I Am A Pastoral Musician

I asked a good friend
to offer the opening prayer
at the Choir Festival this Saturday.

Fr. Tom and I go way back.
He asked me
what was has been
the most significant things in my ministry
over these past 30 years.

Below is, quite literally,
the email message I responded with.
I decided to post here
and in my 30 Years In Music Blog as well.
I just thought
that those who read my occasional ramblings
on electronic parchment
might want to know
just what exactly
goes on in Rubi’s head.

The most significant things about my ministry
these past 30 years??

a few things come to mind. . ..

Gratitude
Learning to be grateful for many things,
. . . like years and years of classical piano study my parents gave me.
I hated piano lessons as a teenager,
but now can't imagine my life without it.
We sometimes walked to piano lessons with my mother
because my father worked swing-shift,
I think it was about 7 miles. . . I hated it!!!!
But today,
I am ever grateful my mother made us walk those miles
and made us take those piano lessons. . ..

gratitude. . . .I own a baby grand piano,
also a gift from my mother. . .
. . .What mother ever gave her daughter
a baby grand piano for a gift???

Learning what is my talent. . .
A lot people really don't know what their talent is.
Talent isn't necessarily artistic.
A lot of people don't know that either.
But what is my talent???
.. . is it really music?
Maybe.
But I'm more inclined to think
that it's bringing out the talent in others.
Sometimes they don't even see it.
I help them "see" that all things are possible.
Maybe music is the gift.
But I'm really inclined to think music is the avenue to something greater.
Bringing out the talent of others is the gift.
And even more,
bringing out the musical talent in others,
in turns, helps to bring greater gifts
that they didn't know they had.
 . . yes. . . music is the avenue. . .

The most significant thing?
The children.
Every parish I have ever served in
I have tried hard to develop a children's choir.
Some places had success stories to tell, others not so much.
80% of people who sing in choirs as an adult
sang in a choir as a child.
This is a music ministry no-brainer.
After 30 years,
I am graced by God to see and experience this statistic first-hand.

. . .and children are so free.
I love working with adults,
but adults always have an opinion. .
. . it's too fast, too slow, too high, too low,
it's a boring song, I don't like that song,
the other song was better, why do we have to learn this song. . .
Children just sing.
Children make you laugh.
And when they get it, when they really get,
the children will make you cry.

Even more,
I am a child of the 80%.
I sang in the children's choir once upon a time.
Who would have thought that a gazillion years later,
I would be living out the statistic
that I so often quote to others . .
 . . in more ways than one. . .

In the end,
I know that I am not just leading music
for Sunday to Sunday.
I am doing something
that will create the musician
who will one day replace me.
That director will come from the children.
80% of people who sing in choirs as adults
sang in a choir as a child.
And one of those children will actually grow up
to be the parish's music director.

Yes
the children are the most significant part
of my music ministry. . .

. . .another thought about things significant. .  .

Music in general.
A musician takes years to make.
And just being a musician
doesn't necessarily make one a Pastoral Musician.
Still,
it takes years to make a musician.

In recent years,
I've dedicated a part of myself
to help create musicians,
more specifically, pianists.

I teach at both
COMPAS - Center of Music and Performing Arts Southwest
and
Garage Cultural - Center of Music and Visual Arts.
And more recently,
offering lessons in my home studio.

While neither of these schools are on
an ecclesial acre of land,
I do consider it a part of my mission and ministry.
In fact,
some of my students have been my own choir members,
one of which will be a soloists during the children's portion
of Saturday's program.

But again. . .
it goes back to the mission
of creating the musician who will one day replace me.

I guess what I'm trying to say
is that it's not enough to know
that 80% of people who sing in the choir as adult
sang in a choir as a child.
It's not enough to form a children's choir,
to form the children in the music ministry.
I think it is also necessary
to form that young musician,
who,
in time,
will be formed as a Pastoral Musician.

. . .while my ministry has had her ups and downs,
her fun pastors to work with
and her not so fun pastors to work with,
I wouldn't change it for the world.
I am a Pastoral Musician.
This is my Vocation.

. . and that vocation continues to grow and evolve
even after 30 years. . . .

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

about the photo:
the musically talented hands of one of my piano students!

Liturgical Language

Last year about this time

I started posting entries in this blog

about my trip to Juquila

in Oaxaca, Mexico.

