People Singing
When you go to church, what do you hear? A choir or cantor singing? Lectors reading? A priest preaching? Do you hear the people around you? Perhaps you hear the babies crying or the children crunching on Cheerios. Or maybe you hear the chewing of gum, the opening and closing of Purell bottles, the occasional chit-chatting among friends and family members. Amidst all of this sound, however, do you hear what I hear? Do you hear the silence?
I’m not talking about something spiritual or contemplative here. Would that I were! Instead, I’m talking about the silence that I hear coming from my neighbors at Mass when it comes time to sing and respond. I just don’t understand why people don’t participate in the Mass. There really is no excuse. Most churches have missals of some sort that include the prayers for the Mass (and these are definitely available online, if no where else). And, if people are self-conscious about their singing ability, they can always sing quietly or at least mouth the words. But instead, far too many people spend their time in church staring blankly in front of them, lips held tightly together as if life depended on it. Even some priests seem to fall into this habit of silence. Why?
When I was a child, I went to Mass each Sunday with my mother and grandmother. They didn’t have Children’s Liturgy of the Word at my parish back then and I probably spent a good part of the Mass playing with the bulletin or the hat clips on the pews, but there is one way that I could participate in the Mass. I could sing. As a kid, it was kind of fun. Little kids love singing. And those songs that I sang quickly made their home in my memory. In fact, they became so ingrained that, when changes were made over the years to the translations of various hymns, I always got confused because the hymns were different than when I learned them.
With such an early experience of singing in church, one might suspect that I went on to join the choir at the various parishes that I’ve attended. This is not the case, however. I’ve never thought that I could sing especially well, and I’ve never had a desire to sing in a choir. But, that doesn’t mean that I don’t sing. I just do it from the pews.
It makes me sad when I sit in church today and see children not singing. But, I can’t blame the kids. Because their parents aren’t singing either. Would if the parents did sing, however? Could they get their little kids to be a little less bored with church through music? The music at church might not be appealing to a middle schooler, but I don’t think little kids know the difference. To them, singing is singing.
There are many reasons why people should sing and respond at Mass. But, getting kids engaged in Mass shouldn’t be overlooked. The girl next to me today stared at me as I was singing. Maybe she thought I was odd. Or that my singing was bad. But, whatever the reason, I hope that she came away intrigued. And maybe some day she’ll be singing herself.
