Liturgical Music Ministry: Pushing the boundaries to serve those on the boundaries

Reflecting on the recent readings for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, I have been prompted to ask myself who are those in our society who are marginalised - and to what extent can liturgical music be used to minister to these people.

Who are the 'lepers' in our modern society? Who do we intentionally or unintentionally push to the fringes?

The old and infirmed? Those who are in prison? People living with AIDS? Those with mental illness?

All these groups are in need of a healing hand - a welcome smile and a friendly acceptance of who and where they are on their journey. Jesus in the gospel from this last weekend gives us inspiration in the process of reaching out to those who are different or who are the other. By his role modelling, we too can 'reach out' to our modern day lepers and use the gift of liturgical music to do this.

A couple of years back, after reading David Haas' book 'The Ministry and Mission of Sung Prayer' I began to think about ways in which liturgical music could be employed in scenarios outside the Sunday Mass. This line of thinking has ultimately lead me to where I am today in pursuing the role of liturgical music in the Liturgy of the Hours...but before this *epiphany* - I thought long and hard about using liturgical music in the wider community outside of our local parish church building.

So I gathered my ‘Dream Team’ of liturgical musicians who I had worked with previously on a couple of projects and began to talk about my ideas. Very loosely, my ideas involved formulating a core group of liturgical music ministers who would be available for working with parish communities in our Archdiocese to either start up or assist parish musicians to improve their skills in music and liturgy. As an extension of this parish based ministry – was an idea to reach out to those in the wider community – like those in prison, or in nursing homes etc and to offer the gift of music in a liturgical setting for these communities.

The idea was catching and excitement really started to build. I met with the Vicar General here in Adelaide on a couple of occasions and he was very interested and supportive of the initiative and encouraged me and the group to develop our vision and ideas.

We came up with a title of Seaview Music as a name to go by [drawing from the street address of 420 Seaview Road for Henley Beach Parish].

As of yet – those ideas have not been bought to fruition – but they are still lurking very close to the surface waiting to be activated and employed.

While one could lose heart and become despondent about such dreams not being immediately realised – I would rather focus on the positives and look for the openings that exist where such ideas about loving service to the ‘lepers’ can realistically be achieved.

Seeing others involved in a similar kind of ministry is a powerful accelerant towards action. Recently, I did a blog interview with Jerry Goebel and was heartily inspired by his work in prisons. To me, Jerry’s work is inspired and really connects powerfully to the sentiments in our Gospel of the past weekend of reaching out to the marginalised of our society.

Additionally, I am excited about the prospects of my new position as Coordinator of Liturgy and Ministry at Cardijn College, Adelaide. In one of the first acts in my new role, I have called for interest from the student body to be involved in a Liturgical Music Ensemble. I called for a meeting last Friday [Feb 10] for those who would like to play at Masses and other school based liturgies. I have 15 students who have immediately expressed interest to be part of this bourgeoning group.

I am really excited about this.

Sure – I will be able to introduce music into our Liturgies…but I am really interested in extending this role so that the students can see that liturgical music can be more. I have learned that a new Nursing Home has opened up recently in proximity to our school – at that one of the local priests has celebrated Mass with the Catholics of that community.

Is there scope for the students to play at the Masses at the local Nursing Home using the skills they have learned at school with me?

What a gift!

What a gift to give to the wider community and those who are marginalised! What a real connection to our Gospel story this past weekend!

This action would go a long way in developing a tangible spirituality for the music minister that beautifully ties in with the gospel message. And it is this spirituality of the music minister which I think is fundamental not only for high school students to develop – but for all involved in this kind of work and apostolate. We need to be rooted in what we do and the real reasons as to why we are doing it.

Not all of us may be in a position where we can be involved in this kind of ‘liturgical extra activity’ – but from what I have read and my own personal experience of Church ‘action groups’ with a social justice focus – I think the possibilities are exciting and worth pursuing.

To me, it all seems rather timely that this kind of liturgical activity of outreach and action is being discussed and thought about. Over the past week here in Adelaide, World Day of the Sick conferences and liturgies have been taking place. For me, the extension of these days of reflection, keynote addresses and prayer – must be focused on action.

I am reminded of a verse from the Marty Haugen song ‘Who Will Speak?’:

Who will speak for the shunned and the outcast?
Who will speak for all people with AIDS?
Who will speak so their voice can be heard?
Oh who will speak if we don’t?

Perhaps the original vision of Seaview Music is close to being fully realised.