Contra-bland

In the void left by a rejection of truth, goodness and beauty, malformed tastes and uniformed choices have been foisted upon Catholic congregations. Given the inclusion of substandard works in, for example, the latest hymnal in production for Catholic Canadians of the Ordinary Form, the imposition of crass music on congregations is not about to stop any time soon.

One publisher of mediocre sound-craft states that an individual responsible for aiding the downward trajectory of the faith of diocesan Catholics is

(h)ighly regarded as one of the preeminent liturgical music composers in the English-speaking world(.)

To a degree of frequency and depth difficult to exaggerate, the Ordinary Form Mass has suffered the abuse of a repeated Haas-kicking.

Haassle-Free Catholicism?

David Haas has made clear his obstinate indifference to concerns about his music, concerns that need to be addressed given his influence among diocesan Catholics.

The adult Catholics that I know who are more progressive, if we need to use those kinds of labels, we listen to the (Church) teaching and we pay attention to that. But conscience is a very subjective thing,” [.]

The church is diverse, there’s a diversity of thinking within it [... .] There’s a disconnect between church leadership and folks in the pews about lots of things.

Like so many "progressives" aka liberal religionists, Haas avoids the point that the conscience must be properly formed. Or, in fairness, the Huff-Post interview does little to dissuade the reader from concluding that Mr. Haas' opinions are anything less than a rejection of the requirement for Catholics to be properly formed in moral thought and action.

In order for the conscience to be freely and accurately exercised, it must be configured to the truth. The Catholic Church is the only reliable witness to the truth revealed by God. Breadcrumbs may be found here and there outside her precincts, but those breadcrumbs, if they be true food, lead back to the Truth Who is Jesus Christ.

There’s a disconnect between church leadership and folks in the pews about lots of things.

To which one responds - true, Mr. Haas, there is a disconnect. The disconnect exists more between composers of vapid ditties and young people, for starters, who want real meat (such as Tallis and Byrd and Palestrina and music that sustains the primacy of the Holy Scripture...) instead of the junk food (anti-poetry and corruptions of the biblical text) they are getting at a typical Novus Ordo Mass.

Have Catholic composers of adult contemporary fare noticed the increasing number of young people gravitating away from praise-and-worship-athons toward traditional liturgies? The publishers have noticed, which is why they are attempting to augment their product lines to access a market that is replacing the dwindling clique of hippie dinosaurs who do not realize the ELE asteroid has already struck their world.

True, there is legitimate theological diversity in the Church. A version of diversity, however, that fails to acknowledge a necessary distinction between theological orthodoxy and heterodoxy, a distinction demanded wherever the concern for the salvation of souls is taken seriously, is a version of diversity that disables unity, for one, and inhibits free discourse critical of certain ideologies or social theories.

Mr. Haas' brand of uncritical thinking is common among the offspring of an era that reveled in the rejection of authority. His responses to criticism appear to suggest he is either 1) entirely forgiving toward his less friendly critics, or 2) content in his rebellion, indifferent, and smugly satisfied he has massaged his wayward thinking into parishes through his "music".

David Haas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oVyxZWoL2M

Thomas Tallis:

If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

Given that the Mass is one of two primary loci where Catholics receive a moral and spiritual formation, the other being one's family, is it unfair to suggest that Mr. Haas' work should be avoided precisely because it foments acceptance of cheap spirituality?

If the volume of his work and the reception it has received across denominational boundaries is evidence of success, Mr. Haas has profited materially and considerably so from the sale of his music over the years. His passion is admirable. He has contributed considerable effort to the cause of liturgical music, even if that music is based on weak theory and is, as a result, formulaic and pedestrian.

Indifference to criticism is typical among the comfortable who routinely absolve themselves from any and all criticism of how they make a living, of how they profit from selling their wares, of how they contribute to a problem rather than a solution. They use their affluence to place cushions over their ears so they can remain deaf to the voices of concern. Their efforts to be supportive, e.g., by offering a sample of their work free of charge, as Mr. Haas has done in this latest instant, read like attempts to disseminate their work to curry favour, to maintain market share and profitability. They have convinced themselves their motives are altruistic. In all likelihood, their "gifts" are merely part of a marketing scheme to increase personal success (at the cost of souls).

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths. 2 Timothy 4: 3-4.

For those who enjoy having their feelings stroked by Mr. Haas' music, so be it. Among trained musicians, however, who labour to keep civilization alive by seeking to embody the transcendentals in musical form, the stroking of feelings is a distant second to the cause of celebrating truth, goodness and beauty, of celebrating the primacy of Holy Writ by deftly weaving together the sacred text and sound to produce music that is theologically coherent. The composition of sacred music should be left to the likes of Kevin Allen and Sir James MacMillan - the few, the informed, the artists.

Mr. Haas' work should be rejected for failing to rise to the level of music fit for inclusion in the Sacred Liturgy, for failing to achieve artistic and theological merit. Catholics deserve better.