Month: January 2009

Sign of Peace Update

I know I said I'd do some reader question next, and I will be doing those shortly, but I ran across something in the CDW Newsletter that I thought I'd pass on while I was thinking about it.

Remember back in 2005 when Pope Benedict presided over the Synod of Bishops that was addressing the Eucharist?

Good.

Well, the post-synodal apostolic exhortation document that came out after that was widely anticipated, particularly because of Pope Benedict's known interest in the liturgy and improving it and . . . the document was largely a let-down. It took forever to come out (even Benedict complained publicly about how long it was taking the people doing the prep work to get it done), and when it came out there was very little that was new or noteworthy in it.

One thing that was noteworthy was relegated almost to a footnote (in fact, if memory serves, it may actually have taken the form of a footnote).

That was the announcement that the question of where the Sign of Peace is located in the Mass had been forwarded to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. (Actually, I think it referred to the appropriate dicasteries, but the CDWDS would be the key one.)

The idea, which Benedict himself wrote in support of when he was still Pre-16, is that the Sign of Peace isn't optimally placed in the Mass, coming as it does right before Communion. Placed there, it can be disruptive (especially when priests go romping all over creation to hug people and slap them on the backs, though this seems to have abated some in recent years) and takes the focus off of the Eucharist just when we're about to receive.

So the proposal has been floated to move the Sign of Peace earlier in the Mass, after the Prayer of the Faithful.

That would be a good move, to my mind.

And the move wouldn't disturb anything fundamental to the structure of the liturgy. In fact, there was no individual exchange of peace prior to the liturgical reform that followed Vatican II. It was added (as an option, I might mention) to the Latin liturgy based on parallel (but not identical and, in my mind, superior) practices in some of the Eastern Churches.

But it turned into a big, distracting celebration of "us"-ness.

Anyway, it's been going on four years now and I've heard nothing about the proposal to move the Sign of Peace.

Until now.

I was just reading the newsletter of the U.S. Bishops' Committee for Divine Worship (formerly the Bishops' Committee on Liturgy) and ran across this item:

Survey of the Sign of Peace at Mass

The Committee [for Divine Worship] reviewed the findings of a survey requested of the USCCB by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Disicpline of the Sacraments regarding the placement of the Sign of Peace at Mass. Of the 89 Bishops who responded, 66% supported moving the Sign of Peace after the Prayer of the Faithful and before the Presentation of the Gifts, 32% recommended retaining the Sign of Peace at its current location before the Agnus Dei, and 2% offered alternative opinions. A report from the USCCB was submitted to the Congregation's then-Prefect, Francis Cardinal Arinze.

Cool. Good to hear that there is some motion on this and that the bishops seem to be responding favorably.

Some More Good News

Now that I've been able to report that my relative is doing better, I thought I'd also talk about something I've been hoping to share with readers for some time.

Long-time readers of JA.O know that one of my hobbies is square dancing. It's something I started doing several years ago as a way of getting exercise, having something to do evenings and weekends, and enjoying the simple pleasure of moving to music that God built into human nature.

I also do other forms of dancing, such as round dancing (ballroom dancing with cued instructions) and a little bit of contra and line dancing, but square dancing is the form I enjoy most. It's dynamic, cooperative, social, and basically just good, wholesome fun.

It's also liquid geometry set to music.

And these days, it goes way beyond its country roots, using a blend of musical styles including rock, jazz, world beat, and others. (Maybe sometime I'll put up some brief, non-copyright-infringing samples so you can hear what I'm talking about.)

What I haven't talked about on the blog up to now is a project I've been working on for some time.

Basically, I've learned to call square dances.

This has been a very difficult skill to acquire. The only thing of comparable difficulty that I've ever tried is studying another language.

In fact, square dance calling is a lot like speaking a language. Depending on what what level you're calling at, you have up to 100-200 (or more) commands that are part of the square dance "vocabulary." You then inflect them by indicating which dancers you want to do them (similar to the way we change the form of nouns and verbs to indicate who or how many). And there is an overall "grammar" governing how the commands are strung together so as to make sense, the same way we have to put words together a certain way for a statement to be intelligible.

Another aspect of modern square dance calling that is language-like is that it is generative, meaning that you make it up as you go. Neither the dancers nor the caller tend to know what is coming next. Callers usually don't plan a sequence of calls rigorously in advance any more than speakers of a language rigorously plan their sentences in advance. Callers and speakers both generate meaningful strings of words in a spontaneous manner.

That spontaneity adds excitement and is part of what makes modern square dancing fun.

On top of the ability to generate meaningful choreography on the fly, square dance calling also involves a number of related skills, including being able to time the choreography to the music, showmanship, humor, and the ability to sing (something I didn't previously know if I'd be able to do; turns out I can).

So . . . learning how to do this has been something of an accomplishment, and I wanted to share it with readers.

To give readers a sense of the task, most people who try calling give it up without ever calling a gig.

A minority end up breaking through to the "working caller" level (meaning: you're doing gigs on a regular basis).

To attain full membership in the main professional association of square dance callers–CALLERLAB–one needs to call at least 12 gigs a year for three years.

I haven't been doing this for three years yet, but in the 2008 I called approximately 50 gigs, so about once a week on average.

I'm scheduled to do at least that number in 2009, because–and this is the reason I decided to talk about calling now–I've just crossed a new threshold as a caller. In addition to being a working caller, I'm also a club caller.

That means that a square dance club has asked me to call for them on a regular basis. I'm now calling the regular Friday dances for the Alpine Squares of Lakeside, California.

Being a club caller is considered the hardest job in square dance calling since you can't just have one "act" that you do. You have to be able to regularly come up with new material to keep the dancers entertained.

It'll be an interesting challenge!

As I've been learning this skill, I've been taught and mentored and given opportunities by some of the best in the business, and I owe them an enormous debt. I can't begin to thank them enough.

If anyone is in the San Diego area (or knows someone who is) who would like to see what square dancing is like, or who would like to see me call, my club is having a series of community dances in January (no experience needed, no partner needed).

LET ME KNOW YOU'RE INTERESTED and I'll get you the pertinent details.

Up next . . . answers to some questions from readers.

Good News for the New Year

I want to wish everyone a blessed celebration of Mary, Mother of God and also a Happy New Year.

I'd also like to share some good news and thank everyone who has been praying for my close non-Catholic relative.

I'd also like to give a special thank you to SDG and Tim J, who have been providing their always-welcome contributions to the blog, and particularly while I've been dealing with my family situation and the on-top-of-it-all busy holiday season (December was already going to be a massively busy month for me even before the family situation arose).

The news is that, although my relative has a very unusual condition, whose cause is unknown, but which responds well to treatment.

Although my relative is still in a precarious position, and will need months to recover, my relative is no longer in imminent danger and is making steady if slow improvement. My relative has been moved from ICU in an acute care hospital to a physical therapy center. It is expected to be quite some time before the relative could go home, however, so prayers are still very much appreciated!

Best of all, after my relative regained consciousness I was able to explain the anointing of the sick, and my relative requested and received it.

I am very thankful to all who have been praying. Being able to make sure that my relative's sacramental needs are met is truly an answer to prayer, and I am profoundly grateful.

Praise God, and thank you all!

Up next . . . more good news