Darian Adriano
03­09/10­14
Period 2 E
Music Ministry
I attend Mass every Sunday with my family. For me Mass is a time of peacefulness and to pray, whether it is in words or songs. I remember being in the choir at my church when I lived in Georgia. At first I joined the choir only because my mom forced me to, but as time went on I came to really enjoy being a part of the choir, which is why I joined the choir at my new School/Church St.Mark’s when I moved to Texas. As time went by I noticed that throughout the year a lot of the elders of my church would come up to me to tell what a huge difference I was making on the church. I never really got what that meant because I never really put much thought into it; however, while doing my project on the
Music Ministry, I finally get my answer.
The answer did not come immediately instead it became apparent throughout the journey of the project. By interviewing priests, a sister, and lay people, my group grasped a better knowledge of the impact the Music Ministry has. We started out with simple questions about the differences in music throughout the world and then progressively increased our questions. The quote, “ He who sings prays twice,” ­ said by St.Augustine and given to us by the Sister we interviewed ­ touched my whole group.
We knew that music was important but by listening to those words it felt like our eyes were opened up.
I immediately knew that as a group we would have to not only interview people but we would also need to read and do a lot more research on the importance of the Music Ministry. Being the obvious choice, we went on the usccb.org website to find what we wanted to know. I cannot speak for my group, but I know that personally I was amazed by what I found. We found many articles speaking about the music

of the Church and what it means to our faith; however, the one that I feel spoke to us the most was
Catechetical Sunday of September 20, 2009. That article really went in depth about what the Music
Ministry is and why it is so important at Mass.
Although it looks like the Music Ministry is all happy we learned that his ministry touches each person in a different way. I will never forget the response that one lady gave to me when I asked her thoughts on the music. She said that she really liked the music at Mass because it allowed her to think back on her “Gregorian days” and helped her to see God’s presence throughout her whole life.
Another person said that the music helps her to pray and to really build that connection with God.
Responses like these kept coming and away which in turn made us start thinking about what the ministry does for us as a community.
You see, unlike a lot of other ministries, the Music Ministry is open to all and for all. Although at first site this ministry does not look as if it is so important, it is. This ministry has so many responsibilities and so many roles to play in people’s lives that it can be hard to fully see the impact it has. At funerals, those involved with the music must try their best to comfort those who are mourning the death of one of their love ones; while at weddings, it is their duty to make sure that the enthusiasm can be felt through the music. Even at Sunday Masses, those involved, whether it be by singing