Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has said,

"An authentic updating of sacred music can take place only in the lineage of the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony."

He reiterated that sentiment to the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music last weekend when he said, "the ecclesial authorities must undertake to guide ... the development of such an important form of music, not by 'freezing' its heritage but by seeking to combine the legacy of the past with the worthwhile novelties of the present, so as to achieve a synthesis worthy of the exalted mission [sacred music] has in the service of God."

My background in church music started out in the 1980s when I was the piano player for my parish's youth folk choir (main accompaniment by guitars - sometimes I played the tambourine, maracas or wooden blocks instead of piano).  Things did not improve much over the years as I became the only accompanist for certain Masses around the city, and not knowing how to play organ, nor wanting to learn how, I always played piano or electric keyboard, which was fine with everyone because it worked well for the Glory and Praise, Music Issue or Gather hymnal compositions.  I even wound up singing with an a capella Christian group for a while, providing music for Protestant Sunday services more often than we'd sing for Catholic events.  The inspiration there was mostly The Nylons!  (I should have paid attention when I learned what the etymology of the term "a capella" was.) I started writing some music too.  By then I had received enough formation to know none of what I wrote was proper for liturgical use.

From this background a friend of mine, who is a young priest in our diocese, encouraged me to consider writing music for the liturgy.  He had studied liturgical music, and he said that Pope Benedict was calling for composers to write music for the Mass, especially because the English translation was going to be revised and brought to a closer translation of the Latin, so new settings of the ordinary parts of the Mass (like the Gloria and the Sanctus) would be needed.  He even provided me with an advance copy of some of the translations in the works.  I had (and really still have) no idea where to start, and asked if the Pope had given any guidance as to the style of the music.  "It should be somehow chant-like," was basically my priest friend's response. 

This is how my journey to discovering the treasury of sacred music began.  I started listening to Gregorian Chant, and this grew into listening to polyphony, and reading everything I could about the roots of liturgical music.  The Church Music Association of America was my main source of information, leading me into the Church documents on the liturgy and a gradual understanding that we had lost part of the Mass when we stopped singing the chant. 

So revisiting this anew, now much better educated than I was at the start of this journey, I still ponder what the "authentic updating of sacred music" will look like.  Will it mainly apply to vernacular settings of the propers and ordinary?  Paying more attention to the novelty of the "recessional hymn"? What does the Holy Father consider to be "worthwhile novelties of the present"?  But while I'm pondering this, I will also be continuing to explore and work to restore Gregorian chant to the liturgy, because as the Pope has said, the authentic updating cannot take place without "the lineage of the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony."  That's why I am coordinating a sacred music workshop at my parish... I want to keep learning and hope others will too.