My “Road to Juquila” blog entries

will continue this year

as I’ve just recently returned

from a 2nd pilgrimage

to Our Lady’s holy sanctuary.

And,

as always,

my trips to Mexico

fill me with thoughts,

my trips renew and boost my faith,

and visits to various ruins

(this year, Tula and Mitla)

always serve to move me to action.

So,

in the months to come

I’ll post pictures

and generous

Rubi Ramblings

on all of the above.

But right now. . .

. . well. . . right now. ..

let’s discuss Liturgical Language.

Or even,

language in general.

You know,

language changes.

When I was growing up

we never “Googled” anything.

Texting while driving wasn’t a problem.

Ipod, Ipad, Iphone, 

Zune, Wii,

email, hotmail, gmail, 

Skype

blog, blogger, blogging, blogged, blogosphere .. .

. . .none of these words existed.

How about,

using some of those words in a sentence:

"Today I Googled tethering an Iphone to an Ipad."

Although in English,

some in the English speaking world

might not have a clue

as to what that even means!

And when I was growing up

the words to the song were:

“. . and we’ll all feel gay

when Johnny comes marching home.”

When my son sang it in school

a few years back

the language had changed:

“and we’ll all be glad.”

Yes,

language changes.

Vocabulary grows.

And there is an identity

in language.

I’ve worked with immigrants

all of my adult life.

And while those in the mainstream

complain that

“If they want come here

they need to learn English,”

some compassion really needs to take place.

It’s not a resistance

to learning a new language.

It’s about one’s sense of identity.

And this,

for both those in the so called “mainstream”

as well as for those

living in the margins.

There is identity in language.

Language

is a touchy, touchy subject.

The Liturgy has a language all its own.

Really.

It’s not just the words we speak

or listen to,

but the symbols speak.

Even our gestures speak.

Still,

until this week,

I haven’t given much thought

to the changes in liturgical language

for the English speaking world.

OK.

That’s a lie.

I have.

But not in the proper pastoral context.

To tell the truth,

I have been absolutely frustrated

and even angered

by the whole idea.

Only I just didn’t realize it.

I placed a phone call

to a friend of mine

who also works in the area of liturgy.

She put into words

some of those things

that have been hiding in my thoughts.

The change in language

will bear a dollar sign.

New hymnals, new Roman Missals,

workshops and training, etc.

Publishers

will begin to advertise

so as to beat out other publishers in sales.

And there will be work,

much work,

for those

who have already done so much

to make our worship so wonderful.

Liturgical composers

will need to rewrite their works

if they hope to be included

in the next edition

of hymnals and songbooks.

Basically,

they will have to do the work

they have already done

all over again.

We will be asking creative and talented people

to stop their creativity

for a do-over.

The Church certainly has

more than her share of crises right now. . .

. . .declining clergy. . .

. . .church closures. . . abuse scandals. . .

Not to even mention the fact

that the church seems to be dividing herself

into two factions:

liberal and conservative.

And text translation

is what we are worried about???

That’s not logical, Captain Kirk.

Now,

I currently serve in a parish

that is primarily Spanish speaking.

That may be another reason

that I haven’t given serious

pastoral thought

to these changes.

But enough of my inner thoughts

and on to the world of  Church.

There are translation changes

and those who preside,

those who lead music,

those who in any way are involved

in liturgical ministries

need to prepare

and then implement these changes.

The changes are real

and I consider myself

to be among those

who need to prepare

for said change.

It’s time to leave the world

of personal opinion

and travel the road

to Pastoral Thought.

I received an email the other day

and I followed a link in that email.

And,

as things go,

several links later

I was at a parish website

where they actually have a

team for

The Implementation of The Roman Missal.

Well,

they certainly seem to be on the ball!

But that link

was an evangelizing moment for me.

“Everything happens for a reason,”

my friend, Marcy, always says.

There’s a reason I landed at the website.

There’s a reason

(or maybe several reasons)

why the simple title of that committee or team

moved me to write this blog entry.

But more,

I realize that I will play a key role

in the implementation of these changes,

which,

in turn,

means that I have quite a bit of homework before me.

Yeah,

that simple text on that website

was what I call a Juan Diego moment:

Evangelizing those

who think they are already Evangelized.

