It's been a while, but school's finally going to start again! That also means we'll be seeing each other a bit more often in the weeks to come. :D Here are some udpates and announcements!
1. MM's going to be having our welcome tea on the 13TH OF AUGUST, Thursday.
It's going to be a combined welcome tea with Candlelite, FFM, Alpha and the Legion of Mary!
Venue: probably the SDE seminar rooms
6pm: Gather at Macdonalds'(we need seniors to be at Macs to help pick the freshmen up! Do let us know if you can help. If not, it's fine too!)
6.15pm: Begin moving to Venue
The welcome tea begins at 6.30pm and will end at around 9pm.
Do join us if you can! It'll be great if we have seniors around for the freshmen to approach should they want to find out a little more about what we do and all.
2. Our Annual General Meeting will be held on the 17TH OF AUGUST , Monday.
Date: 17th Aug 09, Monday
Time: 6.15pm Mass, followed by 7pm AGM
Venue: Holy Cross Church
This will be a very important day for the minstry. We'll be electing the next MM comm, so we really hope that you'll be able to be present during the process. Your votes and much valued input are looked forward to!
3. Cantors Concert!
The cantors from the Divine Mercy Church are having a concert on the 18th of Sept and they were wondering if any of you would be interested in attending it! The proceeds will go to the new Divine Mercy Church, so it's kind of like a fund-raising effort. Do consider turning up for this with your friends!
Looking forward to an amazing semester ahead!
Love, Jess
...making music for GOD!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Hello dear visitors!!
Welcome back! On Monday, MM held the last session of the semester... It turned out great, and I'd really like to express my gratitude all the people who turned up! None of us expected the surprisingly substantial turn-out, given the impending exams and assignments.. THANK YOU! :D
Also, I'd like to thank Annette, Mike and Father Wong for all the time and effort put into the planning of the session.. They started more than a month ago, and were not in any way obliged to say yes to helping out.. And they still did! Awesomeness!! :DD
Okay. And here are the downloads!
Session notes:
Session notes!
Research:
Music
Architecture
Session ppt:
Session ppt!
enjoy!
jess
...making music for GOD!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Hello everyone!! :D
Our next session is coming soon! haha. :D
It's entitled Do Catholics REALLY suck at singing?? and is actually about the intricate relationship between the architecture of a building and music quality!
We've invited Father John Wong, an archi major, to come give us this talk! In addition, our very own Michael and Annette will be helping out during the session. It's going to be awesome! :D
Hopefully you'll be able to join us! This will be held next Monday, the 23rd at 6.30pm inside one of the seminar rooms in SDE. Feel free to let any of us know if you're not sure about how to get there! See you!
love, jess
...making music for GOD!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Hello, everyone!
On Monday, MM held a session on Taize. This session was quite significantly different from the typical input session that we carry out. Michelle started us off with an interesting story about the brief history of Taize, complete with colourful pictures to hold our attention. Des followed that by taking us through a Taize session.. and that, I believe, was quite a new and refreshing experience for the few of us gathered there. Candles were laid out in a cross, and the lights were turned off so that we could establish a suitable setting.
The purpose of Taize is to maintain a reflective mood and periods of complete silence. That, coupled with the the meditative repetition of a short tune, helps us to focus on God and to listen to what He has to say to us. The beauty of a Taize session lies in the fact that that one simple tune can mean different things to every individual, but still ultimately lead us to the same thing.. God. Des shared about how people who speak different languages can sing the same song together in their respective native language, and at the same time experience something totally personal. Beautiful!
The session was short but powerful in its special way. Thank Mich and Des for taking us through it!
And here are the session notes and colourful powerpoint slides:
Session notes!
Colourful session slides!
Look out for updates on our next session, which will come two weeks later! :DD
Thank you for visiting!! :D
love, jess
...making music for GOD!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Hello everyone!
For our next two sessions, we'll be touching on
Taize (9th March) and on Architecture and music in churches (23rd March). Look out for more updates!
jess
...making music for GOD!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Hi everyone!
Here's an article that Justin shared with me. It's quite a nice read in preparation for Lent.
It took 40 days...
Hope you'll enjoy it too. ^^
jess
...making music for GOD!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Hello our dear faithful visitors! We're back with an update! :D
Yesterday, we had Cheryl give the session on the Charismatic movement and its implications! It was insightful, especially to people who do not quite know what it is about (including myself!). Yes, this happens to be one of the more controversial matters pertaining to our faith, but I urge all of you to be open to reading up about it and finding out more on your own.
