Chant as the Universal Musical Language of Catholics

Well, I just had an interesting experience. At a crowded and large gathering, I sat down next to a visiting priest from Uganda, first time to the United States and the first time we have met. We talked about music a few minutes. Next thing you know, we were singing through the ordinary chants of the Graduale together and then started into the propers. It was great. Here we have music as old as the hills here and there and we both know it and love it: same tunes, same language, same associations, all leading to immediate familiarity and personal connections. Extraordinary isn't it?

This is what Catholic music should be like. Well, perhaps we should say that this is precisely what Catholic music is like.