You are what you listen to!

The average American listens to music more than 5 hours per day. There are hundreds of magazines, thousands of blogs, pages in nearly every daily newspaper, and dozens of television shows devoted to music. As a leisure activity, people rate listening to music as more important than movies (78 points on a 100-point scale, versus 60), books and magazines (55), TV (50), clothes (62) and food preferences (65).

Christmastide is a great season to reconnect with our patrimony of Catholic musical heritage. Sacred music was called by the Church a “treasure of inestimable value1.”  We can fill our ears and our minds with a wide variety of sounds, easily available in today’s media universe.

As we consider what we allow in, we need to be reminded that each experience and interaction of our life pushes us either closer to heaven or closer to hell. Every song we hear, text we read, image we see, film we watch, performance we attend —what we could call the cultural consumption— affects us, for better or for worse. We somehow have to process that influence. It may affect our behavior. It will be forever in our memory. In this sense, can we say that we are and will become what we listen to?

It may be time for some of us to mature as listeners and move up to music which forms our character in the direction we hope for, while eliminating the music which is rooted in our sensual humanity. As much as we may enjoy certain music, and as painful as it may be to give it up, our Catholic musical heritage is so rich and deep, that we can easily replace it with music of a timeless, divine, and serene beauty for the benefit of our soul.

And what about forming our children's musical ear and taste before it is too late?

Consider listening to the great music of our Catholic past during this Christmastide. We have selected for you these four pieces. Enjoy and share!

♦ Byrd's Lullaby for the Child Jesus >

♦ Palestrina's Hymn for the Feast of the Circumcision >

♦ Handl's Anthem for the Epiphany of the Lord >

♦ Tallis' Responsory for the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary >

• 1Sacred music "is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, n. 112).