Copyright © 1995, 2003 by

Rick Swenton
106 Melinda Lane
Bristol, CT 06010-7199
All Rights Reserved

Permission is granted for use of this work in parish liturgy or music programs in a non-commercial setting provided that no fee is charged and that this copyright notice remains on all copies.

Apart from those seasons having their own distinctive character, thirty-three or thirty-four weeks remain in the yearly cycle that do not celebrate a specific aspect of the mystery of Christ. Rather, especially on the Sundays, they are devoted to the mystery of Christ in all its aspects. This period is known as Ordinary Time. - from The Liturgy Documents, Third Edition, General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, LTP, p. 177

There are two separate segments of Ordinary Time. The first segment starts on the Monday following the Feast of the Epiphany and continues through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. The second segment starts on the Monday after Pentecost and ends before the First Sunday of Advent.

The word "ordinary" in Ordinary Time intuitively suggests a liturgy which perhaps is plain, simple, common and, ... well, ordinary. This is partially true. We should reserve our grand and majestic liturgical presentations for the special feasts outside of Ordinary Time. Otherwise there would be little contrast between regular Sundays and very special celebrations. Our challenge as music ministers is to keep Ordinary Time beautiful, meaningful and prayerful without going overboard. During Ordinary Time, several things become evident. If you had been using more than one cantor per Mass, you would now use one. You might choose to limit certain supplemental instruments. Out goes the brass and the timpani. The guitar, flute and violin are always in season. The readings and psalms become more general in nature as we experience the beautiful story of a loving God and the Christ living among us in our time. During Ordinary Time, we celebrate all aspects of the mystery of Christ. We should still convey this joy to the congregation with confidence and enthusiasm. It is the role of the Music Director to establish the contrast between Ordinary Time and the next major liturgical event.

Why do we worry about conforming to established liturgical norms? Broadly, we are welcoming the visitor. This "visitor" is us – all of us: the young, the old, the new, the familiar, the stranger! We are all guests coming to Christ’s table to receive God’s grace and love. This is not our banquet, but Christ’s. We are the receivers; Christ is the giver. Liturgy is the "work" that Christians do when they gather for worship. When we do it right, liturgy becomes the "work" that God does for Christians—the "work" that the "host" does for the "guests"—the grace given by God to all believers. The "work" that was done for us by Christ on the cross becomes our everlasting life!

Even though we are in Ordinary Time, there is nothing ordinary about experiencing the risen Christ all year long. As Catholics, we worship God through the liturgy. The liturgy of the Mass is an act of the Church. It is the way we stand before God, filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The liturgy calls for full, conscious and active participation of everyone present – the assembly. Ordinary Time is no exception. Continue to properly prepare for every Mass. Be sure you study the plans, attend enough rehearsals to be ready, and prepare yourself before Mass. Reflection on the day’s readings will help you effectively proclaim the psalm for the benefit of the worshiping community.

The period of Ordinary Time between Christmas and Lent is an ideal time to focus on the Cantor’s spiritual preparation for Lent, the Triduum and Easter.

Perhaps the most important role of the cantor (with the exception of prioritizing the significance of the assembly) is that of the Psalmist. There are some churches who have separate Cantors and Psalmists. We have to know all about both responsibilities to be effective. Of course, the Psalmist is the "proclaimer of the Psalm" during the Liturgy of the Word. It is important, however, for the assembly to fully share in the proclamation by singing their response. (That’s why one form of singing a psalm is called Responsorial.) Their singing should not be overpowered by the cantor’s voice during their response. With time and experience, a cantor will know when to support a congregation who is sluggish to respond and when to back off and let them fill the church with their own voices.

Psalms are sung prayers. The 150 Psalms represent the story of humanity and its relationship with God. Throughout history, the Psalms were and still are the way that Jews and Christians pray to God. Jesus prayed the Psalms in keeping with Jewish tradition. In previous times, the church provided the Psalmists with extensive training, both musical and spiritual. The Psalms were considered so powerful that only a trained person should sing them. It was thought that God directly hears the prayer of a Psalm. If a Psalmist did a poor job of proclaiming the Psalm, the people would possibly be "cheated" out of their prayer being heard by God.

