JANUARY 2024


3. When we plan the music for the liturgy or the overall worship of a given feast or season, we are concerned with what helps all the members of our assemblies pray—much like the holidays we have just celebrated, where hosts or hostesses often try to use a recipe or a menu that speaks to the various members who will gather around the table or at the holiday gathering. Noted liturgist Fr. Andrew Ciferni, O.Praem, spoke about being as attentive to the Body of Christ gathered around the table as we are to the Body of Christ on the table. In my experience as both musician and presider, having that vision changes how I lead and serve the baptized gathered for this celebration.


a. Tis awareness helps me choose words, melodies, instruments, that speak to those gathered. I noticed that one of the Little Sisters of the Poor at Jeanne Jugan Home where we preside each week is Spanish-speaking. When she comes to receive, I say: “El cuerpo de Christo.” She gave me feedback that using Spanish for that invitation spoke to her heart and fostered a sense of belonging that she had not experienced before. Imagine singing sounds and rhythms that help part of the assembly feel welcomed and appreciated. We pay attention to all gathered around the table, for they reflect the Body and Blood of Christ that feeds us from the altar table.


When I was a student of Fr. Godfrey Diekman, OSB, a scholar on the fathers and mothers of the early Church, he would remind us that those early fathers and mothers often said, “Christian, behold your dignity.” Behold your dignity. Our dignity comes from the fact that we are baptized. We have put on Christ. In doing so we promised to make Christ known in our deeds, words, and attitudes. We committed ourselves to see Christ in the people we meet and with whom we pray as Church. We promised to live in ways that they would see Christ in us. Tis is challenging, I admit, but not impossible. It means that I’m as willing to see Christ in the person with whom I disagree on the liturgy committee or pastoral team or in the liturgical assembly, as I do in the person with whom I agree. It means that I’m as willing to listen to the person who comes up after Mass or sends me an email to share a “piece of their mind,” as I am to listen to those who affirm everything that I do. Sometimes a sister or brother needs to let off steam. At other times they make an important point for us to take to prayer. We


are not doormats for Christ, we cannot let ourselves be abused. However, isn’t that the Mystery of Christ? By dying to our egos, we are transformed into leaders who serve and servants who lead. It is often out of the place(s) we need to die and change that we come to an awareness of how to live Christ more fully.


I believe that the confirming bishop in the story with which I began this article was correct. Te most important sacrament is Baptism. Not only does it unite us to Christ. It also unites us to the rest of his Body, to all God’s children, and to all creation. I invite you to consider how important our Baptism is for our lives. Take this awareness to prayer. Ten take what you discover in prayer to your daily life and ministry. Celebrate the anniversary of your Baptism. Honor it by letting it make an impact in your identity as disciples of Jesus Christ and “ministers who share the faith, serve the community, and express the love of God and neighbor through music.”3


Endnotes 1


2


USCCB, Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship (Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 2008), no. 49.


Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, Vatican website, 2013, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_ exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione- ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html, nos. 265-266.


3 Sing to the Lord, no. 49.


Fr. Paul H. Colloton, OSFS, is a member of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. Paul has a background in Ignatian, Dominican, and Salesian Spirituality. For 13½ years Paul was the Director of Continuing Education for the National Association of


Pastoral Musicians (NPM) and has served in pastoral ministry, as a spiritual director, educator, and Superior of the Oblate retirement center with assisted living in Childs, Maryland.


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