We are certainly grateful for these wonderful people who have given so generously to share their time in preparation and their talents in adding great beauty and reverence to the worship of God, but that’s the whole point: it’s done for the glory of God. Musicians are artists, and should take as their example the great art masters of old who never presumed to affix their own names to a work of religious art for fear of calling attention to themselves rather than to God.

I think that the most apt criticism of the liturgy, as it is celebrated in many places in this post-Vatican II era, is that it is too “man-centered.” You can connect with people anywhere, but you go to Mass to connect with the Almighty, and there is nothing else on earth that has the power to do that like the sacred liturgy of the Catholic Church. So, wherever that criticism is justified, it is a lamentable thing.

Perhaps the most revealing indicator of man-centered liturgy is frequent applause at Mass. I dare say that every Catholic who “gets around” — attends weddings, funerals, confirmations, First Communions, etc., at churches away from his or her home — has been to at least one parish where they seem to clap for everything. This, of course, would be extreme and most would agree that it’s out of place. But is applause ever appropriate?

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (before he became Pope Benedict XVI) wrote: “Whenever applause breaks out in church because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of the liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by some kind of religious entertainment” (“The Spirit of the Liturgy,” p. 198). I think the key word there is “human.”

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