Pastoral musicians: how are you being served?

A young pastoral musician and a faithful practicing Catholic who served as a cantor in a parish recently revealed that she did not regularly participate in the reception of Communion. When I asked her why, she answered that the music director began the song at the beginning of the Communion processional. She said that when the song ends in a timely way at the end of the procession, "everyone packs up and forgets all about me."

After serving in a myriad of pastoral settings as a pastoral musician for many years, I completely understood. Unless pastoral musicians advocate for themselves and remind other well intentioned ministers that musicians are part of the worship community and participate as full members of that assembly in the reception of Eucharist. More often than not, pastoral musicians must take it upon themselves to make others of aware that people create the music that serves the liturgy, the young cantor's dilemma occurs and will continue to occur everywhere that the celebration of the liturgy takes place.  

To be fair, the young cantor's music director followed in part what the General Instruction of the Roman Missal states with regard to music at the time of the reception of Communion:  

"While the priest is receiving the Sacrament, the Communion Chant is begun, its purpose being to express the spiritual union of the communicants by means of the unity of their voices, to show gladness of heart, and to bring out more clearly the communitarian character of the procession to receive the Eucharist." GIRM 86

In other words, pastoral musicians begin the Communion song immediately after the Invitation to Communion ("Behold the Lamb of God.... Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof...")

In some parishes, the pastoral musicians keep the assembly waiting as they receive Communion before the assembly at worship. That equates to a host inviting guests to a lovely meal and eating the prepared feast before their guests in front of their guests. Servant leadership remains one of the hallmarks envisioned by the Second Vatican Council and a cornerstone of excellent pastoral music ministry. The music director who insisted that the young pastoral musician lead the Communion song immediately following the invitation was correct to insure that the robust singing of the assembly's Communion processional song is a "preeminent" factor of the liturgy. (Sing to the Lord #189) But maybe that music director didn't read the last line of #86 of GIRM, which clearly states: 

"Care should be taken that singers, too, can receive Communion with ease." 

Pastoral care with ease for liturgical musicians. How do pastoral musicians insure that "the music ministers...should receive Communion during the Communion of the faithful" (Music in Catholic Liturgy: A Pastoral And Theological Companion to Sing to the Lord by Gerard Dennis Gill) that more fully expresses the unified activity of the worship assembly at prayer? Pastoral musicians serve on behalf of the people of God, usually as fully initiated and trained leaders of the musical liturgy. Pastoral musicians: how are you being served? 

Here are several practical suggestions that may help if this is a problem that applies to your particular liturgical context. The methods are tried, true and tested applications that really do work. 

1. Communicate. When I asked the young cantor if she had talked to her music director about her conundrum, she told me that after many months, she decided to broach the subject. Because she previously worked in settings and understood that "the singers and other musicians may receive Communion at or near the end of the procession" (STL 195), she suggested that after the song ended at the end of the reception of Communion, the presider or one of the other Communion ministers wait for her to approach them for the reception of the Sacrament. In over forty years of ministry, I've never known any priest presider to ignore this request. Her music director brought the cantor's issue to the pastor who immediately amended the situation. The young cantor now receives Communion on a weekly basis and feels like the full member of the Body of Christ. 

2. Take some time to do some liturgical catechesis with your assembly. In my experience, assemblies want to know why they do what they do. Some of the responsibility of liturgical catechesis certainly falls to presbyteral leaders in their places of worship. However, there is no reason why pastoral musicians cannot directly address issues in a conversation with a worshipping assembly. Bulletin announcements can serve the purpose but I find that people genuinely enjoy the relationship building process with their pastoral musicians when they engage in a dialogue that awakens a worshipping assembly about why we Catholics do what we do within worship. Once you explain a new tradition, most members of a worship assembly (there are always a few naysayers in a community) are genuinely open to positive change, particularly if you communicate in a positive, intelligent way.

