As Christmas approaches, many organizations and ministries taper activities and take a pause, restarting again in the new year. That’s definitely not the case for one group in your church: the choir.
Rather than slowing down, these dedicated people are ramping up into perhaps their busiest time of year.
‘Tis the season for incredibly good sacred music, both within the liturgies of Advent and Christmas and outside of them — at Messiah sing-alongs, festivals of lessons and carols, children’s pageants and the like. All of this requires increased commitment of time, talent and patience from liturgical musicians.
Why do they do it? Your parish chorister can provide his or her own response, but allow me to suggest two compelling reasons.
First, the Church considers singing to be essential.
According to the Second Vatican Council, “music forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy.” Primarily, the prayers and responses of the Mass itself should be sung, along with the antiphons and psalm of the day. Chant, the particular language of Catholic tradition and the most simple and natural use of the human voice, is to “be given pride of place,” while other types of music are welcomed as well.
“Music is not merely a nice extra nor an interlude between important liturgical moments. Rather, it’s an organic and essential part of the celebration.”
The Church is still striving to live up to these standards of the council. Too often, I feel that music is treated as ornamental, like one more strand of lights on the Christmas tree. Music is not merely a nice extra nor an interlude between important liturgical moments. Rather, it’s an organic and essential part of the celebration. If we subscribe to the principle of integrality, music at Mass should be more like the branches of the tree — necessary, structural and interwoven.
And while every person at the Mass, from the celebrant to the person in the pew, is a minister of music in the broadest sense, the particular ministry of the choir amplifies and beautifies this integrated “song” of the liturgy.
Second, the choir has something to teach us about the larger, universal Church.
The apostle Paul compares the Church to a “body” with “many parts,” each with its own gifts necessary for the functioning of the whole. Paul might as well have spoken of the choir and its many parts — high and low, fast and slow, loud and soft — which together create one harmonious sound.
The choir is synodal, with each member listening to the other voices and responding with the fine adjustments of tone and tempo that create a more excellent expression. Here is a microcosm of the Church: one unified, interdependent hymn of praise.
I am sure that you will hear some wonderful choral music this season at your own parish and beyond. I hope that you will participate at times by adding your own voice to the Church’s song, and at other times through prayerful meditation on the beauty of the music.
I hope that you will also grow in awareness and appreciation of this essential ministry of the Church, which requires great discipline, mature faith and a true spirit of service.
