Some thoughts on how liturgical music should engage

A conversation at the CMAA boards, http://musicasacra.com/forum/, prompted by a musician's justified lament that he was being made to solves a problem, not of his making, with a solution that is ... well, frankly, is just more of the problem.
http://musicasacra.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=540&page=1

I was grotesquely long-winded, and rhapsodizing on my theme, in the spirit of compounding a bad situation by providing more of the same, I repeat my post here:

"While playing for a Holy Hour, I was thinking 'Gosh, for all these kids this must be incredibly boring', then it hit me: sometimes it's 'boring' to be Catholic. (I hope you all know what I'm getting at!) If they're raised expecting Catholicism to be fun, they'll just turn away when it stops being fun for them. If they're raised expecting it to be 'boring', they'll hold to the faith if they want it, not just to have fun."

While I did know where you're going with this, I think you're doing a disservice to the conversation, by setting up "fun" and "boring" as the two poles, (although those might be the word choice of the children you were observing.)
People, especially children, usually experience "fun" as residing in externals, places, sounds, activities, people, etc. outside themselves. Yes, their usual preferred situations and activities may not always draw them in, according to their moods, but they will not therefore think of what usually is "fun" whether it's going to Disney World or to the Ring Cycle, as "boring."Boredom is usually experienced as a state of oneself.
We may describe something as boring, but what I think we really register is "I am currently bored, " (in a way we don't usually register, "I am currently having fun.')
Now, to go back to one of my examples, most staunch Wagnerians would be appalled and insulted, not at the notion that others find endless melodies "boring" but at the suggestion they themselves find it "fun."
The very word trivializes the object of their enjoyment.
And I think it trivializes worship, either liturgical or devotional.
The approach has been taken by too many priests, liturgists, catechists and musicians for ... well, for the sake of argument, "two generations."
"Fun" has been treated as a positive value.
It is not.
Liturgy should be, must be, engaging, attractive, interesting, fascinating, compelling, joy-giving -- but never "fun."
It is inappropriate, maybe blasphemous, to seek to either give or receive "fun" at the re-presentation of the ritual murder of the Son of God and His subsequent triumph over death.
And to get back to the topic at hand, yes, David, it IS a catechetical failure, and not just of those visibly engaged in Faith Formation, or of celebrants, but of musicians and parents and PIPs.
Although raising Catholics "expecting it to be 'boring'" is equally damaging, and may have been the great catechetical failure prior to the one we are currently feeling the results of.
Because again, the re-presentation of the ritual murder of the Son of God and His subsequent triumph over death can no more be boring than it can be fun.
Objectively, there can be NOTHING more engaging.
Catholics need to be raised "expecting" what they do to reflect its importance.
Our Faith is IMPORTANT.
Practicing it is IMPORTANT.
Everything about it should reflect its IMPORTANCE.
Our failure has been in convincing others, children and those who do not share our Faith, that we believe what we say we believe.
And why have we failed to convince? Because in many cases it is a LIE.
Isn't it?Many erstwhile Catholics, even in positions of authority, DON’T believe what they say they believe.
There is a way human beings deal with matter and people of import.
Is that the way we deal with the Mass? with God? with God present in the Blessed Sacrament?Our behavior clearly demonstrates our priorities.
[A number of examples of behaviors that demonstrate an adherence to some other source or summit...]
They are catechizing that the Eucharist is NOT the Source and Summit of our Faith, of our very existence.
They are teaching that Christ is NOT Real-ly Present in the Blessed Sacrament.
They are teaching that they'd rather increase while God and His Church decrease.
Are they heretics? are they evil?
No. For the most part, they have not thought it through. Their seeming belief is that of a parrot, and their actual disbelief is that of a dog. (My black lab doesn't believe in the doctrine of the Real Presence either, but I don't think he's really considered it, and its implications...)
So the Songs of Self are a symptom, yes, but in this vicious circle they are also cause, the reinforce and perpetuate the ignorance.
We can't let ourselves off the hook.
I would argue that it is the obligation of the musician, NOT "to permit poorly-composed inappropriate music into the liturgy as a way of covering up the" catechetical failures, but to fight against it tooth and nail, (or by stealth, if need be,) and become part of the solution.
It is our obligation, as musicians, to learn and practice and program and sing and play music that reflects the Eucharist's importance.