And, as always,

things that frustrate at first,

things that anger me at first,

are the very things

that move me into action.

I’m an affective person.

Strong emotions

usually bring about creativity

and action.

At least,

it does for me.

And so while I do not understand

what the logic is

that put text translation

above some of the other crises

the Church faces,

I’m also not going to worry about it

too much anymore.

Everything happens for a reason.

And while the reason isn’t clear to me

at this moment in time and space,

I am certain

that the reason or reasons

will be abundantly clear

in the course of Salvation History.

So be it.

“And with your spirit.”

We already respond in this fashion

for the Spanish language liturgy,

“.. .y con tu Espíritu.”

Yeah,

homework.

The Amazing Miss Wendy

I’ve been officially directing the children’s choir at St. Gabriel
for one year now.
It was at the end of September of 2008
that I first began.
And if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years,
it’s that one must constantly evaluate.
Set the goals and make the objectives.
And, during the course of the year,
make any necessary adjustments needed
to reach that goal.

After the first few rehearsals with these amazing children
I knew well that I would having them singing in parts
within two years.

There were some other kinds of things we needed to work on first,
like attention span
and discipline.
And though most of them speak Spanish
they do not read Spanish,
which makes reading music
and singing in Spanish a bit of a challenge.

And while some weren’t quite singing on pitch at first,
it wasn’t because they couldn’t.
It was just that they needed to learn how to hear,
learn how to listen to a particular note or musical phrase.
So,
I had to and continue to
teach them how to listen.

But underneath it all,
I could see the diamond in the rough.
I knew from the beginning
that this group of children
was fully capable of singing in harmony,
of singing in parts.
I knew well that I would have them doing so
within two years.
But the fact is,
this is making itself manifest right now.
It’s messy,
but they get it.
They understand why
there is new special seating arrangement,
why we are now rehearsing
different groups of children on different days.

But one of the other goals I had
was one that I knew I would probably never see.
Not that it wouldn’t happen,
but that I probably wouldn’t be here
to see it happen.
That goal
is to have these children singing in the choir
as adults.

Since first coming to St. Gabriel
one of the things I have been saying to people
is that 80% of people who sing in a choir as an adult
sang in a choir as a child.
I heard that statistic quite some time ago
at a conference of
the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM).
I can’t remember the source of the statistic
or who quoted it.
I only remember what was said.
I find it so hard to believe
that more churches,
Roman Catholic or otherwise
aren’t doing more with music and children.

But,
as I said,
I didn’t think I would see this come to life.
I didn’t think I would be here
to see the movings of the Holy Spirit
once these children got older.

But you know,
I didn’t have to wait.
One child in particular,
is showing me
that she has no intention
of ever leaving the music ministry.
Apart from her commitment to the choir,
this child truly understands
what is meant
by co-responsibility.
She understands stewardship better than most.

That child is Wendy.

Wendy and her family
attend the Spanish mass at St. Gabriel.
And there is an adult choir for that mass.

They also attend the Thursday evening mass,
where Wendy and several other children
serve in the music ministry.

Wendy is in the third grade
and has perfect attendance at choir rehearsal.

This past weekend,
Wendy was at the noon mass in English.
I didn’t see her until mass was over.
She came up to the choir loft to say, “hello,”
and then asked me where all the people were.
“What people,” I asked.
“The people in the choir.”
“I lead the music for this mass, Wendy.
Robyn has started to help recently,
but that’s all there is for this mass.”

“You mean
you don’t have a choir?”
“No, Wendy,
there is no choir for the noon mass.
I’ve asked some people.
I’ve invited several folks
to come to the music area
to help.
I’ve encouraged folks to come early
to come to choir loft
to rehearse a little before mass.
But so far,
it’s just me and Robyn.”

Wendy looked up at me
with eyes that told me she was serious
about what she was going to say
she put her hands on hips and said,
“What are we going to do about it?”

Wisdom from the mouth of babes.
It’s not just that she had this sense
of wanting and needing to see
a music ministry developed.
She included herself in the equation;
“What are WE going to do about it?”

Wendy gets it.
I have no doubt that she will continue in the music ministry
into her teen
and even into her adult years.
I have no doubt that she will be
actively involved in parish life in the years to come.