If you do not see it in a good light, ask yourself: Why? Is it because of the images that come to mind? Because it is 'Protestant' to be Charismatic? If you find that you are unable to come up with a credible answer to that, I would encourage you to make an effort to read the session notes so as to see it more holistically. We are all called to see ourselves as Catholic, Christian and Charismatic! And we cannot vouch for the third unless we know what being Charismatic really is about.
Powerpoint slides!
Session notes!
Thank you once again for visiting!
jess
...making music for GOD!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Hi again everyone!
Here're the finalised details for our upcoming session:
Topic: The Charismatic Movement
Venue: Risen Christ
Time and date: 2pm, 23rd of February. Monday!
After the session, we'll all head Desmond's place (just a short while away!) for fellowship and chocolate fondue!! We can play some games and order in food. :D It's going to be really fun spending the holiday together, and we hope that all of you can turn up for this! :D:DD
...making music for GOD!
Monday, February 16, 2009
HELLO everybody!
It's week 6 now, and we're just a few days away from the mid-sem break! I do hope that everyone's doing alright and surviving the deadlines and impending mid-terms to study for! :D
Well.. for our next MM session, we'll have our dear Cheryl discussing the Charismatic movement. This will be happening on the 23rd of Feb, that is, the first day of the mid-sem break!
As an added incentive, we'll be having an MM gathering after the session! :D haha. So we're really hoping that you guys can turn up and enjoy the first day of the holidays together with us!
Look out for more details on upcoming sessions!
Oh yes. For those who didn't manage to turn up for our session on History of music in the Catholic Church (which went really well! kudos to Jem, Des, and all our wonderful singers who helped out! :DD), here's the soft copy of the session booklet that we'd prepared:
CAW MM session booklet!
love!
jess
...making music for GOD!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Hi all!!
First of all, we'd like to extend a really big THANK YOU!!! to all our dear friends who turned up yesterday for our last CAW songs prac! Your time is greatly appreciated. :D I'm sure the session next tuesday will turn out great with your help. haha! :D
After our CAW session, we will be having an input session on the Charismatic movement and its impact on music, and we've invited our dear own Cheryl to give the session! :D This will be on the evening of the 9th of February, and it happens to clash with the 15th day of Chinese New Year. So, we'd like to find out whether you guys will be willing to turn up for the session or not! Please do let us know via email or on the tagboard, so that we can make appropriate arrangements as soon as we can. Thank you all! :D
love, jess
...making music for GOD!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Hello dear MM!!!
After the practice session on Sat, we decided that we needed one more.. And so that's going to happen tomorrow from 4-6pm! We'll be meeting at the science canteen at 3.45pm and then proceed to one of the tutorial rooms at S16 for the practice itself. :D After that, we can all attend mass together! :D
Do turn up! It's going to be our final practice. We need you.. and it'll be fun! :DD
love, jess :DD
...making music for GOD!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
hello all!
for the session on saturday, prepare to stay for longer than 1 and a half hours :D the consensus now is that it wouldn't be enough for us to learn all the songs we have in mind, so let's all have fun for a longer time together!
love!
jess
...making music for GOD!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Hellloooo dear MM! :D
Yes, the new semester is finally here and we have reason to congregate together again for sessions! hahaha.
Our first MM session after the long hiatus will be on the 24th of January at Risen Christ from 10am to 11.30pm (approx) :D Do turn up since it's going to be a long Chinese New Year weekend for all of us!
This session is actually going to be something like a practice session in preparation for CAW.
MM is going to present about Catholic music and how it has evolved over time on the 3rd of February, Tuesday from 6.30-8.30pm at the YIH Function Room 2! Along with some theoretical and factual inputs, we intend to spice the session up with demonstrations and sample pieces. And this is where YOU GUYS come into the picture! :D We can't do these pieces well if we don't have people to sing it!
Alright. To end off this announcement, here's the planned outline for our CAW session:
CAW MM session outline
Part One: Catholic Music through the Ages
- Brief history of Catholic Music highlighting changes after the Council of Trent and Vatican II
- Introduction to Gregorian Chants and how it was revived later in time
- Contemporary Catholic Music (Praise and Worship, Taize)
Part Two: The Mass
- Introduction to the Mass
- Liturgical Music
Alright. Really hope to see you guys on these two special days!
