The Music Director

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us” Mark 9:38-40.

The Music Director

While traveling this summer I had the privilege of visiting different Catholic communities around the country. Sundays were special because it might bring me to an centuries old New England church or a more contemporary church full of younger, more vibrant people. Often times, I might find myself in a church where the population was predominately Italian or Latino or Greek and the masses there would take on a wonderful cultural component and the mass might be said in two languages, the hymns in Latin or Spanish or a mix of English and another language. Every church was imbued with its own community feeling.

During my stay in Yaphank on New York’s Long Island, I bicycled to the nearest church, a small community of mostly Anglo people and a traditional mass. When I found my way to a pew in the middle of the church, I noticed a hymnal separate from the traditional mass hymnals you might find in most churches. This book of about 200 pages was filled with the compositions of the music director. A musician myself, I thumbed through the book briefly before mass to see what things he had written. The melodies were extraordinarily complex, but simple enough for the congregation to sing. The blurb on the back of the hymnal announced that the music director had composed over 200 hymns and had won numerous awards, had that his works had been performed in various important cathedrals and Catholic conventions. A little over the top, I thought to myself.

The church was L-shaped and the music director, a slender man in his late 30s, was set up just to the right of the altar behind a modern keyboard in a small alcove set up for the musicians and the choir. As the congregation gathered, the music director announced the hymns that would be sung that morning and went over the portions of the mass that would be sung by all: The Confetti prayer, the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Our Father and the Agnus Dei. He seemed a little impatient with the congregation, but like most music directors I have known, he was more likely directing as he would a choir.

Since COVID, we have had more cameras in our churches to record or broadcast the mass to those who can no longer attend a live mass or simply fear returning to a place with so many people. This church was the same except that I noticed that the camera was pointed at the music director, not at the altar. He was recording his performances. There may have been other cameras in the church to record the mass, but I found it a little unusual.

As the mass started, the music director announced the first hymn from his book and the priest, deacon and altar servers processed up the center aisle to the altar. A small church, this didn’t take very long, but the processional hymn went on for some time after the procession ended. As the mass continued, so did this trend. Each hymn came from the music director’s book and each hymn had to be played to completion despite the obvious impatience of the priest who rocked back and forth on his heels waiting to continue the mass.

After each hymn, the congregation politely applauded. As a person who has been part of numerous choirs and even played solo in church for mass, I found this a little distracting. In fact, I stopped playing music in church some years ago because I was becoming a distraction. I was more concerned about my performance than I was about the mass itself and when people didn’t come up to me after the mass to tell me how moved they were by my music, I became annoyed. My music was distracting me from the mass and I was no longer a participant. I removed myself and since then, I have been more engaged in the mass itself.

The gospel on this particular Sunday was from Mark. It talked about how John came to Jesus and told him that the disciples had seen someone driving out demons in Jesus’ name and had told him to stop, because he was not one of the twelve. Jesus responds by telling John not to stop the mans because “no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us.”

This passage comes in the 9th chapter of Mark which is dedicated to Christ’s transfiguration and his healing of the boy possessed by demons. The disciples must have been confused. Were they not the chosen? Christ had given them the power to heal. Should this authority have been restricted to those closest to Jesus?

After the gospel reading, I felt better about the music director’s style. I knew nothing about him except what I had gleaned from my observations. Perhaps there were people coming to mass because of his music. Perhaps his music was what inspired them to become better Catholics, better Christians, better people. The music director’s mission is to inspire and to praise God in a form that many people can understand and even enjoy. I have to say that his music was good. I enjoyed singing along. He who is not against us is for us.