80% of people who sing in a choir as an adult
sang as a child.
Keep your eyes on Wendy.
Because she will be a part of that group.
Her parents would do well
to get that child a guitar and/or keyboard
and send her to private lessons.
She will have my job one day.

The Amazing Miss Wendy
has question that remains unanswered.
Can you,
will you
include yourself in the equation?
There is not a choir for the noon mass.
What are we going to do about it?

And that’s not just a question
for the people of one Southwest Detroit parish to answer.
It’s a question to be answered
by any parish that does not have a choir
or active music ministry.

What are we going to do about it?

More On Decisions

Recent decisions in my life
Have changed my worship
And rehearsal schedule.

Because of recent decisions made,
I now serve as a pastoral musician,
And choir director,
For six different liturgies
In two different languages
Rehearsing five different groups
In three different parishes.
Every week.
OK. . .well… .one of those groups
Only rehearses every other week.
And not all of those groups sing every week.
And not all of those masses have a choir.
But. . .still. . . .my worship schedule has changed.

I know.
it sounds a bit frazzled,
But it isn’t really.
My music planning tends to overlap.
It’s really only a challenge
In the sense that these parishes
All use different hymnals.
For the most part,
The day and time of each of these liturgies
And rehearsals don’t conflict.

Well. . .at least they didn’t
Until late summer
When I was formally asked
To form/direct a children’s choir
For one of these parishes.

A part of me really wanted to do this.
Of all the groups I have led over the years,
There are two kinds of groups
That are just so life giving to me:
Women’s choirs
And
Children’s choirs.

These children are bilingual,
Though not all of them are bi-literate.
Their parents primary speak Spanish.

This children’s choir, however,
Would require me spending much time
In inner city Detroit.
I’ve been involved in an inner city ministry before.
It really takes a special commitment
To this ministry.

A part of me resisted. .. .
The distance to drive
(especially in snowy weather),
The pay would be meager,
And just the plain messiness
That comes with inner city work.

Don’t get me wrong.
I firmly believe that an inner city ministry
Brings forth great blessings to those involved.
But the pastoral musician
Called to serve in such a place
Must have the vision
To see beyond the messiness
And peal away the layers
To bring forth the gems that are hiding there.

The week to week involvement with the children
Would require a slight change
In my involvement
With the primary parish I serve in.
That seemed to work itself out
Without too much of a kerfuffle.
At least,
It did at first.

But then. . . well. . .
I was asked to prepare the children for Christmas.
I had to think long and hard about that.
I had to pray, reflect and discern.
To accept this
Meant that I would not be present for Christmas
At my primary parish.

In the end,
The decision I made
Was to spend this Christmas
In this Southwest Detroit parish.

This would still require me
To prepare Christmas with my primary parish,
Although other musicians,
Guest musicians,
would accompany.

No, this was not an easy decision to make.
And certainly not one
that will earn me any income.

In fact,
I will end up in the red financially by doing this.
But, as I said in a previous blog entry,
Decisions made via a true discernment process
Are not about money.
If it were,
I probably wouldn’t be involved
In any kind of ministry at all.

Inner city ministry is a special calling.
It’s messy.
Participants are often transitory.
There’s a different concept of time,
A different concept of structure.

There is a deep reverence
Given to popular piety,
A strong commitment
To popular faith expression.
Sadly,
the gift of popular religiosity
is often looked upon as superstitious
or not needeed
in suburban parishes.
So, this aspect of this particular parish
really is gift.

Liturgy is noisy here.
Really.
The liturgy is noisy.
For those of you who like that quite time after receiving the Eucharist
Or after the readings. . .well. . .
You can just forget that.
It’s not gonna happen. . .
. . .at least, not at this particular parish.
(another reason to seek the quiet
that comes in the early morning hours.)

Children acting like children abound.
Sometimes parents don’t realize
That they ought to be in the cry room
Or just watched a little better.
Now, that’s not a complaint nor a criticism.
In fact,
It’s praise.
Young couples with young children
Are going to church in droves
In the inner city, at least, in this parish.
How awesome is that?
I think that is absolutely magnificent.
But that creates…well. . .a messy and noisy liturgy.

If you can’t become a part of the messiness
Of this type of liturgical life
Then inner city ministry is not your calling.

If you can’t see the tremendous possibilities
That lay dormant
Waiting to blossom and become,
Dormant in the children
And in the noise,
Then inner city ministry is not your calling.