Lots of love,
jess :D
...making music for GOD!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
HIHI! just a short announcement.
our carolling practices after the exams are as scheduled:
Dec 5th (Friday) - 2pm @ Risen Christ
Dec 7th (Sunday) - 2pm @ Risen Christ
Dec 11th (Thursday) - 2pm @ Risen Christ
Dec 12th (Friday) - 4.30pm @ Risen Christ, thereafter carolling at Cherylyn's place at 8.30pm
Dec 19th (Friday) - 3.30pm @ Risen Christ, thereafter carolling at Carmelite Monastery
Dec 23rd (Tuesday) - 11.30am @ Risen Christ, thereafter carolling at Assisi Hospice
Please revert your attendance and interest to Michelle @ 8157 2228. We'll send out the schedule again nearing december.
...making music for GOD!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
something interesting i came across while doing my philo MCQ practice. rather wordy, but i couldn't resist. plus, i like words. :D
Passage 16, from John Barrow, Pi in the Sky:
Suppose that instead of spending this chapter discussing the nature of mathematics we had picked upon music. We could then have debated whether musicians invented new tunes and rhythms or whether they discovered them in some world of universal musical entities. Indeed, the comparison is rather interesting because the Pythagoreans regarded music and mathematics as closely linked because of the mathematical relations between what are now called musical intervals.
The discovery of the simple numerical ratios linking the musical scale with the ‘harmonic’ progression of string lengths was probably one of the key motivations for the Pythagoreans to conclude that everything was imbued by number. The formalists and constructivists could lay down definite rules of harmony and composition, but there would always be musicians who wish to innovate and improvise and break the rules.
The real difference between the structures of mathematics and music is that, whereas there is no basic condition which tells whether or not something is music, irrespective of whether we happen to like the sound of it, there is such a criterion in mathematics. Inconsistency is sufficient to disqualify a prospective mathematical structure. It is this appeal to something that feels objective that is responsible for the suspicions that there is an aspect to be discovered, regardless of how much that element may subsequently be embroidered by human constructions. (p. 268)
okay and just for kicks:
QUESTION 16
Which of the following is the best statement of the point Barrow makes concerning music and mathematics in passage 16?
A) Mathematics is closely related to music. This fact was discovered first by the ancient Pythagoreans, who discovered the specific ratios linking the musical scale with the ‘harmonic’ progression of string lengths.
B) The question – invention or discovery? – that can be asked of mathematics can be
asked of music. And the cases may seem similar. Yet it is reasonable to regard
mathematics as a better candidate for discovery than musical tunes. For mathematics is governed by the need for consistency as music is not.
C) There are suspicions that there is an element of discovery in mathematics, regardless of how much that element may subsequently be embroidered by human musical
constructions.
D) One can lay down formal rules for musical composition, just as one can lay down formal rules for proof in mathematics. It does not follow that music is mathematics, as the Pythagoreans believed. For in order to get from music to mathematics, one must add the crucial element of consistency.
E) Mathematics feels objective, whereas music feels subjective. Yet mathematics and
music have much in common. The source of the difference in our feelings towards the
two must be due to the one difference between them: namely, the demand for
consistency in mathematics, which is absent from music.
the correct answer is hidden here -> B in white :D highlight it to get it!
and.. i hope you enjoyed this like i did. :D
jess
...making music for GOD!
Sunday, November 9, 2008
hello people!! :D:D
sigh. yea, we've reached the last week of the sem (for MM, that is :'(() and here's the update for the last session....
haha. this week, we had des presenting to us the history of christmas and christmas carolling! it was a really short and sweet session, with him wrapping up by playing a little guessing game with us. we had to guess the liturgical meaning behind the song 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'! hahaha. and it was fun! ;DD
ahaha we proceeded to learn how to sing 'White Christmas'. great song. heehee.
okay. this update is gonna be equally short and sweet. so here's the session handout!
Week 12 MM Session Handout - Christmas!
