Now that Pope Benedict is safely out of the country, I feel as though I can say some things without seeming like a spoilsport. Of course, I qualify all of the statement below with extreme gratitude for his visit and for the opportunity to have great seats at the Papal Mass in D.C.
That being said, what the heck was with the music at the Washington, D.C. Mass?
I can understand to a degree the desire to show the multiculturalism of American music...but some of it was just downright scary. And I mean like Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, Nightmare Before Christmas scary. Einstein on the Beach creepy. Phantom of the Opera diabolic, even. I'm trying to find a Youtube clip of the responsorial psalm, since I recall that being the most terrifying, but I haven't found one yet. If anyone has one, please link to it in the comments.
The only thing that rivaled the music for disenchantment was the freaky radical Protestants hanging around outside. I know it's an anachronistic joke, but these guys really put the protest in Protestant. There actually weren't that many of them, but to have them lurking around the exit gates as we made our way out of the city was kind of like watching DaVinci's kid brother try to draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa with a crayon. For your amusement, I plan on posting some of their more absurd signs...but for starters, feast your eyes on this example anti-Catholic hate speech...
If you can't read it, the yellow sign says "Roman Catholicism is of the Devil: it will send you to: Hell"
Despite the spurious use of the colon, one must wonder what goes through the heads of such Protestantors. Do they really think that the kind of evangelization Christ was talking about involved holding angry, crudely designed picket signs outside of a place where Christians just finished worshipping? Does he really think that the Pope's message of turning to Christ as our only true hope is from the devil? Or do you think he was a parishioner who was crying sour grapes after he didn't get a ticket to the Mass?
On the other hand, I'll give him credit for having the guts to confront the devil head on and march outside of the auditorium where the Antichrist had just spewed forth venomous lies. He might have been afraid some of his minions would make a martyr out of him...
If I really thought that Satan-spawn were holding a 46,000 follower rally in a stadium, I probably would high-tail it out of the city!
I wasn't particularly frightened during the liturgy, but it was an odd bit of music... like a Mass set to the local Cool Jazz station.
On a side note, drop me an email if you have the chance. I have an idea I'd like to run by you.
Posted by: Brian Saint-Paul | April 30, 2008 at 12:23 AM