Be With Me, Lord

First Sunday of Lent!

Here's the thing--I used to not like Lenten music very much.  Here I am, giving up red meat or something (not this year, don't worry), and I have to sing slow, depressing music, too?  But I want to enjoy Mass and singing!

But then I got to appreciate selecting music, and working with other liturgical ministers to execute a theme, and make people remember this isn't just that other season of preparation.

Case in point:  It looks like we'll be using Tree of Life all season long, albeit differently than we did back in the day.  It's our closing hymn--we're singing the Adoramus Te Christe refrain in ostinato (repeating with various dynamic changes), and one verse of the song, chosen to fit the readings, sung over it midway through.  It's something that the congregation will notice, and can use as a weekly meditation as Mass ends.  Pretty darn cool.

This week, our Psalm was an old favorite of mine, Be With Me, Lord, by Marty Haugen.  This, plus On Eagles Wings as a Communion hymn serves as our prayer and faith that God stands with us during hard times.  It reminds me of a certain song we'd sing on our retreats--Trust In the Lord (that one's a bit too praise & worship-y for my current choir, sadly).  As Christians, we're called to be like Christ.  A lot of us might not go to such extremes, but some do, and it's nice to think that we've got angels looking out for us when we stick our necks out to help the world.  It's nice to think anyone who is doing good work in the world, Christian or no, has angels watching out for them.  Lest they dash their feet against stones, or worse.

And this isn't technically a choir--but, in my defense, the liturgical dancing is too cute to pass up sharing.

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Sing of the Lord's Goodness

First Sunday of Ordinary Time!  Woo!

Okay, that's out of my system--for a few paragraphs, anyway.

This week, our Gospel was about the wedding at Cana.  The hosting couple run out of wine, Mary suggests that Jesus do something about that, and good times are had by all.  Father David's homily added a bit more to the story, though.

The wedding feast and celebration in a community was also a symbol for that couple's life with each other and within the community.  Running out of wine didn't just mean people went home early--it was a sort of omen.  The joy in the couple's marriage was short lived--and Jesus extended that joy, by asking the servants to serve the water in those jars as if it was wine, and see what happens.

Eventually, we lose steam.  Our enthusiasm wanes, things (and people) we were once passionate about become familiar, maybe even tedious.  We can ask for Christ to carry us through these times, but if we live as if we are carrying love and Jesus to everyone in our lives--when we do what we do out of service and love, then what we do is gratifying again.  Think back to every time a friend thanked you for being there for them when they needed you.  Remember times when someone sincerely thanked you for your performance at work.  Don't those moments enliven you?  They certainly get me through the day, most Mondays.

It's one of the reasons I sing in choir at church, I suppose.  I enjoy singing--but I can understand that after some time, if I knew all the music, then the whole routine could become...routine.  But every time our director tells us that someone stopped him after Mass to compliment us, every time I hear that our music makes a difference to someone in the congregation, it makes a difference to me, too.

We had some tempting (ba-dum, ching!) songs to chose from this week (the first week, you know, of Ordinary Time).  And because I'm less familiar with the choir's library and have a rather terrible memory, I'm not going to give you a list.  However!  We had an old favorite as our closing hymn.  I didn't know it until this week, being unfamiliar with Paul Desmond's Take Five (made famous by Dave Brubeck) until recently, but Sing of the Lord's Goodness seems highly influenced by that jazz tune.

All I know is I rather dislike directing in 5/4 time, and it's basically required of me to sing the word "dancing" with a British accent.

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• The Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2:1-12) (swordsoftruth.com)
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Behold the Lamb

Okay, time for excuses for last week.

There was a transportation hiccup!

My baby sister and her husband were in town, on their way home from their honeymoon, and I wanted to visit!

I've been sick for over a month, and this cough is still holding on!

And seriously, this cough.  But it's not going to stop me from singing anymore, because it's done way too much damage on that front already.

Today was the last Sunday of the Christmas season, and the Gospel featured Jesus's baptism by John.  We started off Christmas-y with Joy to the World, then we got more bapistmal in You Will Draw Water, and ended celebrating Jesus's example with Praise to You, O Christ, Our Savior.  But for the Communion hymns...!

I told a friend that I would probably share So Longs My Soul, unless I already have.  And, while I haven't in this blog, I did on G+ several months ago--for very good reason.  It's another expressive, evocative song that lends itself well to solo verses, and we have some ridiculously talented soloists.  So I rather predictably got a tiny bit choked up.  But as I've mentioned, I did share that song already, and there was another candidate.

I was exited at rehearsal this week when I saw we were singing Behold the Lamb today.  This is and old favorite from the St. John's era, particularly because of the nice and fun harmony that the men used to sing.  Our director here had written a different arrangement--that harmony was still there, but the tenors and basses had other things to do--and that was fine.  It's a wonderful hymn either way, and directly relating to the Gospel, again--the good news John was waiting for, that the clouds parted and a dove showed us, that He was actually here.  He made it.  It was like the sunrise, and we'd been waiting in the dark for just that.

Without further ado, it's that choir that records the ceiling again, with Behold the Lamb.

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