3. Lofts If your choir sings from a loft in a church, talk to the pastor about assigning a Communion minister to bring a ciborium up to the loft at the end of Communion so that the choir and the organist may be served after their work is completed. In my experience, people are supportive and even eager that their liturgical musicians participate as worshipping members of the Body of Christ. It's what makes us us. Moreover, assemblies often feel grateful and humble that the servant  musical leaders wait until everyone has been served before they are served. As St. Francis of Assisi said: Preach the Gospel. Use words when necessary. That liturgical action speaks volumes about that parish's perception of itself, liturgical servant leadership and how it accommodates not only the rubrics of a celebrated Eucharist but of the assembly and how well they all understand what they're about.

4. Music near or in the sanctuary. When an organist or guitarist accompany a cantor, an ensemble or a choir from the sanctuary or nearby, wait until the end of Communion before the music corps receives Communion. Ask the person who trains the Communion ministers to assign a bread and cup minister to the music section and to wait until the Communion song is finished before they approach the musicians for their reception of Communion in full view of the Body of Christ. This produces a moment of deep gratitude on the part of just about everyone (remember the few naysayers) who worships in those pew.

After these practices begin to be part of the parish paradigm and practice, parishioners start to inquire why parishes that they visit do not follow this system of courtesy and liturgical justice. They do appreciate the time that you take to educate in sound liturgical practice. They're grateful to be well educated in the life of their liturgical faith.

In several contexts where I served a the music director in parishes and several colleges, the choir would process to Communion while singing the song by heart (in four parts). I was the last person served. Even when I removed my hands from the keyboard, the choir, cantor and assembly continued to sing the song until I returned and continued to play and direct from the bench right from where we left off together. The ceiling lifted when we sang the last verses as the dishes were cleaned.The song ceased when the presider returned to his chair for the Thanksgiving after Communion. The communities that experienced this model can never return to a different paradigm without knowing a deep absence of liturgical unity in their bodily presence to the moment, their continued singing as they processed as part of the assembly and in their continued liturgical song even in my momentary absence. 

Pastoral musicians are human beings. Pastoral musicians have to occasionally nudge, communicate clearly and repeat as much as necessary (remember the persistent widow) until a liturgical team understands that human beings are the disciples that create the music that also means giving up weekends, many nights, vacations, family life and hefty salaries and need to feel included as part of the Body of Christ as much as anyone else that celebrates Eucharist. Mostly, "Liturgical musicians first of all disciples, and only then are they ministers. Joined to Christ through the Sacraments of Initiation, musicians belong to the assembly of the baptized faithful; they are worshipers above all else.... who express the love of God and neighbor through music." (STL 49) 

Consider the young cantor at the beginning of this post. Are you the music director going half the distance and standing in the way of someone who wants to fully participate in a celebration of Eucharist? How you pastoral musicians being served? Are you the music director that walks to the sanctuary to receive feast at the table of life before your invited guests approach the banquet? And how about the Communion song during the procession? Might you be a young cantor and fear speaking out about not being served? Be not afraid; this might be the time to find your voice. Pastoral musicians, might it be time for a change of tradition to produce a liturgy worth the reason we celebrate - offering praise, glory and gratitude to God with the robust singing assembly fully participating, including the musicians as an servant-appropriate time as the Body of Christ?  

Please feel free to share your experiences or post your comments directly to the blog. We can all learn from one another's experiences. 

Sing music from the heart by heart  

N.B. Music for the Communion processional that includes well-known refrains work best so that the assembly can fully express their gratitude and unity as the Body of Christ as they process together in resonate song. Singing from the heart means singing music that the people know by heart. Building that kind of assembly repertoire remains a core goal in the strategic planning of every pastoral music leader since the earliest days following the Second Vatican Council. That takes time, patience and repetition. Over time, the results become apparent and your worship assembly will thank you as they sing well and pray twice. 

Think.Eat. Save. Just another program or intentional Christian living?

A recent article in National Catholic Reporter raised awareness on food consumption based on this year's UN World Environment theme "Think Eat. Save. Reduce Your Foodprint." Based on statistics from The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the article estimates that "worldwide, people waste 1.3 billion tons of food annually, or a third of global food production. At the same time, one in seven people globally go to bed hungry."

Simultaneously, at a general audience, Pope Francis addressed this same topic, stating that a "culture of waste" devalues and diminshes all of life, both human and the personhood of the Earth. "If you break a computer it is a tragedy, but poverty, the needs, the dramas of so many people end up becoming the norm."

