There are plenty of times when we feel we have reached a “plateau”, like we have levelled off and there is no movement upwards. We see growth and improvement as a direction. Upwards.
Most of the music found in parishes today has not been reflective of the wishes of the Second Vatican Council, but have been introduced since 1970 into the Liturgy to match the new style of Mass and the vernacular languages through a poor understanding of the documents of the Council. The Second Vatican Council states clearly in Sacrosanctum Concilium (36 and 116) that Gregorian chant and the Latin language were to continue as before as the centre pieces of liturgical music of the Catholic Church.
Is there hope? Is there hope for our world, for our lives? We live in a world that looks for hope because we are so often presented with events in day to day life that seem beyond hope. What then can be the reason for hope? And what will hope provide since this world is not offering hope in the here and now? Is this indeed possible?
Our purpose is to know, love and serve God in everything. So the purpose is to get to know God more intimately through reading HIS books. He inspired the writers to write what they did. The Holy Spirit helped the Gospel writers and St Paul with the New Testament. We might be reading these books for the Literary contents and style, or for the sacred work that they are. In each case there is something to gain from the study of the Word of God.
There are times in our lives that we wonder why things are not going our way. Perhaps like a reverse of the Bing Crosby film "Going My Way". In some cases it may be that there seems no light to lead the way ahead. A dark night during days of living can be a great burden and can lead us to think that there will never be light again. But wait...