Vatican II: Sacrosanctum Concilium I

Fair warning: this will be a short post because we are in the middle of getting ready to move on Saturday, and I just don't have much time.

In the lengthy introduction to Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Council Fathers spent a not-insignificant amount of time and energy speaking on the centrality of the Holy Mass in the life and mission of the Church.  In paragraph 10, we read:

[T]he liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows. . . . From the liturgy, therefore, and especially from the Eucharist, as from a font, grace is poured forth upon us; and the sanctification of men in Christ and the glorification of God, to which all other activities of the Church are directed as toward their end, is achieved in the most efficacious possible way.

For this reason, liturgical matters are of the utmost importance and should not be dismissed away as merely matters of taste or because they are only incidental to the life of the Church -- contrary to what many would argue.  When I get to harping on folk Masses, Marty Haugen, etc., later on in this series, it will not be only because I think their taste in music is poor, but because I genuinely believe that they are doing a disservice to the Holy Mass.

Tomorrow: The lay faithful and the myth of "active participation"