Advent retreat celebrated

Intermountain Catholic

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The Advent retreat took place at Saint Joseph the Worker Catholic Church. IC photo/Marie Mischel

WEST JORDAN - The lyrics of Advent songs reflect the message of the season, said Mary Frances Reza during the 2011 diocesan Advent retreat.

Reza, who led the retreat, is from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, N.M. She has served as a pastoral musician, liturgist, teacher, composer, clinician and in Hispanic ministry.

"The whole message of Advent is ‘Wake up. Are we ready?’" she said to those gathered for the retreat at Saint Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in West Jordan on Dec. 3. "It’s so important to be together, to reflect. We are called every Advent to prepare... and we need the Church to guide us."

Preparing for Christmas is precisely the reason that the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, attended the retreat, he said. "I wanted to take time from my schedule to pray, to meditate, to pause for a bit. Advent is a time of prayer and quiet and reflection."

The retreat, which was conducted in both Spanish and English, focused on Advent hymns in both languages.

"What we sing matters," Reza said, adding that Catholics can evangelize through song.

She urged those responsible for choosing music for liturgical celebrations to consider the lyrics of the songs before singing them. "Make sure the song reflects the church," she said. "Sometimes we like the rhythm and melody, but we don’t pray the text."

Bishop Wester said listening more attentively to what the hymns are saying is in itself a way to prepare for Advent. One of the hymns used in the retreat, he pointed out, took its lyrics from Isaiah 40:1-11, so "that’s like reading the Bible right there," Bishop Wester said.

Bishop Wester also said he appreciated that Reza’s bilingual presentation "fit beautifully" with the Diocese of Salt Lake City, where 80 percent of Catholics speak Spanish.

Like Bishop Wester, Blessed Sacrament parishioner Sharon Gately attended the retreat as a way to get ready for Christmas, she said, and she was also pleased that the event was bilingual. "I think it’s beautiful that different cultures can come together and celebrate our belief systems in this kind of way. I think it’s great," she said.

Preparation was also the reason that Marvin Kocher, who attends Saint John the Baptist Parish in Draper, went to the retreat. "Here’s what I really hope to get out of it: That I will slow down and enjoy what the season is instead of being consumed with shopping and getting gifts, but just have some peace and know that God’s in my life and just enjoy it," said Kocher, adding that he felt a strong call from God to attend.

Father John Evans, who is new to the diocese this year and is assigned as pastor of Saint Andrew Parish in Riverton, said he enjoyed the retreat and was engaged in the singing, and that the agreed with Reza that it’s important to use hymns that can become traditions within the congregation.

"This is experience for catechetical leaders to bring ... back this idea that what we sing is directly connected to the celebration of the liturgy and Scripture so they can’t ever be separated out," said Karin Hurley, who teaches RCIA at Saint John the Baptist Parish. "When we join as a community, song is essential to the full celebration of the rite and also to our praise and worship of the Lord. We should look to the scriptural message within the song."