When the late composer Leonard Bernstein was composing his famous contemporary Mass — his rock, blues and jazz Mass — he said that he wanted it to be "an honest Mass." What he meant was that he wanted the words and music of this Mass, this worship service, to ring true even to people who didn't see themselves as particularly religious, or churchy.

Well, as such, he knew that the most demanding moment in the Mass would not be "Credo," "I believe." Most people out there believe in the cultur…