What does copious consumption and profous storage of food say about us as a global society? Does the average person purchase more food than necessary? In kitchen cabinets, the pantry closet, the refridgerator and freezer - how many of those items will we use regularly or did we purchase the item  "just in case" (we run out, the weather is stormy when we need it, hell freezes over, etc)? How often does something get tossed, ground into pulp in the waste disposal or sit on the shelf until the expiration date kicks in?

More considerations. Does our insidous behavior derive from a post-modern entitlement (i.e. I deserve deserve to buy that item/ I have a right to purchase and consume whatever and however much I wish)? Or does the answer lie in our own self-preservation and even our own identity? (i.e. I need everyone to know that I purchase an abundance of name brand items; I need to have that food item always stocked because you never know if a store will carry it when I need it at a moment's notice. etc). Or have we just grown so accustomed to super-sizing everything that we just take for granted that we might just be able to do with less? 

Waste is costly

Over-consumption costs a fortune in more ways than one. For example, in America, annual medical expenditures attributable to obesity doubled over a ten year period, costing the United States as much as $147 billion per year in health care costs. At the same time, starvation exits on the local level as well as the international community. If we view those statistics through the lens of Christianity (never mind just plain old humanity), what's just about that kind of living?

Think about the scale of imbalance of over consumption. If you live in the United States, ask teachers who work with children in urban, suburban and rural areas about the number of children who show up hungry in the morning because the last meal that they ate was a school lunch. (Don't think for a minute that it doesn't happen in your own community because it does.) Talk to social workers who visit the elderly population who still live without assistance about the malnutrition that occurs on a regular basis. Did you know that nursing homes are subject to a regulation that mandates that they provide ample food supplies to their residents; they cannot be found withholding food even to those residents who really aren't all that hungry after a certain age and don't eat half of what they're served. The excess and uneaten food gets thrown out on a daily basis while soup kitchens and food pantries host anomolous numbers who stand in line for a bag of groceries or for a hot meal and must turn people away when the stocks deplete. The systematic disequilibrium is staggering.

What we spend in over-consumption and waste could actually be a viable way to feed the hungry, a Gospel imperative. "Feed the people dying hunger, because if you do not feed them you are killing them. " (Gaudiem et Spes, 69) Strong words with stronger consequences if we fail to heed them. 

Christian identity

What does this imbalance of too much as opposed to too little say about the Christian community and the Christian belief of justice tempered by charity? In a consumer-driven society, how we do we re-evaluate a culture of waste within a Christian context so that we can feed the hungry and preserve the precious gift of the earth's resources? The person of Earth yearns to marry its ecology in an environmental relationship in a partnership with us, the peoples who benefit from Earth's magnanimous gifts that are meant to be nurtured and equally shared. Can we begin to view ourselves as a discipleship of Christian witness as a community, rather than individuals who form a collective crowd? If Catholic Christians really believe that the banquet table of Eucharist is the feast of life, then we're accountable that everyone should eat and drink equally, not some more than others. 

Letting the past inform the present to change the future

Consider the post-WWII household and the people who lived through The Great Depression. Their experience of going without in lean times informed how they viewed food and consumption. Nothing was wasted. Sunday's roast beef, potato and carrot dinner became Monday night's hash. If someone declined dinner because the meal didn't suit a particular taste, no one offered an optional menu. People ate what was offered or they went without.

When the weather allowed, entire neighborhoods ate fresh vegetables from small urban gardens. The bones from fish, chicken or cuts of beef were used to make fresh soup stocks and sauces. Unused pie dough turned into sugar tarts. Neighbors who composted shared their rich home grown fertilizer each spring when the winter soil was ready to be turned by spades and shovels. Small neighborhood grocers provided essentials for what people could not raise or grow on their own. If people borrowed a cup of sugar or a few eggs, they were replaced within a day or two. One family car served as the vehicle that was only used when the destination could not be reached by walking or public transportation. One telephone, one television and one bathroom served families up to eleven and twelve people.