THANK YOU for visiting faithfully!!! :D:D:D:D
jess
...making music for GOD!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
HI everyone! :D
ooo sorry for the slight delay in updates. ok here they come! prepare yourself!
alright. this week we had external speaker Jarvis Tan talking to us about how to lead a p&w session. it was a cozy number that we got so we were able to sit in a circle and throw questions back at him all throughout the session.
we opened with a mini worship session. Jarvis mentioned that extroverted people would tend to find p&w more natural to them - since they talk to think, rather than think to talk (like introverts do). so they're generally more comfortable with this form of prayer than introverts are. during the worship itself he also told us that opening our palms up was symbolic of receiving, and raising our arms up signified surrender.
also, we should be comfortable with silence - such comfort is a pre-requisite to worshipping best. many people think that the louder the music is, the better, but the highest point of worship really is in silence.
1. origin of music.
what was it created for?
Jarvis opened the question to the floor. communication, celebration, entertainment were but some of the answers he received from us.
there are many theories as to how music came about. one of them involved lucifer - the angel of light or music.
the bible describes him as having instruments coming out of his body. like he was music itself!
he would lead the angels in praise and worship of God - put in context, he was like the 'worship leader'.
unfortunately, he wanted the praise and worship that God received for himself. this led him to be banished from heaven to earth and subsequently hell.
thus music, in its broken form, came to earth when satan was cast down here!
and praise and worship is meant for praising God!
praise and worship seemed to be lost from the Catholic Church for a while - much focus was on liturgical music, where everything had to be by the book. as we have learnt, there are many strict guidelines as to how exactly liturgical music had to be.
the Catholic Charismatic Renewal was instrumental in bringing praise and worship back to the Catholic Church.
more about the Catholic Charismatic Renewal!
2. Importance of music in worship
music appeared in the bible 829 times!
in God's temple, 4000 people were specially assigned the task to sing.
the singing went on for 24 hours a day (yes the 4000 people took turns. haha!)
there are 200 scripture passages that tell us to sing!
so, as we can see, the importance of music in worship was emphasised from the start. ^^
after we convinced ourselves of that, we proceeded to more p&w-specific talk.
in p&w, we tell people to give glory to God.
it is important for us to have an end in mind. what's the highest point of any p&w session that we could possibly achieve?
Jarvis shared his experience of a glory cloud coming down unto the place.
God was so tangibly there till no one could stand to minister.
this is the highest form of worship in contemporary style!
being in the worship team, we should strive to allow people to come into very close encounter with God.
this is not about emotionalism!
yes, natural talent and human effort can touch people - hearts, minds.
a very human level.
not the level that Christian music wants us to achieve!
how do we touch the spirit?
BOTH the worship leaders and instrumentalists have to live the faith!
to move people's spirits, we ourselves have to be in a state of grace.
confession is a powerful grace that we Catholics are privileged to have!
we cannot touch others if there is unrepentance in our hearts.
we are the instruments!
prayer - inspire people to pray through prayer!
a person who truly wants to lead people in worship requires annointing of the Holy Spirit!
someone who is technically adept can only touch people emotionally at best without such annointing.
there is an absence of the spirituality that comes with deep prayer.
3. Is music a charism or simply natural talent?
natural talent - inborn traits/qualities. you 'have it in you'. it can become a charism if you co-operate
charism - a way in which God wants us to love people. we are an 'instrument' here.
so what's the difference? when you use a charism as compared to natural talent, you produce a result that is not your own.
God works through us to produce a supernatural result!! :)))
3 signs to identify a charism (universal, not just pertaining to music):
- experiencing inner peace and joy. NOT superficial joy!
- there are visible, tangible results. people are blessed.
- when people affirm you directly or indirectly.
this is not a foolproof method, but it serves as a pretty good indicator! :D
alright. you may not be that musically inclined. does this spell the end of your dream to lead in worship one day?
really, if you have the desire to serve, it does not matter if you 'do not have the vocation'.
work hard and go for it!! ^^
Questions & Answers!
Q: Is it possible to tire out even if music is your charism?
A: If you're doing something you love, you will be energised doing it. You tire out when you're not taking care of yourself. It may be physical, emotional, spiritual or mental negligence. Do check if it is a matter of self-care!
Are you not praying enough? Take note of your relationship with God.
Q: How do you bridge different styles to attain flow? (Flow is attained when you're no longer in charge of what you're doing. it's like being in an alternate reality: you're like standing next to yourself, watching yourself do what you're doing. this is when you're truly an instrument of God!)
A: Preparation is important. Very important! Leaders tie up with the musicians beforehand and get to know each other better. If the worship leaders cause the musicians to not be in sync, it may be a better idea for the musicians to lead worship.
