Shameless Plug

I have composed a collection of songs for church use and have never plugged them before. So, why not.

The book and CD is called Psalms for the Church Year, Volume Ten, published by GIA. If you would like to hear a sample, go to the following link. My favorite is selection ten, Psalm 69: Lord in Your Great Love.

https://www.giamusic.com/store/resource/psalms-for-the-church-year-recording-cd429

GIA's venerable Psalms for the Church Year series has a fresh face with this new volume from Malcolm Kogut, who brings his gift for melody and his comfortable jazz-tinged style to this important new collection of psalms.

Malcolm fills some repertoire "holes" with these settings. He has set Psalm 47: "God Mounts His Throne to Shouts of Joy" for Ascension, and Psalm 45: "The Queen Stands at Your Right Hand" for Assumption, along with a mix of other common and lesser-known psalms. Using primarily ICEL refrains and several Grail translations, this volume is a worthy addition to the Psalms for the Church Year series. And, as with the other volumes, it includes reprint boxes of all refrains and a liturgical use index.

Cantors Verses Soloist

For a series of cantor workshops, I complied a video of cantors singing the responsorial psalm.  These clips were culled from the Sunday morning Roman Catholic televised Mass in my diocese.

As you listen and watch, don't judge the singer.  Don't judge their training or quality of voice.  Instead, listen for inflection.  Do you beleive what they are proclaiming?  Do you think they beleive what they are proclaiming?  Are they proclaiming?  Are they preoccupied with performing?  Do they appear warm and welcoming?  Do they seem nervous?  Are their gestures on the beat?  Do they have any unnecessary movements?  Do they make eye contact with everyone?  Do they stare at their music?  Does it seem like they are proclaiming the Word of God or singing a song?  Do they look happy to be there?  Are they dynamic?  Do they smile?

I had a conversation with a singer regarding the subtle difference between a cantor and soloist.  Here are some of the thoughts I shared with her.

A cantor proclaims.
A soloist sings.
A cantor looks at the congregation during the introduction.
A soloist looks at the music, floor, pianist.
A cantor has part of the music memorized (like the refrain) and looks at the people while singing it.
A soloist stares at the music.
A cantor gestures and cues the assembly.
A soloist just stands there.
A cantor (during the Psalm) doesn't sing the refrain but looks at the people as they respond to her.
A soloist sings her own response.
A cantor prayed the text during the week that she is going to proclaim on Sunday.
A soloist learned the song she is going to sing.
A cantor has people come up to them after the service to tell them how the text spoke to them.
A soloist has people come up to them after the service to tell them how beautiful they sang.

I demand that all my cantors memorize part of the Psalm so that they can look out at the people.  If a cantor sings from Psalm 27, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom shall I be afraid." and looks out at someone who is scheduled for surgery tomorrow, it can have a huge impact on that person.

If a cantor sings from Psalm 42, "Why should I mourn and toil within when it is mine to hope in God?" and looks out at a teen thinking about suicide, it can make a difference in their life.

If a cantor sings from Psalm 63, "As morning breaks, I look to you to be my strength this day." and looks at someone starting a new job tomorrow, it could make a difference for that person.

If a cantor sings from Isaiah 43, "I have called you each by name.  I love you and you are mine." and looks at someone who is lonely, it might make a difference in their life.

A cantor, if they do all those things, will grow by leaps and bounds.
A soloist, may grow through years of repetition.

The Psalms

A clergy person once told me (actually several have) that they never plan their homilies around the Lectionary prescribed Psalm.  One even stated to me that the Psalms were irrelevant. The Psalms were the songs of David, Jesus prayed the psalms, they are the prayerbook of the bible and can be a great source of inspiration, healing, care and calm.  They also help us to understand our biblical roots, history, culture, poetry, stories, prayers, concerns and ultimately, ourselves.  The psalms offer opportunities for adoration, contrition, thanksgiving and supplication.  They cover a wide range of human desire and emotion while they are also a treasure of philosophy, spirituality and life lessons.

For anyone who doesn't know how to pray, can't find the time to pray, meditate or contemplate, the Psalms are a great tool for you.  You don't have to study the whole Psalm but only use a portion of it.  For example, take a single line which you can use as a mantra and repeat to yourself several times during the day.  Pick one, any one.  Here are a few examples how you can pray with the psalms. 

Let's say you are 18 years old and are leaving home to go off to college.  This is the first time you are going to be on your own or away from home and you are nervous about this new adventure.  You can turn to Psalm 27, for instance, and repeat the phrase; "The Lord is my Light and my salvation, of whom shall I be afraid."

Maybe you have to go to the hospital for a test or a procedure in the morning.  When you wake up, you can repeat this line from Psalm 63; "As morning breaks, I look to You, I look to You Lord to be my strength this day."

What if you are a walker and are enjoying a long stroll on a beach, you might repeat a phrase from Psalm 69, "Let the heavens and the earth praise God's name, the sea and all it's living creatures."

For the person who is struggling with addiction, guilt, hate, anger or wants to change something in their life, maybe repeating Psalm 51 can help them get through their challenge, "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me."

I know of a congregation who lost their church building to a fire and a Psalm which offered some of them great comfort in the rebuilding process was Psalm 42:  "Why should I mourn and toil within when it is mine to hope in God."

If a friend is struggling with a difficult decision, you can quote them a line from Psalm 34, "Call upon the Lord, you'll want for nothing if you ask."

Try it.  Physicist Erwin Schroedinger once said "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."  You don't need any special books or instructions to do it.  Just open to the book of Psalms and start reading until you find a sentence which resonates with you.  Write it down on a piece of paper or text it to yourself and refer to it several times during the day.  I guarantee after a few weeks of doing this, one of these mantras or incantations will come back to you in a time when you need it and it will be good. 

When I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God. -Psalm 73.