come to a new level of expressing the richness in the texts.

In his 2006 Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI notes that the liturgical song has "pre-eminent place" as an aspect or building block of the ars celebrandi, the art of liturgical celebration (see no.42). Singing not only at the Liturgy, but singing of the Liturgy (i.e., singing the rites themselves), which involves both the priest and the gathered assembly, is an important tool for fostering the full, conscious, and active — and therefore fruitful — participation in the Liturgy. The implementation of the revised Roman Missal provides an opportunity for pastors and parishes to evaluate their practices and commit to embracing the ars celebrandi, which will lead to more fruitful worship and prayer.