Food was a central player. When someone died, everyone from the parish and the neighborhood brought food for days and stayed to visit, so the bereaved could take the time to mourn and heal. What was not consumed was shared with the families who came to visit. When weddings occurred, the entire community gathered to celebrate, including children, bringing multitudinous fare that adorned the tables and went home with the guests at the end of the feast. When people left a room, they shut the lights off; when the left the house they lowered the heat. No one really thought about these practices as intentional living. This was how people lived, survived and took care of one another because they had lived through an era that taught them that excess was uncessary and preservation meant that others would be served.  

Everything changed when "we" became "me." Entitlement has stretched its toothy tentacles into our gumlines to produce a general hedonism that feeds a way of life that Pope Francis has named a "culture of waste." For the Christian community, that's a copious walk in a different direction than where the Gospel points us.

Change is possible

Can we return to a post-war era in a post-modern time? No, of course not. But we can let that way of life and that ontology inform us of a different way of being here and now. Can we create a paradigm shift of less is best within a society that believes that more is better? Some Christians are already actively engaged in intentional living, social and economic justice and service on behalf of the poor. They inspire us all to live by the spirit of the Beatitudes and Lady Poverty. However, the total commitment "to respect and protect creation, to be attentive to every person, to counter the culture of waste and disposable, to promote a culture of solidarity and of encounter" must be at the heart of each Christian and every Christian community, in our homes, schools, business practices - in everything we do. Gospel accoutability erradicates excess, plain and simple. Without that kind of Christian commitment on everyone's part, Think, Eat, Save: Reduce Your Foodprint is just another program. 

Parish Nurses - extraordinary ministry within Ordinary Time

I married a health care provider. Over a thirty year period in my roles as a caregiver for the elderly, the mother of three children, a frequent flyer as a surgical patient (my major surgery this coming Wednesday will be #18, not counting procedures, scans, blood tests and MRI's, etc.) and as a teacher and pastoral minister, my husband's expertise as a pharmacist, clinical administrator, mentor and advocate has been invaluable. I often wonder who people turn to when they have questions and concerns and really don't know anyone in the health care industry. Navigating the way through the maze of illness and advocacy can get really complex. In our current dilemma of national health care concerns, can a Catholic parish assist a faith community and provide assistance in matters of heath care?  

I believe that the answer to this question lies in Parish Nurse Ministry. 

Parish Nurse Ministry 

Parish nurses serve as conduits of health in physical, mental and spiritual dimensions for a faith community. This triptych mirrors a Trinitarian model of agapic care and incorporates the Christian dimension of holistic or ‘holy’ wellness that presumes self-care and care of others. The ministry of parish nurses is a sacrament of God's love and desire for wellness for all of humanity and an extraordinary gift to any parish and locates its historical roots in early the Christian church (Romans 16:1-2). 

What they do

Parish nurses address health situations in the light of faith and contribute their particular gifts within a faith community by actively using their professional skills to meet the needs of people who struggle with short hospital stays, assist an increasingly elder population, support people with chronic illness and conditions and serve as health care navigators for a wide host of population and concerns. Parish nurses integrate their skills with those of a pastoral staff to assimilate necessary and desired tools that assist a parish community with the myriad of needs that surface within any given population.

In conjunction with their pastoral staff, parish nurses may train care givers to provide emotional, spiritual and practical support for parish communities. Parish nurses may be members of a parish staff or parishioners who volunteer their professional skills on behalf of their community. A parish nurse ministry may include health care administrators, pharmacists, technicians, physicians and anyone who works within health care who wishes to participate in this particular ministry. Within the vast plethora of health care dilemmas that people consistently face, the light of Christ manifests itself in very tangible ways within a parish nurse ministry.

Additionally, those who care for the sick, the aging and the dying can often feel overwhelmed and isolated, especially if they've assumed the burden of care giving and the only one carrying that load. Parish nurses and their adjunct associates may sometimes see with a particular 'eye' what pastoral staffs may miss. Connecting people to health care services, helping them to understand medical language and offering a presence that simultaneously consoles and informs people on any number of needs serves a parish community in many and varied ways. The benefits are innumerable. 