Remember that the event is simply a catalyst for the ongoing growth which takes place. Relationships are built and we mature as we journey to the end result.
ok! now for the practical advice Jarvis has for us.
week 11 MM session handout - practical tips on how to lead p&w!
thank you for visiting and downloading!! :DDD
jess
...making music for GOD!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
HI everyone!! :D
this week, we had jem presenting a session on how to prepare for a p&w session! :DD
here are the notes i took during the session! haha!
alright. here's the secret: 3PL!
Prayer,
Planning,
Practice &
Logistics!
in chronological order, too! tadah! :DD
Prayer
P&W is 90% prayer, 10% everything else!
it is absolutely possible for a p&w session to be successful without anything but PRAYER.
do approach jem for his individual testimony if you didn't turn up for this session. haha! ^^
hmm. so what should we pray for, really?
not just ourselves - the musicians, the worship leaders, those helping out with the logistics and so on.
we should also pray for the people we're reaching out to to be responsive!
it would be fantabulous if we could go to the venue where worship is to be held earlier and pray for the Lord's shroud to cover the place and bless everyone who enters, too. ^^
it is essential for everyone to be in the right frame of mind during p&w!
Planning
1. Themes - are they vital?
no, they're not!
a general theme would suffice, actually - e.g. for an exam p&w, we generally give thanks.
thanksgiving would be the general theme running through the worship session, then!
2. Musicians - does skill matter?
it's not wrong to be mediocre, but we cannot escape the fact that mediocre musicians affect how effectively people worship!
by reaching near perfection, we enable others to worship more effectively. fewer distractions!
but then again...
what if a super-skilled musician wants to join the worship band to show off? what should we do in such a case?
--> test the water!
we will have to see if his intentions are purified.
it's the heart that matters! ^^
3. Songs - based on the theme, please ^^
In general, the flow of worship should go like this:
when we talk about mood, it's more of how quiet and reflective it is, not happiness vs sadness.
in p&w, we try not to make drastic transitions from praise to worship and vice versa.
thus the black part of the curve! we want a smooth gradient.
to achieve this, we can utilise songs that start off fast and end off quiet/swell from reflective to jubilant! generally, slow praise songs can bring about such an effect.
for special cases where p&w leads up to a more serious event, we will not want to bring the mood up to praise again. it would be more apt to end off on a reflective note!
to cater to the restless congregation, we would start off fast - praise. bring it down gradually to reach the desired level of reflectivity!
why shouldn't we follow the trajectory given by the grey dotted lines? we wouldn't want to bring hopes up with one or two praise songs and then plunge down into worship! this is particularly true for short worship sessions, since it is less likely that we can make smooth transitions with such a short period of time allocated.
Practice
would a team who has played together before and chooses to play the songs they played the previous time require practice?
a resounding YES!
group dynamics change, and no two p&w sessions are identical.
Logistics
would it be possible to carry out p&w without instruments?
actually, yes!
it would be alright if we don't provide lyrics if everyone knew the songs, too.
however, we cannot discount the importance of logistics, especially in larger-scale events!
do not forget about transport, too. how we get from place to place should not be overlooked!
alright. more in the session handout! including an analogy which our foodie of a head came up with to emphasise his point :DD
here it is!
week 10 MM session handout - how to prepare for p&w!
please know who the real rock star is - it's God, not the band!
thanksss for visiting!! ;DD
jess
...making music for GOD!
Friday, October 17, 2008
HI everyone!
it's currently 1.07 in the morning and we just had our MM session 6.5 hours ago ;D
today's topic was on the similarities and differences between liturgical and contemporary music! thank you everyone who attended! you guys were fantastic-ally participative and i loved the intelligent input and questions you threw back at me. great stuff. :D
basically, the session covered the definitions of the two types of music, the properties they have and why contemporary music is that much more appealing to youths than liturgical music.
we also listened to some sound clips and discussed whether the music was liturgical and contemporary, and why. also, what is the difference between praise and worship? we found that at times, it is very grey. and songs that fall into this category would be used for the build-up in p&w sessions.
pop quiz! some interesting points were brought up when we went through the answers to this. sam mentioned that even in mass, we do sing songs to fellow worshippers, in particular with respect to the recessional hymns. this won her some ritter sport chocolate. hahaa! :D
also, shimon's questions alerted us to the fact that taking a liturgical song and turning it into a contemporary one may undermine the effect it would have on us when we sing it in its traditional form. could this mean that p&w is dangerous? yes, it could potentially mislead youths who get caught up in the hype and emotional aspects, and that's why education on how mass is the highest form of worship is important! praise and worship is but another form of prayer, and we must keep in mind that the appeal to our senses should not overcome us.
one final note. p&w should only preceed mass and not come after it. why? because, once again, mass is the highest form of worship ^^ p&w can, at best, bring us into a suitable mood for mass.
alright then! here is the session handout!