If you are the person in the pew
That is complaining because some wayward child
Just ran down the center aisle
And the parent is nowhere to be found,
Then inner city ministry is not for you.

If you are the person who realizes
That mom and dad both work
And one of them is still struggling
To get their immigration papers in order
And that even though their three-year-old daughter
Just ran down the aisle
It’s consecration.
And they need to be in the moment,
In the sacred space of the moment. . .
.. .well, maybe then you realize
the gift that is inner city.
The little girl isn’t going anywhere.
In fact,
She’s in church.
What an absolutely fabulous place for her to be.
It’s noisy and messy.

But mom and dad and daughter,
With all of their life’s struggles,
Are in church.
I praise God for that
And I’ll find my personal quiet time with God.
Some other time.
For this liturgy
Is a communal prayer moment.
And in order to be in the communion
One must accept the mess
And the noise that comes with it.

That’s not to say
That we shouldn’t work
At creating sacred silence in the liturgy,
At having parents use the cry room.
It’s only to say
That inner city liturgical life
Is a very unique experience, indeed.

There is also great creativity
In an inner city ministry.
When people don’t have a lot of money
To accomplish their goals
They find some very creative ways
Of reaching those goals.
And this is one thing that I absolutely love:
The Creativity.

Now, don’t get me wrong.
I am in no way saying that suburban folk aren’t creative.
It’s just a different sort of creativity.
And as a poet and musician,
I find that I am constantly seeking out
Different forms of being creative.

Having said all of the above
I realize that I am the musician
That can see those gems, those pearls,
That are lying dormant,
That are waiting to grow and become. . .
. .. I have the eyes that see
the gift that comes in the messiness.
I can see the gems in the children.
I can see the great gifts
That this inner city parish
Can give to the larger church.

If I didn’t see it,
This decision
Would not have been so hard.

And yet,
There are some who have treated me
Absolutely terrible because of it.
So be it.

Of all of the things I learned in Cursillo,
I think this is what stays with me most:
“To See, To Judge, To Act.”
The thing is,
If you can see it
You have a responsibility to act upon it.

And I think maybe
Those who aren’t happy with my decision
Probably just can’t see it.

I know that I will eventually
Be called to make some other decisions later.
But that bridge cannot be crossed
Until she presents herself.
And with the clustering process,
It would seem that some paths are being made
For me, and for others,
That aren’t quite totally visible yet.
I cannot decide to continue on any one path
Until all of those paths are set clear before me.

And what of my primary parish?
Who will lead music for Christmas?
Well, first of all,
There are some very competent musicians
Who are a part of the music every week.
It certainly is not a situation
Where no one was left to lead music.
And, to be quite honest,
I was a bit surprised
At how easy it was
To find a guest organist/pianist
For each of the Christmas masses.
And even though one musician
Who had previously committed to lead music
Then recanted their offer to help,
It was by the grace of God
That another musician
Quite literally picked up the phone
And called me to say,
“Here I Am!”

In a previous blog
I wrote about how some decisions
Bring about gifts we never would have expected.
One of the guest musicians I found
Was actually feeling a bit out of sorts.
This was going to be the first year
That this person
didn’t serve as pastoral musician for Christmas
In many years.
This person actually thanked me
For the opportunity to sing God’s praises
For the celebration of Christmas.
But you see,
It takes my not being present
To create this opportunity.
It takes my being absent from music
To give the gift of music to another.

And I must be totally honest.
The clustering situation really is taking it’s toll on me.
A part of me wishes
We would just go ahead and get on with it.
Cluster us.
Merge us.
Whatever it is we are to be,
Just create it already.

If some of us will lose our jobs,
Well. . .tell us already.
If our mass schedule will change,
Let’s go ahead and change it already.
If we must get a new pastor
Or worship in a different church building,
Why can’t we just get on with the process
And do it already???
I’ve been at this primary parish
For 3½ years now
And while I knew and understood
That this process was taking place,
It just amazes me
How much the clustering process
Is just dragging along.


I am not the type of pastoral musician
Who comes in just to “fill in the slot,”
Making sure that this mass or that mass
Has someone “doing” music.
I need to belong.
I am not the person who just comes in,
Plays for mass and then leaves.
I have an ardent desire
To belong to the community I serve in.

