“call to worship” …

… more like “call to drive me bat shit crazy”.

A follow up from this post:

I just got off the phone with my parish’s music director. Having abnegated all his authority, my parish priest had me contact her directly to discuss my concerns.

We got no where. Shocker.

I explained to her how distracting I thought having us “warm up” before mass was. I told her it was patronizing to rehearse the songs for that mass because the congregation is capable of using the hymnal provided. I went on to say that many are trying to prepare themselves for the Holy Sacrifice of the mass by praying and her demands for a pre-mass sing-a-long take away any semblance of reverence from the environment.

Her reply; it is in the GIRM that the music director must perform the “Call to Worship” five minutes before mass starts. Her responsibility as the music director, as instructed by Fr., is to make sure the congregation is fully prepared to celebrate mass.

I retorted that prayer is preparation. She disagreed that the act of prayer was active participation as called for in the GIRM. She said the GIRM requires active participation from the entire congregation, not individual prayer preparation.

Though the conversation ended remarkably civil, we got no where.

I am debating my next course of action.