Providing proactive accountability on behalf of wellness

Often, the most economically challenged will sacrifice medicine for food, heat and other basic needs. Addictions and lack of exercise often put people at risk when they lack good mentors to encourage better attention to health concerns and cause illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, joint disorders and clinical depression. Seasonal influenza and other viruses may cause a backlash of poor health for people in fragile physical condition. Parish nurses offer consistent and systematic accountability within an environment of Christian hospitality and professional assistance for people in their faith communities. This particular ministry tenders a proactive approach to wellness. Through regular contact with parish nurses, a faith community assumes a posturing of proactive, preventive measures in behalf of wellness.

Starting up

1. Explain parish nurse ministry in your parish bulletin, on your parish website. Introduce the concept of the ministry to the pastoral staff, the parish and finance councils. Provide references, information and some reading materials for these groups. 
2. Pray and theologically reflect with the pastoral staff and any advisory parish committees. Placing a new ministry within the context of prayer and reflection is an early Christian practice that really helps when discerning the beginning of a new ministry. 
3. Initiate a meeting of nurses and other health care professionals who would like to be a part of this vital ministry. Name a leader to rotate the schedule of volunteers who will staff the weekly blood pressure service after the Saturday Vigil Mass and perhaps after one Sunday morning Mass. Set a private room aside to insure privacy and protect the parish against HIPAA violations. 
4. Create a system that keeps a record of the people who will make use of this service (get ready, they come in droves!). Ask parishioners to bring their record with them each time a parish nurse takes their blood pressure. Tell them to bring their BP record with them when they visit their primary care physicians; doctors love the system and welcome this kind of record-keeping. 

Outcomes

Years ago, when parish nurses was a new concept, I spoke with a parishioner who was nurse manager in geriatrics about beginning this ministry. Diane embraced this new and important ministry and together, we began Parish Nurses with a weekly blood pressure clinic that quickly birthed a robust program. Parish nurses divided the responsibilities and assigned duties according to volunteers’ particular talent, experience and interest. Diane maintained a rotating schedule of nurses for weekend blood pressure and glucose checks. Another nurse who taught nursing to undergraduates in the local university assumed responsibility for parish educational health events, such as advance directives and a stress seminar in the wake of 9/11. A hospital pharmacist answered questions about medications on a regular basis. He procured the hospital system’s health van to visit the parish for a day to give free flu shots and test glucose and blood pressure levels. A member of the parish nurse ministry who ran the blood lab in the local hospital system organized a blood drive in the parish school hall. One retired nurse offered a weekly weight control clinic and successful seminars on healthy eating habits, including offering menu and food samples to parishioners. Another parish nurse ran a weekly AA group in the church hall. A health care administrator volunteered to offer a parish workshop on advanced directives. 

In addition, Parish Nurses worked with the neighborhood elder care agencies to better assess the needs of the local community. We partnered with the local interfaith council to train non-professional volunteers how to provide care giving services for the elderly who lived alone and needed assistance with cooking, bathing and shopping, calling it Caregiver Ministry. Parish Nurses also partnered with the parish bereavement ministry and ministers of the sick to provide presence, prayer and practice through the stages of sickness, death and its aftermath for the living. 

Just begin

We often think of Ordinary Time as a period of time off, especially in the summer months, when life seems to slow down a bit and lures us into its lazy lair. However, the needs of people still exist throughout this time we call 'ordinary.' Parishioners with particular skills in the area of health care can be called upon to serve the Body of Christ. The liturgical dismissal "Go forth to love and serve the Lord" does not add, "But not during Ordinary Time." We can do extraordinary things during Ordinary Time. Parish Nurses is a good place to begin. In this critical period of history in health care, our people's lives our in our hands. 

N.B. I will be away from my desk and unable to respond to comments or write other posts for a time. Please keep me in your prayers on Wednesday and throughout my recovery. I'm grateful for your prayers and your readership. 

Denise  

On behalf of an optional sequence

An edited version of this article appeared in Ministry and Liturgy Magazine (39.3) in the God Song column in 2012. I offer an edited version of my article on this blog for pastoral musicians and liturgical planners who prepare to celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

NPM

Several years ago, I flew to Detroit, Michigan to attend the National Association of Pastoral Musician conference. Convention goals included challenging participants to listen widely and think broadly to a generous and diverse plethora of keynote speakers, presentations, seminars, workshops, concerts and informal conversations. Serious convention attendants examine liturgical, musical and pastoral praxis, discern mission in shared prayer and garner fresh perspective within a collegial setting.

