In my last parish, I had a very small but steady group of choir members who would help me plan music for the month to come. I’d give them all the readings and ask them to note down what songs in their repertoire, if any, would pop up in their minds mind for a particular set of readings. I wasn’t asking for themes, or to fill in every slot with music—just what music they’d associate with those readings. Then we’d come back together and talk about our “pop-up” songs.

Sometimes everyone would have the same song. Sometimes the suggestions were all over the map, but linked by a common thread. If I came up with a new song that they didn’t know, we’d discuss the text and the melody together.

While the group’s efforts certainly made my planning job easier, the benefits went much deeper than that. First, I was tapping into the community’s repertoire; several had been in the parish for decades before I arrived; they had emotional attachments to certain songs—good and bad memories. Second, in helping me to make choices, they became even more vested in the liturgy’s music than before. They had “skin in the game,” so to speak; they knew the thought processes that led to our choices and were happy with the result.

The same process works even by oneself. What pops up as the psalm for the day? Foley’s “The Cry of the Poor,” of course. What about the second reading? Does the spiritual “Give Me Jesus” pop up? Here’s a useful hint: it’s not cheating to look things up in the scriptural index in your hymnal!