This photo was taken during Meanne's Wedding at the Manila Cathedral last May of 2009. Ate Josie and daughter Angie were still here in the Philippines then...I wonder how MSC manages to pull off such an act when we get invited to sing at other "famous" churches... How can we manage to present ourselves in a very "presentable" way when we are not at our own local church?...
HOW???
Today, together with the other choirs of the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish, we had our very first General Assembly under our Parochial Vicar, Fr. Nap. My apologies for not being resourceful enough to get his family name.
The meeting was long and very blunt. Blunt, for there were a lot of corrections, criticisms and improvements to be done especially regarding the individual choir's behaviors. That there were even pictures of the choirs behaving badly in church. The issues of Latecomers, chatters and cellphone users during the Holy Mass are of high priority in the discussion! Yes, I felt a bit guilty in those departments for I know very well how my choir behaves compared to the other choirs. I somehow tolerated it over the years and failed to do anything about it when I had all the chance being their present musical adviser.
The choir being part of the LITURGY (which means public service) and in every aspect of it not just confined to singing during the Mass. The whole aspect of the mass must be observed by each and every choir member. For public service should be taken seriously for the common good of everybody and not being treated as a joke. How can we be able to convince the congregation to sing with us when all they see from our "service" rendered is POOR service? Service that encompasses the relationship between choirs and choir mates and the attitude that we display when we are on that wooden Loft inside the church in front of the all these people. I'm talking solely of the behavior and not the quality of singing, my dear choir mates, as far as MSC is concerned, that is! (hehe!)
Well, being an advocate of progress, I am NOW willing to abide by these new rules that will be imposed immediately, according to our Vicar. I am also asking for support from my choir mates so that MSC will set a good example for the other choirs to emulate since we always claim to be the OLDEST CHOIR ever founded in this Parish. It's time to get a bit serious, folks! No more fooling around this time. I pray that through our efforts, God will be delighted. For we go to church not to please the authorities but only God.
God bless us all!
(special thanks for the photo, Meanne)