Session handout!
thanks for even bothering to come to this blog to read this! as long as one person reads this for updates it'd be all worth it!! ;DDD
jess
...making music for GOD!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Here's a shout-out to everyone who's interested in P&W! Come sit in our three sessions! Those who are interested in singing, playing, or just finding out more about this form of prayer are highly encouraged to turn up!
Week 9: Differences and similarities between liturgical music and P&W songs
Week10: How to prepare (spiritually, logistically etc) for P&W songs
Week11: How to lead a P&W session
For our last P&W session, we'll have external speaker Jarvis Tan speaking to us. He's a youth coordinator at Holy Spirit and has had a lot of experience in P&W.
On a side note, we'll be practising two christmas carols every week in preparation for carolling in december.
Our sessions will be held in one of the School of Design and Environment seminar rooms every thursday at 6.15pm. Feel free to contact any MM member if you are unsure of how to get there.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!
Lots of love from MM!
...making music for GOD!
hi everyone!
stumbled upon this while doing research for my session.
it's a rather long read, but i thought it was quite relevant to von's session!
Rock music and evangelism!
give it a shot! :D
jess
...making music for GOD!
Friday, October 10, 2008
good evening everybody!
it's that time of the week again - MM session updates!! :D:DD
this week, von gave a session on good vs evil music.
what makes a song good or bad? she broke it down into different constituents and explained further.
hmm. ever wondered why rock music affects our physical health negatively? and did you know that rock music shortens the lifespan of plants?!?! go classical! find out more from the session handout. :D harmonic dissonance!
backmasking and subliminal messages were also brought up during the session. what impact could they have? we heard a story about an extreme case of influence and also listened to a few backmasked songs. scary stuff. look up youtube for backmasked songs!
alright enough from me. here's the session handout for week 8! :D
week 8 session handout!
enjoy!
jess
...making music for GOD!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
HELLO everybody!! :D
ah. the long break meant quite a long time away from MM :(
well!
once school reopens we're going to have a JOINT SESSION with FFM! (29th sept, monday!)
this is going to be on the Holy Mass. it will replace our MM session for week 7. (stay tuned for our upcoming sessions too. on week 8 we'll be having one on good vs evil music!)
what is the point of learning how to sing the different parts of mass if we don't fully appreciate what we're singing, when we're singing, and why we're singing?
do come and join us all for this explanatory mass! please dress in mass attire too, as mass will be celebrated.
this will be from 6.30pm - 8.30pm at YIH, Function Room 1!
can't wait to see you! ^^
jess
...making music for GOD!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
heys all! thanks to those who came by for session 3. it was rather interactive and i've learnt quite abit from you guys too. here's what i promised to check out.. if there's anything i've missed out or misunderstood, please alert me! (:
Q1. Who were the Levitical Priests?
A Levite is a member of the Hebrew tribe ‘Levi’ that was named after one of Jacob’s twelve sons. The Levites served religious and political duties for the Israelites. Although all priests were Levites, not all Levites were priest. Remember the golden calf idol event in Exodus? The Israelites had built it when Moses was receiving the 10 Commandments. However, the Levites did not take part in the idol worship and actually killed 3000 of them as ordered by Moses. (Check out Exodus 32:35-29.) After which, Moses said of the Levites, "Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of The Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, that he may bestow a blessing upon you this day." (Exodus 32:29). The Levites were natural allies of Moses because Moses himself was of the tribe of Levi (Exodus 2:1-2,10).
Levi had 3 sons - Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. From those branches of the family, the Levites were organized into 3 levels of service:
The first level was composed of Aaron and his offspring, who were descended from Levi's son Kohath. They formed the priesthood.
The second level was made up of all of the other descendants of Kohath who were not descendants of Aaron. They were in charge of the most sacred parts of the Tabernacle (Numbers 3:27-32, 4:4-15, 7:9).
