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Views from the Choir Loft

World Day for Consecrated Life and Leadership from the Laity

Richard J. Clark · February 6, 2015

LL TOO CLOSE to World Day for Consecrated Life (Feb. 2nd), the Archdiocese of Boston suffered great loss in the passing of two faithful and active pastors: Msgr. Richard Mehm, Pastor of Immaculate Conception in Malden, Massachusetts and Fr. John W. Gentleman, pastor of both Sacred Heart Church, Manchester by the Sea and John the Baptist Church in Essex, Massachusetts. The sadness is made more difficult by their relatively young ages. Rev. Mehm was 66. Rev. Gentleman was 55.

Msgr. Mehm was an avid supporter of sacred music. His Director of Music and Organist, Rosalind Mohnsen, is an extraordinarily accomplished organist and recording artist. But she also had Msgr. Mehm’s support in bringing truly reverent sacred music to this suburban parish; they have been singing the propers for years. Furthermore, I was deeply honored when Msgr. Mehm backed a commission for an organ work for Rosalind Mohnsen’s twenty-fifth anniversary at Immaculate Conception Parish. Based on the Introit for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Gaudens Gaubedo was most fitting for his parish. This was an unusually supportive pastor and a great loss.

While I never met Fr. Gentleman, I have witnessed the outpouring of grief from fellow priests upon his passing. We shall keep them in our prayers for the repose of their souls as well as for thanksgiving for their humble service to God and his people.

HEIR PASSINGS UNDERSCORE the frailty of human life. One would have expected both to serve the Archdiocese for many more years. We not only needed them, but depended upon them. The Archdiocese of Boston, like many dioceses around the United States, faces a large number of priests retiring and not enough to take their place. While the seminary in Boston has rebounded dramatically in the last decade, there remains a relatively smaller population of diocesan priests to serve the people.

As such, a similar reality has faced much of the country: Priests and pastors are responsible for multiple parishes. (Even parochial vicars sometimes split time between parishes.) This requires a greater reliance upon lay leadership, recognized with authority or not. There is nothing new here. But it is becoming the new normal everywhere.

HIS WEEKEND, PARISHES ARE CELEBRATING the World Day for Consecrated Life. With the best and most effective priests being stretched thinner and thinner, musicians and priests must be mutually supportive. Both are immersed in the work of the liturgy, the celebration of which Geofreddo Boselli calls, the “most important act of evangelization.” (pg. 209, The Spiritual Meaning of the Liturgy) Furthermore, lay leaders need their volunteers. (I am nothing without mine.) We are all responsible for the spiritual growth and well being of our parishes.

For music directors, the pastoral nature of one’s job demands that one be a servant leader. This usually entails leadership without authority, as ultimately a pastor will always have canonical authority in a parish.

But sometimes leadership without authority is the most effective kind. It is teaching by example. It is serving by giving those in our charge the tools and therefore the ability to succeed. It is leadership by keeping the spiritual well being of an entire parish in mind, meeting them where they are at and then challenging them to move forward. (This is far different from making everyone happy and also far more important.)

Leadership without authority keeps one humble and keeps others’ best interests in one’s heart. During difficult times in the Church, let us pray for vocations and pray for our priests who need additional strength to carry out God’s work. Furthermore, pray for the lay leaders of the Church who will be carrying more and more weight in serving the Church. Pray always, and be grateful for the opportunity to serve God and his people.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Servant Leader 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

“In my opinion, there should be reached the aim that all priests could continue to use the old Missal.”

— ‘Cardinal Ratzinger, Letter to Wolfgang Waldstein (14 December 1976)’

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