SOMETIMES WONDER if I would enter the field of Sacred Music again if I knew in college what I know now, twenty years later. I spent that season of my life in the waning years of the pontificate of St. John Paul II, at a time when the nation reeled from the revelation of the sexual abuse scandal (although it was all too obvious to many long before), yet also during a time that was blessed with many young and faithful priests—not to mention families who were fully open to life and all of the beauty and ‘mess’ that entailed. There was a palpable excitement that the Church in America was finally throwing off the (already decayed) shackles of a lifeless 1970s liberal “catholicism” and beginning to breath again with the life-giving breath of the Holy Spirit. We were leaving winter behind. Not the beautiful winter of lush snowfalls on pine boughs in the Rocky Mountains against a silvery sky, but the drab winter of relentless ice and rain, an oppressive cold one could never escape from. That was the “church” of my youth, but it was coming to an end.
Benedict XVI Elected • Within a year of my graduation, Pope Benedict ascended the Petrine throne and it looked like even the Sacred Liturgy and her attendant music might be set free from “the Spirit of Vatican II.” Conferences on Sacred Music that had ‘ground through’ the last couple of decades with 20 participants at most now exploded with all kinds of new people thirsting to know more about singing the Mass instead of singing at the Mass, Gregorian chant instead of the St. Louis Jesuits… and priests continued to get better. Of course, Summorum pontificum in 2007 was a watershed moment for the Church and Her Sacred Liturgy. Everyone1 finally seemed to realize that it was schizophrenic of the Church to rob Her children of the very Mass and Sacraments that had fed their ancestors and all the saints for at least 3/4 of the life of the Church, if not longer—and of course this all had a growing effect on Sacred Music. Then winter seemed to set in again… or did it?
Facing Facts • It is true that Pope Francis has revived and even refueled all of the old Liturgical Wars—not to mention the continual skirmishes he seems to delight in creating over any range of topics from doctrine to practice and everything in between—but that hasn’t changed the fact that the Church in America continues Her mission with much greater vigor and vitality than ever was the case in my childhood. I don’t want to downplay the great tragedies still taking place, whether by ecclesiastics who refuse to be spiritual shepherds (some who even stoop to run with the wolves) or by parents who refuse to help each other and their children reach their Heavenly home, but I can promise anyone born after my college graduation that the Church in these United States is still far better off now than she was then and she is growing ever stronger. Even in the field of Sacred Music, problems notwithstanding, there is far more interest in Gregorian chant, polyphony, and even good modern music these days than ever before in my life. That still begs the question: would I enter the same field of endeavor if I could do it all over again? Probably, but I would still give my younger self some advice.
(1) Working for the Church is your Job, Not your Vocation • Thankfully one of my professors in graduate school, a practicing Catholic himself, gave me this advice and I have never forgotten it. Working for the Church is your Job, Not your Vocation. As church musicians, we can fall into the trap of thinking of God as our Boss (we work for His Church, right?), but in reality, it is the man wearing the white collar, who’s just as human as you and I, and who quite often possesses just as little experience running a company as your average church musician. And the vast majority of parishes of a medium size or larger in the US are run as businesses—and as such, the choirmaster is at the mercy of an animal that rarely operates the way it should, much less to its greatest potential, and this can be supremely frustrating for the idealistic musician (with his artistic temperament) fresh out of university armed with his knowledge of the Church’s documents on liturgy and music … which quite frankly mean very little at the parish level. Most priests just want some decent music done decently well—meaning it should raise the least number of objections from parishioners.
Instead, think of your position as you would any other job in the corporate world. You need to make enough money to support your family, and you should experience joy in your work. If you don’t, find something else.
(2) Live Close to Your Parish • I currently live less than a mile from my parish, but I have lived as far away as 60 miles, and I can assure you that life is much nicer being able to jaunt home for lunch during the weekday or dash in for a cup of coffee and a chat with my better half before the last Mass on Sunday. Life is too short to miss these opportunities, which your wife and children will cherish for years to come.
(3) Recruit, Recruit, Recruit • This is rather self explanatory, but difficult to put into practice, however, the years that I keep this dictum before my mind my choirs really do grow, and not just in numbers (although larger numbers are nice). I am also recruiting current members to become professionals—they just don’t know it. Every year they grow as musicians, and even though they think of themselves as volunteers, I would put them and their skills up against many cathedral choirs in the United States in a choral stand off and would expect to win.
(4) Make Improvising a Priority • I really wish I had learned to improvise younger in life, or even learned the art at all, because rare and exciting is the organist who can truly bring the Faith to life through the sounds he makes at the organ. Whether the rumble of the strepitus during Holy Week, the explosion of joy at Our Lord’s Resurrection, or simply the quiet adoration of Our Lady throughout Her life, the organist who can convey the deep Truths of our Faith in sound is an artist indeed.
(5) Finally, Have Fun • The last thing I would tell my younger self would be: have fun along the way instead of sweating all of the small skirmishes. When a pastor decides not to follow the Church’s directives on music, so be it. I do what I can and then I move on…
Wait, who am I kidding? This is one area in which I wouldn’t change a thing. If a pastor, bishop or even the pope closes the door on a better way forward, I will knock a new hole in the wall and find a circuitous route back through. This is the fun part of my job and much of the reason behind my push to teach good sacred music to all Catholic children. I will simply beat the other side in a game of numbers—and one day there will be enough voices crying out for Gregorian chant, polyphony, and really good modern music that the other side will have no choice but to give in!
When the Lord finally calls me home, I have no plans to trip over Eagle’s Wings on my way to the cemetery. There will be no question of good or bad music, or even a compromise between the two. The only question that might remain on that terrible day is whether the Requiem will be that of Mozart or Duruflé.
1 With the possible exception of a few old white men, mostly of European descent, and their even fewer younger adherents that contraception and abortion hadn’t killed off.