The third level consisted of all of the descendants of Gershon and Merari, who were given lesser duties (Numbers 3:21-26,33-37).
The Levites served at the Tabernacle from age 30 to 50 (Numbers 4:3,23,30). They were not counted for military service in the armies of Israel, but were set apart for service to God (Numbers 1:45-50, 2:33, 26:62).
So to put it simply, the Levitical priest were the Levites with the highest rank of duty, ministering in the name of the Lord.
According to Numbers 16:5 the Levitical priests were commissioned by God, separated unto God, and were allowed to approach God. "Then he said to Korah and all his followers: 'In the morning the Lord will show who belongs to him and who is holy, and he will have that person come near him. The man he chooses he will cause to come near him."
Q2. Who compiled the book of Psalms?
King David, the “sweet singer of Israel” compiled the book of Psalms.
Although the bulk of the Psalms was composed by King David himself, he also included therein psalms written by ten elders of preceding generations: Adam, Malki Zedek, Abraham, Moses, Heiman, Jeduthun, Asaph, and the three sons of Korach.
The first King of the Jews was Saul followed by King David and then King Solomon. So yes, one of you were right about David appearing before Solomon did because Solomon is the Son of King David and Bathsheba! Hahas. So how did Solomon become involved with Psalms? I think it could be anybody’s guess. If we look at Psalm 72, some bibles quote it was FOR Solomon while others quote OF Solomon. Probably due to the chain of translations, we don’t have a very good idea if King David actually composed it for or about Solomon. Do not confuse with the Psalms of Solomon though, PoS is collection of 18 religious songs that is not part of any scriptural canon. It is deemed as a falsely attributed work and authorship is unknown. Also, this is not related to Song of Songs.
truckloads of thanks for reading til here! hope this entry provided useful insights.
-vonn.
...making music for GOD!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
hmm!
what do you make of this?
most if not all of the biblical evidence which states that we should use instruments are found in the Old Testament.
does this mean anything?
according to a friend, we are under the new covanent already.
the new testament rules apply.. just like how we do not observe the passover and guys don't circumcize and, possibly, the loss of traditional, strict adherence of the Sabbath.
lack of mention does not mean rejection but does not mean that permission is granted as well?
jess
...making music for GOD!
hello everyone!
we just finished our 3rd session, which was on _ _ _ _ _ _!
RSTLNE - psalms!
we learnt about the how the psalms were segmented into 5 and linked back with the first 5 books of the old testament, and this was followed by cool information on the musicians, instruments and purpose of music in the bible!
here's the session handout!:
session 3 (psalms) handout!
something interesting i have here too. i remember arguing with a christian friend 2 years ago about whether we should use instruments in the bible. after the session i messaged him to tell him that psalm 4 and psalm 5 actually advocates the use of instruments, and he quoted me two passages back: ephesians 5 and colossians 3.
(his church's stand is that we should not use instruments.)
eph 5:19
"as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts"
colossians 3:16
"let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God."
hmm what do you all think?
jess
...making music for GOD!
Monday, September 15, 2008
okay everyone some recaps on the two sessions we've had so far!
session 1 - jem and mich!
theme: the individual parts of mass!
basically, they went through the meaning of the different parts of mass (eg lord have mercy, holy holy, the great Amen!)
what's the most important part of mass?
what is the different between the liturgies of the word and eucharist?
for more info please download this file!
no viruses!
individual parts of mass!
session 2 - des and me!
theme: hymn choosing!
for this session there was a very brief introduction on the purpose of hymn-singing followed by some input on how to choose suitable hymns for specific times of mass! hands-on too! we got to choose the songs for friday (13th sept)'s mass together! ^^
here's a nice paper on hymns in general
importance of hymns and gospel songs on modern worship but be careful, the writer is just an anonymous freshmen student. nonetheless, this makes quite a good read ^^
here's some instructions issued by the Sacred Congregations of Rites. points 51-53 are related to hymns!
Instructions issued by Sacred Congregations of Rites!
and one more supplementary reading ;D
observations on what we sing in church!
and finally the session handouts ^^
hymn choosing!
(guys, please let me know if you want me to add more links in. haha. :D)
enjoy!
p.s. i love this font des. stole the idea from our MM handout heeheehee
jess
...making music for GOD!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Hello everybody!
Our first MM post!
Remember to turn up for session tomorrow! :D:D 6.15 at SDE!
jess
...making music for GOD!