NPM participants reap a wealth of rich harvest from the insightfully planned conference liturgies. At that particular convention in Detroit, one event emerged as a transformative moment for many of the conference participants.

Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem

As participants snaked and sang in communal procession to receive Eucharist, one refrain became a recurring mantra. The refrain was interspersed between other familiar processional songs that participants knew from memory and the singing grew stronger with each resounding refrain of Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem, the optional sequence sung (or spoken) prior to the Gospel on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. The more we sang the Latin refrain, the more robustly we extolled our commitment to Christ and Christian mission.

As the Communion procession ended, the final refrain became a heartfelt leitmotif for this mission-bound assembly in eucharistic servitude and ongoing mission on behalf of the people of God. The commitment to Gospel long haul servitude resounded within the sung refrain of Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem. After the liturgy ended, several of us theologically reflected on what an altering moment that one sung refrain became for us and the insight the experience offered us with regard to the use (or non-use) of this glorious ‘optional’ sequence at a celebration of a solemnity that locates our very identity as a Eucharistic people.

A significant question

Based on the text attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas, Michael Joncas married his beautifully constructed composition Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem to eight verses and a refrain crafted by Alan Hommerding. In his composer notes, Fr. Joncas tells us that Alan’s “ability to evoke the theological nuances of the original (text) while still retaining poetic interest” allows the entire composition to work as a Communion procession and Fr. Joncas’ principle intention for the piece.

Lauda, Sion, Salvatorem alternates a single (and simple) melody line sung with a Latin refrain and alternates English verses between a cantor and/or choir.  Fr. Joncas informs us that the Latin refrain “Lauda, Sion, salvatorem, lauda ducem et pastorem, lauda, Sion, in hymnis et canticis” may be loosely translated as “Zion, praise your Savior. Praise the Prince and Shepherd in hymns and canticles.”

When the conference liturgy ended, a small group of us applied liturgical mystagogy to the experience to glean insights on our experience of repeatedly singing this one refrain. A significant question emerged. Because this sequence is an option on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, why do so many parishes “option out” of singing this magnificent text that locates our very identity as a eucharistic people?

Considerations

The Joncas/Hommerding composition of Lauda Sion Salvatorem may be performed in its simplest context between a cantor with accompaniment and assembly or augmented with a full choral score. Joncas adds that brass and timpani may “heighten the festive character of this setting.” However, a simple version may prove to be just as rich when well done.

The assembly’s part may be memorized after several repetitions. The brisk tempo and melodic refrain coupled with poignant poetry may be incorporated into any liturgical celebration. Consider using Lauda Sion Salvatorem as a communion processional hymn throughout the entire year so the assembly is prepared to sing and pray it well on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Several musical settings of “Laud, O Zion” utilize an optional shorter form of the sequence. For example, “Laud, O Zion” by Randall DeBruyn (OCP) may be sung by a cantor with accompaniment. DeBruyn also provides the long form in the octavo “Laud, O Zion” for four-part choir.

CanticaNOVA Publications issues a practical setting of “Laud, O Zion” by Angela Birkhead-Flight, who reworked the original 24 stanzas and grouped them into three sections. After the cantor sings eight verses, the assembly sings a simple refrain, ”Ecce panis angelorum.” The verses may be sung by a cantor with or without accompaniment.

Praise O Zion by Richard Proulx and Alan Hommerding  uses the familiar hymn tune St. Thomas with optional brass quartet and timpani to augment the piece that may be used on multiple liturgical occasions. 

Consider 'optioning in' with the sequence on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. Good traditions need to begin somewhere: make this your year to begin this practice.  

Finding balance

Ascension balloons

In 1968, Father Phil celebrated an evening liturgy on Ascension Thursday in a small chapel located on the property where he served as a retreat master for a center operated by his religious community. The group of approximately thirty high schoolers sat in a circle on the floor encircling the tiny altar. A liturgical folk group, the first in its region served three parish communities on a Sunday morning in addition to their own high school. Father Phil asked them to provide music for the liturgy and they willingly accepted his invitation. Lots of young people welcomed any reason to gather, pray and sing and enjoy one another's company with Father Phil who led great discussions after liturgies and served pizza and pop to boot. 

