There is one unforgetable experience I got last week. Together with some Exultate friends such as Mbak Andang, Maxi, Lia, Rina, Ika, Sheila and drg Sisca, I attended a matrimony service in another church. It is a non-Catholic church.
We arrived earlier... at about 9.30. The church had already been packed by congregation members and guests. My first impression was that it was very noisy inside the church. While the people were wearing very fine and expensive clothes, the chruch looked dirty... the person who was in charge of the sound system and other church facilities did not wear special constume... he was just wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt... he walked around the church to make sure that the facilities worked well. Oh my...
As we were asked to sing two songs during the service, we were invited to sit on the choir bench... not far from the organ. At first we felt that it was an honour.. but then the feeling disappeared as the benches were full of dust... even there was a spider web there... So, we decided not to sit there... Instead, we sat in the front rows near the choir bench.
The matrimony service started at 10.00 with a song “The Prayer”... followed by some other songs, dialogues, a sermon and other services. My friends and I sang “Ubi Caritas” (a Taize song) and “Ti Ringrazio o Mio Signore” upon the request from the bride’s family.
Well... it seemed like a normal practice for the congragation of this church to sing a lot of songs. But... what made us confused was the songs that they sang... Some of the songs were religious ones... taken from “Kidung Jemaat”... even one of the songs was similiar to PS 613, while others were really secular songs... Take for examples... there was a song “Semua Karena Cinta” (I think it was an Indonesian Idol song), “I have a dream” and others... Those songs were sung during the religious service... which made the service not much different from an ordinary activity such as “rapat RT/RW”. I found that there weren’t acclamations said by the congregation. The response “Amen” was only said by the minister... And there... when the congregation members sang a song... the minister could drink mineral water... Upppss!
Well, I do not want to say that their religious services are always the same as the one I witnessed.... I believed that it was just a coincidence that the service did not look liturgical at that time... I believe that on other days they have better services and songs... Just like what usually happens in our church.... We sometimes find that the songs are not liturgical ones... We sometimes notice that the choir sings some songs for a show... We sometimes find that both the choir and the priest do not put the songs properly... but of course this is not the church policy. Music in our church must be sacred music (musica sacra) and not the secular one. Liturgy is something sacred... the centre is God... Music, songs and other activities must lead to the presence of God... not just to entertain the congregation.
As a Catholic I am very proud of the Catholic Church liturgy. While a lot of people say that the Catholic liturgy is boring... I say that the Catholic Church liturgy is rich, solemn and sacred... God is present there... Celebrating liturgy is celebrating God’s party... It is God that become the centre of the celebration.
(Thomas A. Sutadi)
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