Happy Immaculate Conception!

I'll admit, I saw this post on the Ironic Catholic Blog, but I figured it was so good I'd share it too. In honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, here is Bobby McFerrin singing Ave Maria with the crowd at a concert.

Revelation Generation

It seems somehow appropriate that my 1st post in a long time is about a Christian Music event, since my first postings in this blog were about the Cornerstone Music Festival. On Saturday, August 31, 2008, I attended Revelation Generation in Frenchtown, NJ for the first time. To quote their website, RevGen is "the premier Christian festival in greater New York and greater Philadelphia. With the best Contemporary Christian and crossover music—from rock to rap to worship to metal—this two-day mega-event is a great way for youth groups, church groups, families, and singles to come together for a dynamic, memorable concert experience. Last Labor Day Weekend." (http://www.revelationgeneration.org/the_event/what_is_revgen.php). I attended in two roles - as adult leader for our youth group, LifeSygns, and as an ersatz photojournalist.

I had a great time at the event, not only because of the awesome music, but because of the access I received with my Press Pass. Not only did I get to bypass the main ticket gate, but I got access to artist press conferences, including Toby Mac and Peter Furler of the Newsboys. For a while, we had access between the front row and the stage, but oddly that was taken away for no explainable reason after the first couple acts. The event took place on two main stages, the NY Stage, which had more pop and contemporary music, and the Philly Stage, which was more rock and metal. Even though performers on each stage were staggered, I spent a lot of time hustling between the stages trying to get pictures of as many of the acts as possible. By the end of the day I was exhausted and felt like I had walked 10 miles!

Here is a link to a web album of some of the shots I took during the concert (I actually took over 250):

http://picasaweb.google.com/mwcawley/RevelationGeneration2008?authkey=h8ZrgJZO8EU

Many of the pictures were taken with a lens I picked up last year (and should have blogged about :( ) - a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens. Yes, it was expensive, but it allowed me to take many of the night time shots without a flash from 100 feet from the stage.

Just to be on the up and up about the Press Pass...I have offered my pictures to the Catholic Spirit, the weekly newspaper for the Diocese of Metuchen. While not a "Catholic" event, many Catholics attended and commented on our choice of the Papal Flag as our place marker. I was actually amazed, not by the amount of Catholics, but by the fact that they knew the Papal flag. We shall see if the Spirit publishes my pictures, but at least I gave them the opportunity to cover an event that built up the faith of the youth of the Diocese.

Chrism Mass

Last night I attended the Chrism Mass for the Diocese of Metuchen. This is the mass, always held during Holy Week, where the priest of the Diocese recommit to their vocation and the Holy Oils used during Sacraments are blessed and distributed to the parishes. My pastor, Msgr. Andy, asked me to attend as Immaculate Conception's representative. The mass was filled will all the pomp and ceremony you would expect at an important mass at the Cathedral. (All the smells, bells and yells, as Mr. P would say.)

Bishop Bootkoski was the celebrant assisted by the former, retired bishop, Bishop Hughes. Most of the priest from the Diocese were there and it was amazing to here them all pray the Eucharistic Prayer together. The Diocesan Choir was excellent, with a brass, timpani and, of course, organ. I'm not sure I'd like mass to be like that every week, but every once in a while it's awesome to see the full ritual of the Catholic Church.

More than the ceremony of the mass, I was struck with a feeling of unity during Mass. The priests in unity with each other and the Bishop, the parishes all united in one place, and the Sacred Chrism which unites us all as anointed by God. After Mass, I noticed that in the program the Bishop put it this way:

"The Chrism Mass is seen basically and primarily as a celebration of the entire local church in its role as priestly people....It is fitting that both ordained priests and laity from throughout the diocese gather on this occasion to express the unifying leadership ministry of the bishop."

I'm thankful I could serve the Parish and experience this Mass.

Autumn Blaze 2007

On Oct 13, 2007, the Lifesygns Youth group headed out to Continental Airlines Arena for NJ's biggest Christian Music Concert - Autumn Blaze. Artists included Fr. Stan Fortuna, Thousand Foot Krutch, Barlow Girl and tobyMac. I'll include a few photos here, but I have also created an album on Picasa - http://picasaweb.google.com/mwcawley/AutumnBlaze2007?authkey=8ZjUj9VNvCw.

This year for the first time Autumn Blaze featured an overtly Catholic artist who is a priest to boot. Fr. Stan Fortuna is a member of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, a group of monks who are doing awesome things in the Bronx and other places. They live a life of poverty and chastity following the way of St Francis, relying on God and the goodness of others to feed and clothe them. Fr. Stan uses his music (a mix of reggae, beat box, rap and other styles) to evangelize. Some of the Youth Group kids got to talk to him before the show and I suspect most of the audience had no idea who he was as he wandered around the parking lot in his gray robes. He was pretty warmly received by the crowd when he performed which was cool.

The kids, as always, had a fun time - dancing and head banging to the music. It seemed that Barlow Girl and tobyMac were the favorites. Overall, the whole show seemed a bit rushed, like they had rented the room for four hours and had to squeeze in as much as they could.

Mr. P and I scored press tickets and got to sit where the reporters site for hockey and basketball. The short story is that we told Autumn Blaze we worked for the Catholic Spirit and it wasn't until the day before the event that the Spirit said we could use their name. The seats weren't that much better than the kid's and we didn't get any special access but the key thing was we got to bring cameras in. For the curious, my shots were taken with my Canon Rebel XT with the built in flash and a combination of the 18 - 55 and 75 - 300 mm lenses. Although the pictures came out OK, this concert and the Cornerstone Festival led me to upgrade my lens and flash, which I'll post about separately.

Lifesygns has been going to Autumn Blaze since it was a small concert in the fields of Zarephath. In 2003, it moved to Continental Airlines Arena and attracted even bigger names like the Newsboys, Third Day and, my personal favorite, the OC Supertones. The first couple years at CAA it seemed like the sky was the limit for this event and maybe it would have to move to Giants Stadium at some point. It seems though that interest has waned - this year the Arena was maybe half full. The cost of the tickets, other Christian concerts (like Revelation Generation) and the insistence on it being an "outreach" event all contribute, I believe, to the drop in attendance. They should get back to there roots - a fun family event.

Burying St. Joseph

From the title, this could be a post about the lack of attention St. Joseph gets in the Catholic faith, but, no, it's about the tradition of burying a St. Joseph statue in your yard to help sell your house. There are many websites out there about this practice - here is an example. Traditions like this have always seemed a bit like mixing religion and magic and I have always shied away from them. Others ones that bother me are ones that say if you say a certain prayer X times in Y days, something "good" will happen. For the St. Joseph burying tradition, I have heard it called idolatry (don't be shy Tom McG.), to a marketing ploy by Realtors, to superstition, to faith, to luck or coincidence.

What brought all this up is my friends Boom and Miss Nancy. Their house has been on the market for several months with no serious bids. They had lowered the price twice and as of the beginning of July hadn't had a nibble in two weeks. They also had a new house which they needed to close on in August. Our area of NJ is a real buyer's market right now with a glut of homes up for sale. St. Joe went in the ground on July 5th and at an Open House on July 7th, six couples saw the house and one made a cash offer which will expedite the closing.

Coincidence? An up tick in the housing market? Miss Nancy being out of the country? or St. Joe in the ground. Knowing Boom and Nancy, there was probably some prayers to St. Joe for intercession along with the burying of the statue. Maybe that's where the truth lies. Or maybe burying the statue is an act of faith, that God rewards. Not becuase it's magic, but because you put your faith in Him.