It's what I do. I can't imagine doing anything else.

I very much identified with Pope Francis' comments about being a "son of the Church." Even when I might not like everything individuals in the Church do or say, even if I don't agree with something the Church is teaching, none of that matters. Family is family and home is home.

I'm very glad for you Matthew. I have to say though your attitude is not one I encounter very often...not even here. For someone just entering the field it's a little discouraging, which is why I asked the question. I cannot be the only newbie who reads this forum.

I have made more money in another field, and you are right about the stress. It kept me in a state of near exhaustion for too many years. Why do I stay in music? I have friends, dear friends, who depend on me. I chiefly stay to support them in their music, whether it be always of the greatest quality, or more often not. The downside is that I do get physically tired, very tired. Music is like my weight training. I feel I have accomplished something, and it feels good when I stop.

Most of the time I'm saying "I can't believe I get paid to do this." Other times, things feel more arduous and it feels more like "service." Either way, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

In flagéllo gloriátur.

~St. Catherine of Alex.

I guess deep down in the bottom of my heart I'm a glutton for punishment. It's not as bad as it sometimes seems with wierd music and everyone's got to be the diva and own the mass. Some people are easier to work with than others... still...
It's great work, and every week I find a new motivation to get me there early... Having a new family makes going to church together fun, to watch daddy play piano!

I sing to offer some continuity in a parish where we never know from year to year, or sometimes even month to month, if we will have Mass or not at any given time. I've invested a lot financially to learn and grow, and my parish has been very receptive of everything I've led them through over the years. I'm a volunteer and treated very kindly.

Go in when the church is empty, turn on the organ, hit the Tutti piston, and play a C Major chord.

That's why I do it.

A priest once asked me if I ever gave thanks to God for my talent. I had to admit that I don't. I tend to take it for granted and just assume everybody else has the same, so it isn't anything to make a fuss over. I have to remind myself that there is something to be thankful for and that I should be grateful and give thanks.

Wow, Kathy!! That's my answer, and also what I tell choirs of all ages.

As an asthmatic who has almost died, I feel really grateful to sing, at lest for now. My motto is,

Since God has given breath to me, I will return it with a song."

Cheesy, Pollyanna. But I mean it!

I gotta be at Mass anyway; I'd might as well sing, since God has give me a talent or two (not 5 or 10). Since I'm not a MD and don't rely on church work for a living, I don't have to (and won't) work for fools. So I'm largely insulated from the worst that people can do to church musicians. I'm working in an OF parish because that's where the people are and where the battle is being fought to finally implement Vatican II.

Zelus domus tuae comedit me.

Music is a by product of the way that I pray. I am one of those fortunate people who goes through life with a song in his heart. I take my talent as a gift from God, and what I do with it is my way of giving thanks to Him. I have made music for my entire life, sacred music and secular music. In fact, it is the language that I am most comfortable expressing myself in. Like many people on this forum, I have had good and bad experiences in liturgical music, but I have also had the experience of being told by parishioners of how a particular piece of music moved them to a closer relationship with Christ. That alone makes the hard times worthwhile.

For the record - I've voiced my worry to many at the Colloquium because I felt my congregation wasn't singing. Yesterday a parishioner came up to me and spontaneously asked me if I could record a CD to help them learn how to sing parts of the mass. And that's why I serve.

Our conversation was the first thing that came to my mind when this happened. Speaking of, Wendi, what was the name of that setting of the St. Michael Prayer I should look into?

Hi Wendi,

I have been in my role as a volunteer choir director for less than a year. I jumped at the opportunity when it came up. Having endured arbitrary song selection and poor musicality at my parish for years, I saw it as a chance to make the Mass better for not just myself, but my fellow parishioners.

Little did I know that our new pastor is one of the most anti-Latin, anti-chant, anti-Propers priest you are likely ever to meet. Basically, if he can't sing it, we can't sing it. That means everything must be congregational, must be in English, and must be in the hymnal. The one exception is Communion, during which he doesn't seem to care what we sing, probably because he can't sing while distributing Communion.

I have tried reasoning with him, but it is no use. He simply makes arbitrary decisions without any hint of an explanation. If I question anything, he simply says "DO IT MY WAY!" (Not always in those exact words, but always in capital letters).

I could easily walk away. But in that case, I lose, my choir loses, and my parish loses. Even if we are forced to sing four hymns every Mass, I can still use my liturgical and musical knowledge to pick the best hymns possible and sing them as best we can. That's better than anything that would be left at my parish were I to quit tomorrow.

So, why do I serve? Because God has given me the talent and opportunity to do so. Because beautiful liturgy is worth fighting for. And because I refuse to allow our treasure of sacred music to remain buried for another generation, even if right now I can only scratch the surface.

soarmarc...my best advice is to start making Communion as breathtakingly beautiful as you can. If it must be in English, Byrd and Tallis both have some lovely things. The more beauty you can offer the congregation, the more they will respond. In the meantime...pray for the priest.