In today’s modern times, we know that our God is much more loving, kind and understanding of human limitations. But that does not mean we should water-down the proclamation of the Psalm with mediocre or poor singing. God may know the goodness in the heart of a poor singer but the congregation will be completely disenchanted. Poor singing will have a negative impact on the people and their prayer offering to God. This is the most damage a cantor can do to a church -- to the assembly who are the church. The Psalmist must enhance the prayer experience of the assembly.

How do you do this? The Psalms are a prayer first and music second. How do we approach them? Well, sometimes we learn the music and then we sing them. Have we ever prayed them? As we rehearse and learn the music, do we ever rehearse the words and play-out their spiritual impact on our personal lives? Do we really know what we are singing? Have we reflected on why we are singing? Do we really believe what we are singing?

Ordinary Time is a good time to devote to personal study of the Psalms - especially the one you are about to sing this Sunday. Pray the words privately before Mass and relate their message to your personal relationship with God.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation. Of whom should I be afraid?" Ps. 27

Discover the power built into the Psalm. Jesus is the light of the world. We are not living in darkness – the absence of Christ. In the light of the Lord, your life will be guided and directed. This light will lead you to salvation -- everlasting life. Best yet, if you follow and believe, you will be protected from all danger and have no fears. With the Lord on our side, we are invincible to the powers of darkness and death! We have been redeemed and called to eternal life in Jesus! All this and we have only looked at the refrain!

The next step is to convey your enthusiasm to the congregation. The people will sense when you actually believe what you are singing. Of course, we all believe or we wouldn’t be here. But all too often we are concentrating on the musical delivery and have not spent any time dealing with the prayer aspect of the Psalm. How can we convince the people that "The Lord is my light and my salvation" if we haven’t reflected on the prayer before its proclamation?

David Haas once said, "The issue isn’t so much how do you get people to sing, but what do they have to sing about?" Until you spark your personal fire into the hearts of the people in the pews, they probably won’t sing. By seeing your personal belief in what you are singing, many will ask the question, "What does that person know that I don’t know?" "Why is he or she so excited singing those words?" "What am I missing?" Later, they will say, "I want to be a part of that!"

A cantor is a minister. A minister is one who serves others. Part of our ministry of service to the congregation is to proclaim the Psalm in a manner that enhances and magnifies the printed words of the prayer and makes it come alive in the hearts of the people. We can’t do this unless the words come alive in our own hearts first. Then the words of St. Agustine "To sing is to pray twice." will cause the Psalm to rise to heaven as we pray with both our heads and our hearts.

Many of the Psalms deal with hope. Hope is different than a dream. A dream may or may not come true. But hope implies a gratifying end to whatever we are hoping for. In praying the Psalms we affirm our hope in the Lord, in the Lord’s return, in the Lord’s triumph over evil, and in the Lord’s calling of each of us to everlasting life! These are the promises made to us by God and portrayed in the Psalms.

While you are going for your emotional high, don’t forget to back-off your volume for the people’s response during the refrain. That’s the people’s part of the prayer. Don’t take it from them. If all they hear is you leading them over the loudspeakers, what reason do they have to sing? Give them their just time to sing their part.

Take some time during Ordinary Time to pray your role at Mass. This is especially important as we approach Lent. During Lent, the musical and spiritual demands on cantors grows. Get into practice now while it’s easier. By the time Lent arrives, you will be prepared to pray your ministry in a way you have never prayed before.

The words Ministry and Minister are words which mean providing for the wants and needs of others. In other words, it means to be in service to others. As music ministers we are in service to the community. This responsibility is not limited to musical duties. We are also called to serve in other less obvious areas such as extending hospitality before and after Mass. This is further extended to a general expectation that ministers will lead a Christ-like life outside of church. This is a tall order for us sinners.

Cantors need to be personally committed, well-prepared and confident. This is significantly important. The liturgical events in the church year are not planned by accident. Good liturgical planning is linked and in step with the church year. By combining good liturgical planning with the cantor and choir preparation we have established ourselves as fully prepared to meet our responsibility to the assembly. This takes time to do properly. I have seen other music programs which always seemed to pull things together at the last minute and change too many things just before the weekend. The results are hymn selections based on what people like rather than being based on the scripture readings. Again, the idea is to reinforce and supplement. Stand-alone deliveries - selections based solely on "what we like", "what we can sing", "who’s turn is it for a solo" (and on and on) are simply unacceptable because they are not rooted in the liturgy of the day. They are not focused on the assembly, who deserves our very best attention.

"Here am I, O God. I come to do your will." Ps. 40

God bless you and your ministry!