After proclaiming Luke's account of Jesus' blessing, parting and assumed into heavenly skies, Father Phil left the chapel for a moment and returned holding a large stack of primary colored helium balloons. Saying nothing, he stepped into the middle of the circle of students and released the balloons. All heads ascended, watching balloons rising to the top of the cathedral ceiling. 

"And that's just what happened," Father Phil said. 

Father Phil surveyed the musicians. "Would the folk group like to sing a song about this?" he asked. The leader picked up his guitar and struck the strings of his guitar with his pick in a jazzy 4/4 tempo. The folk group followed the leader for an enthusiastic round of Jimmy Webb's Grammy award winning song "Up, Up and Away" by The Fifth Dimension. 

True story. I was a member of that folk group and present at that liturgy. Guilty as charged. 

The fact that I found a easily found an image of "Hallelujah, Jesus balloons" through a generic search engine indicates that similar events still occur at some liturgies all these years later. 

More Ascension balloons

Throughout most of the United States, the church transfers and celebrates the solemnity of the Ascension on a Sunday. In the ecclesial provinces of Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and Omaha, Ascension Thursday occurs on the sixth week of Easter (May 9, 2013) of. My own diocese of Fall River falls under the metropolitan of Boston. We still commemorate Ascension on a Thursday. 

This year, I decided to celebrate Ascension Thursday Mass with my 93-year-old dad in his residence, a Catholic nursing home that provides daily liturgies in a very lovely chapel. The facility is very fortunate to have two really fine chaplains, a priest and a religious sister who provide some of the best pastoral care I've ever seen in my 40+ tenure as an ecclesial minister. 

All of Deacon Morency's stoles rest on the pew that the chaplains reserve for him. He dons the stole of the liturgical day and season for daily Mass and leads the residents in the recitation of the Rosary before the liturgy begins. His walker remains to the left of his pew. He remains seated throughout the liturgy.

Profoundly deaf for many years, Dad depends on his memory to recite the prayers and uses the prayer cards available to the residents who can still see. However, he misses a lot of the excellent homilies and the announcements because he cannot hear. So when one of the chaplains distributed the balloons and handed him one, my dad looked at me with a furrowed brow and asked and asked in a loud, clear voice "What's this for? We're not at a party: we're in church! Is it someone's birthday?" I motioned that the balloon symbolized his prayer 'ascending' to heaven in the Universal Prayer. He nodded that he understood and quietly held his balloon until he was told to release it when the prayers ended. He turned to me and said, "Now?" I nodded as I assisted another resident release her balloon in the pew in front of me. Dad released his balloon with the other residents. All eyes ascended toward the ceiling as we watched the balloons lift up, up and away. 

"And that's just what happened," said the presider.  

Dejavu. ( I did not break into a chorus of Jim Webb's song.) 

Pastoral practices for 'special' liturgies

In a May 6 post of PrayTell, Donna Eschenauer addressed sound liturgical principles through the lens of the celebration of First Communion and re-creating the liturgy for children by manipulating the celebration of eucharistic initiation with 'special' elements to highlight the sacramental occasion. Similarly, Michael Joncas' PrayTell  post on March 11 examined Article 37 of Sacrosanctum Concilium, which states:

37. Even in the liturgy, the Church has no wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters which do not implicate the faith or the good of the whole community; rather does she respect and foster the genius and talents of the various races and peoples. Anything in these peoples’ way of life which is not indissolubly bound up with superstition and error she studies with sympathy and, if possible, preserves intact. Sometimes in fact she admits such things into the liturgy itself, so long as they harmonize with its true and authentic spirit.

Liturgical balance in pastoral practice 

How does the church within specific cultural contexts make adaptations that honor the true and authentic spirit of the liturgy? How far do we bend in our cultural adaptations? When do our 'balloons" of pastoral, liturgical practice exceed #37's intent to honor the cultural norms of races and peoples within liturgical pastoral practice? 