“To See, To Judge, To Act.”
I would rather act
Than react.
And I can only act
With the information I have.

Spending Christmas in southwest Detroit is a process.
I am creating some new friendships,
Developing some new relationships
That I am very happy to have.
The inner city will probably never
Pay a salary to a pastoral musician/music director
That a suburban parish can.
But I find that I do belong to this community.
And, whatever else may happen with the clustering process,
I have a great weight lifted from my shoulders
Knowing that this parish
is willing to adopt me,
If only to prepare children for Christmas.
Do you understand?
I belong.

I hope you enjoyed the song, Mi burrito Sabanero.
This song is one of the many songs
that the children of Detroit
are preparing for Christmas.
And you know,
I can teach them this song.
If I couldn’t, well, the decision to do Christmas
In Detroit wouldn’t have been so hard.
But I can teach them.
And if I don’t teach them,
. . .well. . . that would make me
About as useful
As the person from that gospel story
A few weeks ago
Who buried his talent.
I don’t know about you,
But I can’t own that.

The Cursillo taught me
“to see, to judge, to act,”
and so, I did.

My sincerest apologies
To those who feel slighted by my decision,
For that was never my intention.
And please realize
That there are other circumstances,
Circumstances that I cannot type
On to this electronic parchment.
But rest assured,
these important decisions
are always made by yours truly
in and with a discerning Spirit.

God Bless on us on this special Day
(December 12th)!
And God bless the children
who love to sing about the Bethlehem Burro!

The Cluster Monster

I attended
our parish worship commission meeting last night.
There was a bit of tension during the meeting
As we discussed various topics.

But in all honesty,
I created some of that tension
With my brutal honesty.

You see,
I have made some decisions in recent months
In regards to my ministry.
And some of those decisions
Were already out in the open.
Some of those decisions
I had already discussed with the pastor.

But the last decision,
Well, let’s just say
I spilled the beans
at the worship meeting last night.

I won’t detail those decisions
Here on the blog
As those are topics best held in another forum,
Specifically, the parish setting.

But I think it is most appropriate
To share in this blog
One of the “whys” of my decision.
And I think it is appropriate
Because there may be other pastoral musicians
Who now find themselves
In the same situation that I do.

One of the reasons for the decisions I have made
Is greatly influenced
by this monster named “Clustering.”
In all honesty,
I think this is nothing more than semantics,
Nothing more than the ecclesial vocabulary for “Downsizing.”

In my opinion
Clustering is only a stop gap,
Something that will only delay dealing
With the inevitable problem:
The Clergy Shortage.
And in fact,
I believe that we are committing
A sarcedotal genocide
By giving these good men
Two or more parishes,
Which only increases stress levels,
That, in turn,
Leads to all sorts of health issues.

I have more views on clustering,
But I’ll stop with that one.
Whether or not I like it,
The Cluster Monster (see image above)

is visiting our churches.
And, somehow,
We must find a way to deal with it
All the while keeping the faith.

As a pastoral musician,
I find that I must find a way
To remain standing and active in ministry,
Regardless of who gets clustered with whom,
Regardless of which parishes close.

Jeanne Cotter,
Perhaps the greatest and best liturgical pianist
Of our time,
Once said,
“Sing as if your life depended on it.”
And for those who are musicians she said,
“Play as if your life depended on it.”
What wisdom.
For the fact is,
If you are truly a pastoral musician
Those words ring true.

But lately,
It gets harder to sing the song
With all the uncertainty of clustering.

Will the mass I sing for
Still be a part of the parish schedule?

Will the parish I serve in
Remain opened, or will it be closed?

Will I be singing in a different church,
A cluster partner church,
One year from now?

Will I be singing with the same choir
Or a different choir?

Will I be accompanying on the same piano?
An electronic piano?
A pipe organ?
An electronic organ?

Will I be singing from the same hymnal
Or a different hymnal?

Will I be preparing worship aids each week?
Or will I be preparing LCD projected hymns????

From the beginning,
I did not like the clustering process.
But in as much as it is a struggle we share,
I respected the struggle and the processes thereof.
After all, there is growth in struggle.
However, the process has not respected us.

