As the Church celebrates the Jubilee of Choirs and Choral Groups, Pope Leo XIV reflected Nov. 23 on the responsorial psalm – “Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord” – in his homily for the Solemnity of Christ the King.
Vatican News reported that thousands of choirists were present for the Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica and that the Pontiff encouraged them to see their ministry as a modality of love and unity.
Pope Leo said that the liturgy “invites us therefore to walk together in praise and joy towards the encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, gentle and humble Sovereign – the One who is the beginning and end of all things.”
God’s power is love, and the cross is his throne, the Pope noted.
“From the wood, he reigns as Prince of Peace and King of Justice, who in his Passion, reveals to the world the immense mercy of God’s heart,” the Pontiff said.
The Pope said that God’s love inspires choirs to sing, and he remarked that the choirists and musicians gathered are thanking God for the grace to serve Him and to use their talents to encourage the Church’s spiritual growth and participation in the liturgy.
“Great civilizations have given us the gift of music in order to express what we carry deep in our hearts and what words cannot always convey,” he remarked.
He recalled that Saint Augustine had remarked that people who sing, love, and had pressed the faithful to sing as they – together – continue their progress in virtue.
“It means singing the praises of God together, consoling our brothers and sisters in their suffering, exhorting them when they seem to give in to fatigue and encouraging them when difficulties seem to prevail,” the Pontiff explained.
The unity and harmonization of the choir in a single hymn is evocative of the Church’s unity and harmonization, Saint Ignatius of Antioch wrote, as the Pope recalled.
Music ministry takes commitment, mutual understanding, and a rich spiritual life because choirists must lead people in prayer. Choirists are their own small community but they are also part of the larger community of the Church, and they must allow the faithful to fully participate, not see the choir as a performance.
He encouraged musicians to make beautiful music and study the Magisterium’s teachings regarding liturgical norms related to music.
The Pontiff placed the musicians under the protection of Saint Cecilia, a virgin and martyr “who raised the most beautiful song of love through her life here in Rome, giving herself entirely to Christ and offering the Church a shining example of faith and love.”
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