"The genius and talents of the people" can sometimes turn into a let's-make-it-up-as-we-go-along ideology that evokes confusion and even a more than a little frustration among the people of God within a worship community. Some additional practices have nothing to do with the cultural norms and traditions of peoples, races or spirituality of particular communities. Although well intentioned, some of the practices just leave worshipping communities puzzled and confused. Liturgical leaders whose persuasion veers both to the polemic left and right of the theological spectrum might do well to adopt health care's principle, "First do no harm."

Donna Eschenauer's short post on the PrayTell blog cites some of the things that re-invent the proverbial liturgical wheel within the area of First Communion. I've seen all of the things she mentions and more. I add several other practices that I've experience over the years in other liturgical celebrations. 

1. Replacing the ancient Christian greeting "The Lord be with you" for The Lord is with you." When a bishop or one of his representatives shows up in the parishes whose ordained leaders use this alternative greeting, the correct greeting suddenly re-appears within the liturgical language of that worship event. And yes, the community notices that their greeting isn't the same when they visit other parishes. 

2. Substituting a scripture reading at a Sunday celebration for a poem, a reading from a religious constitution or commentary on an article. A dashboard indicator that someone does not understand that God speaks to us directly in the here and now through scripture. Is that a failure on the part of the Church to make that clear or is it just obstinacy on the part of liturgical planners that their agenda overrides the Word of God? 

3. Inserting seven candles at the celebration of First Penance. In a conversation with a sacramental theologian and several colleagues, someone said," I went to celebrate my nephew's First Penance and there were seven candles in the sanctuary. They just stayed lit throughout the whole rite; no one explained why they were there. The Rite of Penance doesn't mention anything about seven candles. Why were they there? Apparently it's a custom in that parish but no one seems to know why. Nobody can figure out when the custom started but one of the catechist's said, 'We've always done it that way as long as I can remember.' Any clues?" 

I put on my Nancy Drew hat and cleared up The Mystery of the Seven Candles at the Rite of Penance. 

Many years ago, a very respected priest taught in a seminary. He showed the seminarians a gimmicky little homily to better illustrate First Penance with young children.

"Light seven candles. During the homily, ask the children to volunteer to hold a letter in front of one of the candles. The seven large cards each have a letter that spells P E N A N C E."

"'What does sin mean?'" the priest instructed his seminarians. "They are the 'no no's' in our lives. When we remove the 'no no's' from the word 'penance,' what do the letters spell?"

P E N A N C E = P E A C E

"When we take away the 'no no's' in our lives through the sacrament of penance, we have peace. The candles are snuffed out when the n's are removed, " he concluded. 

Years passed. The practice became almost obsolete. But the candles remained as part of the rite. They have absolutely nothing to do with the celebration of the sacrament of penance. But candles add ambiance and look really nice. So a parish kept the candles as part of their practice. That's how customs begin.

4. The Unity Candle at weddings. The giving of a rose to parents. The interlocking of two families becoming one as two candles are snuffed out and one large center candle is lit. A romantic song as lovers stargaze while the unity candle flickers and families weep with joy (or not). Where is that found in the Rite of Marriage? How did practice begin? Why do we think that this superfluous, non-essential element speaks more clearly than the sacrament in front of us - a man and a woman consenting before God to join together in marriage? Anyone?

Finding balance

Where do we find the balance between what is true and authentic worship, the praise of God and theology and pastoral practice that confuses and even disturbs worship communities? We've come to a crucial axis in the time of the Church, the betwixt and between of what began at Vatican II and continues to unfold -- the liturgy as the whole public worship exercised by the Body of Christ under the direction of the servant leadership of priests on behalf of the Gospel and service to the world. Rigid formality does not speak to people's hearts. However, we sometimes can go to the other extreme and add unnecessary 'stuff' in our attempts to engage people within liturgical worship. 

The Council left it to us to discern what is true and authentic liturgy. The challenge to find a balanced approach of robust liturgical celebration lies ahead of us. How do we discern and determine those things which so concern the “faith and good of the entire community” to not only maintain the Church's liturgical worship but continue to mine the fields of gold at our disposal within sacred symbol and sign given to us within sacramental worship? Where do we locate true and authentic worship, the praise and worship of God through the tables of word and feast, led with robust presidential leadership and full, active and conscious participation of the people of God? 

Your stories, thoughts and comments are welcome. Please feel free to share them on this blog.