Originally,
St. Helena in Wyandotte was our cluster partner.
The pastor was then assigned to St. Stan’s in Wyandotte
and the cluster shifted.
We lost our original dancing partner.
St. Helena was now to cluster with St. Stan’s
But rather than formally cluster with her new partner,
St. Helena was subsequently closed.
Yes, closed.

In all honesty,
This scared me.
But more on the illogical process of clustering. . .

Our current cluster partners are
St. Francis Xavier in Ecorse
And Our Lady of Lourdes in River Rouge.
However,
that process took a back seat as Fr. Charles
(Pastor, St. Elizabeth in Wyandotte)
is now involved with yet another cluster,
St. Patrick and St. Joseph, both in Wyandotte.
While we have respected the cluster process
With St. Francis and Lourdes
(joint religious ed, pulpit exchanges, parish directory, etc.)
The cluster process is not respecting us.

Five parishes are now dancing together
And least two of them are sharing a partner
(oops, I mean pastor!)

As one employed by the Roman Catholic Church,
I find myself asking the question,
“Where will I be when the process is completed?”
That is a very tough question to answer
When the rules of the game keep changing.

Many in the United States
Are worried about employment,
Have already lost employment,
Are struggling financially.

Serving as Pastoral Musician
Is not only my ministry,
It is my livelihood.
In this sense,
Clustering is a real life issue for me.

My sincerest apologies
To those who may have felt some tension
At last night’s meeting
Because of what I shared.
But I would rather be brutally honest
Than leave folks second guessing
Because that only leads to gossip
And untruths being spread.

And my apologies if my sarcasm offends you.

But I have always likened myself to the cactus,

standing tall, sometimes flowering,

with just enough pointy edges for protection.

(probably an image I picked up in my youth,

being the daughter of mexican immigrants and all. . .)

Anyway, The Fact is that
The Cluster Monster
Is not a fictional character.
He’s real, folks.
And he’s hiding under the pew.
I know.
I’ve been staring him in the face.

I thank God
For the many blessings I have received in my ministry.

And I remain ever grateful to the angel
Who teaches me to be proactive.

St. Cecilia, pray for us.
St. Helena, Pray For Us.
St. Stanilaus Kostka, Pray For Us.
St. Patrick, Pray For Us.
St. Joseph, Pray For Us.
St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Pray For Us.
St. Francis Xavier, Pray For Us.

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray For Us.

Pastoral Musicians, Please Help Me!

I really need the help
of those of you who are pastoral musicians.
I tire of looking through the websites
of the publishers of pastoral music.
I've looked through OCP, GIA and World Library.
I hope someone can help me.

What is it I'm looking for?
I'm looking for a sung mass.
That is to say,
I'm looking for mass with a sung presider's part.
And this mass I'm looking for
must be in Spanish.
And not just a Spanish translation
of something.
I want something with true Latin musical style.

The only mass setting I've found
with a sung presidor part is
"Misa del Pueblo Inmigrante,"
by Bob Hurd and Jaime Cortez.
This is a wonderful mass setting
and I am currently using it.
But the truth is
this is really only a sung preface.
And while I may use this,
I am really looking for a sung Eucharistic Prayer.
Does anyone know of any?

There are many fine pieces of music in Spanish.
Misa Luna by Peter Kolar is a work of art, indeed.
Misa Salvadoreña is absolutely beautiful.
And, sooner or later, I am certain that I will use both of these works.

But for the immediate
I really need an arrangement
with sung presider part.

I'm also looking
for a mass setting for children in Spanish.
And here, too, we find a lot of good music
offered by various publishers.
But, again, I seek a mass setting
with not only acclamations
but with sung presider part.

Maybe the two mass settings I'm looking for
will end up being one mass.
It could be as such
that there is a simple setting of a Children's mass
that could also be used for the entire parish.

It's just that I find myself in a parish
where the pastor is a musician.
He love to sing and play his guitar.
And he is working hard
at developing the music program in the parish.
What a grace filled moment, indeed!

But you know,
I just can't seem to find
this that I seek.

Any suggestions?

. . . .I know, I know. . . .
. . I'm gonna hafta break down
and work with on this project with my pastor
and just create the music we need. . . .
. . I already have a Eucharistic Acclamation
for a Children's Eucharistic Prayer in head
al ritmo huapango. . .
"Gloria al Señor en el cielo. . ."

. . . . But you know,
if there's already something out there
that I just don't know about
please let me know. . .