Catholic Sensibility

Catholic school music teachers in my area are far chummier than I thought. They attend each other's Christmas programs. In fact, our teacher played at an event for a colleague at another school this year. This kind of cooperation is rarer among parish liturgists, although I'm sure the mutual regard and affection is the same on the church end of things. Anyway, a nearby conservative pastor expressed his extreme displeasure last year over the school Christmas program. The music teacher, whom I know, is an outstanding musician and teacher, but isn't a cradle Catholic. Knowing what the vogue of Christmas programs is like, I suspect the pastor found the pop style a bit off-putting. Maybe the dancing and acting, too. I can understand his sensibility, actually. I like very little of what passes for "inspirational" music for elementary kids, too, but that's beside the point. My point is that his comment last year was something along the lines of "Why can't you do something like Handel's Messiah?" Where do you think that comment got him? What do you think of when you hear the suggestion of doing The Messiah with children grades 3-5? The teacher in question decided that it was incredible to suggest elementary-aged kids could pull off such a thing. This year's Christmas event was done only for the school students, and was considerably trimmed back from the standing-room-only invite-the-parents spectacular. I suspect what this pastor was seeking was a children's program with these Messiah qualities: classical music, based on Scripture, without the flash of the Protestant-generated musical repertoire. I doubt he wanted to bring in Renee Fleming and company for a choral spectacular with the kids. (Though doubtless, I would have left my sick bed to see her in that!) He was simply unable to articulate what he wanted. Sadly, I suspect that my teacher friend misunderstood his intention. She thought he wanted an undoable classical event out of reach for the parish choir, much less the youngsters. I don't think he did. ... But I could be wrong; maybe he thinks the wonders of Handel can be mastered by eight and nine-year olds. I thought it illustrated how well-meaning Catholics deeply immersed in church life can arrive at total blockage of understanding without realizing it.