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Views from the Choir Loft

Stress, Low Pay, and ‘That Finger of Jesus’

Richard J. Clark · October 4, 2013

HAD TO CHUCKLE when I recently saw this post on the CNNMoney website: “Stressful Jobs that pay badly.” Number five on the list was “Music ministry director.” That anyone is paying attention to the profession is surprising, and it is a dubious honor to make the list!

There is no need to fully recount here how and why such work can be stressful. Music touches everyone, so everyone has a stake in it. Music can often be a source of tension in a parish and therefore we are called not only to be skilled musicians, but decent people with big hearts. We must be articulate and skillfully restore and foster sacred music, yet navigate the waters of human nature and fear of the unfamiliar and fear of change.

Furthermore, stress can stem from an uncertain job market, the changing tides of fashion, or changes in pastor assignments. Healthy or dysfunctional work environments directly affect employee morale and productivity in churches no differently than in the corporate world.

Yet, music ministry is one the most rewarding professions too. I suppose this is why so many of us stick with it for a lifetime. Once in a while, we may get a letter or note from someone that may change our outlook completely. Often, a note of thanks or praise is not because the music was just “beautiful” but because it touched their spirit. It touched their life in a way that shaped and formed them.

When this happens, I am reminded of a verse from the Spiritual There is a Balm in Gilead:

Sometimes I feel discouraged

And think my work’s in vain,

But then the Holy Spirit

Revives my soul again.”

IN THIS, I AM ALSO REMINDED of how the musicians I work with touch my life. I may be the director, but I am shaped and formed in my spirit from the amazing people I get to guide and teach. Like the Holy Spirit, they revive my soul again. For this I am truly grateful.

Finally, our jobs can be stressful, because it is a pragmatic mix of making a living and caring for family—yet at the same time it is a calling, a true vocation. We must discern what our calling is in how we may be of service to God.

In trying to discern our calling, I think of an ignored and overlooked section of Pope Francis’ recent interview with Father Antonio Spadaro, S. J. where he speaks of ‘The Calling of St. Matthew,’ by Caravaggio.”

“That finger of Jesus, pointing at Matthew. That’s me. I feel like him. Like Matthew.” Here the pope becomes determined, as if he had finally found the image he was looking for: “It is the gesture of Matthew that strikes me: he holds on to his money as if to say, ‘No, not me! No, this money is mine.’ Here, this is me, a sinner on whom the Lord has turned his gaze. And this is what I said when they asked me if I would accept my election as pontiff.” Then the pope whispers in Latin: “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.”

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Richard J. Clark

Richard J. Clark is the Director of Music of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.—(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“From six in the evening, his martyrdom had continued through the ghastly night until nine o’clock in the morning. After fifteen hours of torture rarely if ever surpassed in the bloody annals of the Iroquois, the soul of Gabriel Lalemant was freed from its charred and mutilated prison and summoned to join his comrade Jean de Brébeuf in the radiant splendor of God. March 17th, 1649, was the date; for Brébeuf it had been the sixteenth.”

— ‘Fr. John A. O’Brien, speaking of St. Gabriel Lalemant’

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