From CNS:
At the CNS link, there is more background on why this change is being made. Go figure.In the not-too-distant future, songs such as "You Are Near," "I Will Bless Yahweh" and "Rise, O Yahweh" will no longer be part of the Catholic worship experience in the United States.
At the very least, the songs will be edited to remove the word "Yahweh" -- a name of God that the Vatican has ruled must not "be used or pronounced" in songs and prayers during Catholic Masses.
Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Divine Worship, announced the new Vatican "directives on the use of 'the name of God' in the sacred liturgy" in an Aug. 8 letter to his fellow bishops.
He said the directives would not "force any changes to official liturgical texts" or to the bishops' current missal translation project but would likely have "some impact on the use of particular pieces of liturgical music in our country as well as in the composition of variable texts such as the general intercessions for the celebration of the Mass and the other sacraments."
John Limb, publisher of OCP in Portland, Ore., said the most popular hymn in the OCP repertoire that would be affected was Dan Schutte's "You Are Near," which begins, "Yahweh, I know you are near."
He estimated that only "a handful" of other OCP hymns use the word "Yahweh," although a search of the OCP Web site turned up about a dozen examples of songs that included the word.
OCP is a nonprofit publisher of liturgical music and worship resources.
Limb said the company would be contacting composers to "ask them to try to come up with alternate language" for their hymns. But he said hymnals for 2009 had already been printed, so the affected hymns would not include the new wording for at least another year.
Even when the new hymnals are out, "it may take time for people to get used to singing something different," he added in an Aug. 11 telephone interview with Catholic News Service.
Speaking for myself, "You Are Near" remains one of my favorite modern hymns; I even have it on my iPod. (If you aren't familiar with it, the video below has a beautiful rendition of it.) I was happy to hear it played at my in-laws' recent 50th anniversary mass, and it saddens me to think it might be removed from public worship.
Posts
11 comments:
I don't think it will be removed frompublic worship, but only have the Name of God replaced by "Lord". As one who serves as cantor, I would not find that difficult. It is my understanding that the tetragrammeton was deliberately written with no vowels, because only the Jewish High Priest was allowed to pronounce the Holy Name (in the performance of his sacred duties behind the "veil"). My Jewish friends even leave out the vowel when they write the English word we use. Ex: "G-d forbid that we should show disrespect!" I have no problem with being more careful or more reverent, and I think those who like that hymn - and similar ones - can still sing it.
I agree. But then, I also like "Here I am, Lord"....
I'm not familiar with the song "You Are Near," but wouldn't it be easy to simply replace Yahweh with "Father?"
I had often wondered about the use of the word. I knew that it was never spoken by the Jewish people, so I wondered what gave us the right to be somewhat wonton about it.
Darren, your suggestion is a good one. Unfortunately, it will anger the feminist Catholics for whom no male terms are palatable.
It's not that great a hymn. We will live.
As someone who is desiring more orthodoxy in the Church (including incorporation of traditional hymnody), I still am eternally greatful to many of the modern hymns, "You Are Near" included. Because with the dismal catechesis I received growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, these hymns were really the only words of God reaching me, and they became deeply ingrained.
They are often denigrated without purpose or reason. Can people who rail against them at least acknowledge that many (most?) of them are derived directly from scripture? And if so, what does that say?
I agree. "You Are Near" is a good hymn. We sang it this past weekend at Mass -- it fit well with the readings. (The whisper at the cave and Peter on the water.)
"You Are Near" - Gag! This genre of music should be banned from Church's liturgical celebrations.
"You Are Near" - Gag! This genre of music should be banned from Church's liturgical celebrations.
No it shouldn't. Your turn.
"You Are Near" - Gag!
Ohhhhhhh... Dan Schutte and the St. Louis Jesuits did their job! They create an atmosphere for genuine prayer. A sincere, genuine connection. This genre of music has brought people closer to the Master, Jesus, the Lord, Yahweh; more than you could know (including me). Sit quitly and listen, whether your in the midst of a mass or in your home and turn off your judgmental critical mind for just a few moments. Don't dismiss this wonderful spirit filled music so casually. I can't believe their doing this. Unbelievable! More rules and ridiculus regulations.
To All Who Love God's Name:
The new directive from the Vatican to stop using the Divine name YHWH (Yahweh) in songs and prayers has no authorization from Scripture.
The truth is, no one knows the exact pronunciation of even the Hebrew name "Jesus" which was most likely "Yeshua." This doesn't keep us from expressing the name of God's Son does it?
It goes without saying we must have deep reverence for God but where in Scripture are we authorized to pluck out God's name? We can't point to the traditions of the Jews because Jesus said they made the word of God "invalid" because of their man-made traditions. (Matthew 15:1-6)
Jesus, on the other hand, came to make God's name known. (John 17:26) He knew the third commandment tells us not to use God's name "disrespectfully" not to stop using it.
Beyond that, there are many Bible examples in the Bible of God's servants of old, like Abraham and David, using and saying God's name frequently in song and prayer. Apparantly the angels felt it was fine to praise God using his name. Hallelujah actuall means "praise Jah" Jah being an abbreviated form of Jehovah. (Revelation 19:1)
The LXX had God's name, YHWH, all over it before it was eventually removed. This can easily be seen by comparing LXX early manuscripts with later ones.
The big question is. Where were scribes given permission to do this? They weren't but did anyway. The Vatican should reexamine their decision to hide this most wonderful name that reigns supreme in the earliest, most sacred documents-the Holy Scriptures.
Nick Batchelor
nickhawaii@gmail.com
Post a Comment