During my weekly religion class in third or fourth grade, our class went to church for a Christmas sing-along. The priest said we were welcome to request any of the Christmas carols in the hymnal. I remember feeling a bit annoyed when students started requesting tunes such as "Frosty The Snowman" and "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer." There's nothing wrong with either of those tunes, but I thought, "They've been to Mass at this church before. They should know that those aren't actually carols, and they aren't in the hymnal."
Each time this happened, the priest responded politely.
"That's a nice request, but I'm afraid it isn't in the hymnal," he said. "That would be a good song you could sing with your family, though."
He handled that situation more gracefully than I probably would have. Admittedly, "I said your requests have to be Christmas carols in the hymnal! How much clearer could I be?!" wouldn't convey the proper Christmas spirit.
