133/365 Sing Alleluia

Sr. Hildegard sent an email. Notes from her discussion with Fr. Miguel. We weren't having a Worship Commission meeting. And that was fine with me. Everything on the notes looked normal: plans for Corpus Christi, thoughts about Trinity Sunday, and so forth. But there was one thing.

Sometime long ago in the deep memory of our parish (meaning, about 10 or 15 years ago, tops), we started singing Alleluia after the gospel. Before the gospel, too, of course, but then when the reader said, "The Gospel of the Lord," we didn't reply "Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ." Instead, the piano picked up the tone and we sang the Alleluia again. Unless we were using that one setting that went on a long long time, this went fine and without a hitch. But lately it started making folks wonder: why are we doing this?

Lynn insisted that we did this because LOTS of people did this. Everyone else who'd ever been to any other mass anywhere disagreed with her. Bev said we did this because it started some Easter season and never went away.

Sounds like time to question, to me at least.

Why should we do this? What purpose does it serve? Anything that happens in a liturgy should have a purpose. We shouldn't do things simply because they are pretty or because it seems right. It should have a reason.

We decided, back in January, to drop it for Lent. And to always drop it if the reader didn't sing the "Gospel of the Lord" part. Because that was seriously awkward, like the choir was suddenly present when they weren't before. Like we were late or something. Jarring.

It went away for all of Lent.

It came back for Easter Season, because the Alleluia is especially prominent during this season. And it was good. It was. It set things apart.

But there's something about the forced rest of Ordinary Time that makes me happy. Simpler music, simpler decor, simpler things. Atrium calls it the Growing Season. We let things settle into our souls and gel. We count the Sundays off and grow like our gardens. It's lovely.

So I caught this email after Lynn had already replied with: I have been to other liturgies lately for a variety of celebration. They did not sing the alleluia. I miss it. I would be very sad to see us stop this practice.

Which is fine and good. Then Rachel, a new parishioner whom I would really like to see stay on Worship Commission, wrote: I agree with reciting the Alleluia in Ordinary time - makes singing it more effective during "special" liturgical times.

Then I wrote: I prefer not to sing it all the time because it becomes just one of those things. I like having it stand out in the Easter season.

Bev wrote: I really don't have a strong opinion about singing the alleluia after the Gospel. I lean toward not doing it during ordinary time, but would want to sing it before the Gospel.

And then Fr. Miguel sort of tied it all together by saying: Of course we’d sing the Alleluia Gospel Acclamation before the Gospel... my question was just about singing it after the Gospel, as we had gotten into the habit of doing. Let’s plan on not singing the Alleluia after the Gospel once Ordinary Time begins, but saving it for the more festive seasons of the year.

Seemed done, at least for now. The nice thing about a liturgical year is that if this Ordinary Time seems wrong without it, we can go back to it next time. But then Lynn decided to not let it lie. That's a big surprise. She wrote:

I would really like to discuss at a meeting this thing about the alleluia. It is something that makes the Gospel stand out. It also makes the joyfulness of the community alive throughout the year. There are so many other things we do during Easter to make it special. People respond to common responses by rote no matter what is printed in the worship aide. To lose the alleluia during the rest of the liturgical year will make it more difficult to reclaim during Easter. We are a signing community so let the people sing. It seems to me this response only became awkward because we had a deacon who couldn't sing.

O, she just makes me so tired. I can already envision this meeting. And I just hope it doesn't come to fruition, frankly. I think we've spoken pretty clearly, and more talk is not going to make it more clear.

Our next meeting is mid-June. So maybe at least it will be "set" for Ordinary Time. I just can't stop thinking of the Lyle Lovett song, "She's Already Made Up Her Mind."

So now she's sitting at one end of the kitchen table
And she is staring without an expression
And she is talking to me without moving her eyes
Because she's already made up her mind