Before we move on past the 40 or so years that was Vatican II — or, should I say, living in its shadow and experiencing its blessings and challenges to music in Catholic worship — let us pause and reflect on the lesson(s) of this great Council of the Church. There would be no Spirit and Song, nor any other modern or contemporary approach to liturgical music, if not for Vatican II. And let's be honest, a lot of people do not like or want any modern music in worship. There are also a lot of people who want nothing to do with anything before 1960, in terms of liturgy form and music.

I would offer the following word to this discussion: BALANCE! No one wins in war. We need to seek balance in all things. Consider our human anatomy. Neither the right or the left foot is better. We humans walk with BOTH feet: our right and our left foot! The liturgy is not supposed to be a forum for fighting, winning and losing. The Eucharistic liturgy is an encounter with the risen Lord: in the Word, in the assembly, in the ordained priesthood and in the consecrated host.

Let us empty ourselves as Jesus did. Let us empty ourselves of our rigidity, whether it is to one style or the other. Let us be open to the many ways we can encounter God, symbolized by the many personalities of people on the earth. The Mass gives us an opportunity for sameness, and a commonality that gives our Catholic faith a uniformity that many find comforting. But no matter how hard we try to make things the same, things are always changing. God: always the same, but ever new! People, culture, trends, ways of seeing things, fashion and style always change. And yet, the human condition never really does change.

Pope Benedict called the Second Vatican Council "our compass" for the future, as the church moves into the next millennium. So let us be people of balance. Let us seek balance in our song choices at Mass — music choices from our great musical treasury as Roman Catholics, and songs that have recently been composed that stylistically reflect the culture we now live in. Let us also seek a balance in our living. How shall we define "balance"? It's a state in which various elements form a satisfying and harmonious whole and nothing is out of proportion or unduly emphasized at the expense of the rest.

Listen to Matt Maher's recording entitled Adoration. The traditional Tantum Ergo is musically married to a modern day "worship chorus." Old meets new, hymn/chant meets a modern day song form, the left foot and the right foot walking together in balance: a harmonious whole!