Is the Christmas Season Over?

Today is the second Sunday of Advent. Thanksgiving was only 11 days ago. The only Christmas decoration I have up is the wreath Dad sent me. I just got my first Christmas card (Yea - N&V!). Despite all that, when I went to Lowe's this weekend, ALL of their Christmas decorations on sale for 50% off! At first I thought maybe it was just a one day sale, but no, everything was marked as clearance. (For honesty's sake, I will point out that I did check the prices - I am my Mother's son after all). I guess when you start selling Christmas stuff just after Halloween, maybe it's time to put it on sale.

I've long ago given up trying to convince people that the Twelve Days of Christmas starts on Christmas day. But could we at least sell Christmas decorations and gifts until December 25th? Sigh......

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.

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.

Cornerstone Festival - Musings

As I said before, it's a pretty eclectic group of people here at Cornerstone. In theory, what unites all (or the vast majority) is that we call ourselves "Christians". So what does that mean with such diversity? I'm sure there are people here who wouldn't consider me a Christian being Catholic and all and others that would look down on the kids in black with bullets for a belt. To me, it's simple, you only need to believe that God loves us unconditionally, Jesus died for our sins and that every blessing we receive is through God's grace. Sure, there's a lot of other stuff I believe because I'm a Catholic, but they just make me Catholic, not Christian.

The Cornerstone Survival Guide (http://www.cstonesurvival.com) had some good ideas along these lines....

• "Be prepared to be offended. Not everyone shares your views on abortion, homosexuality, the death penalty or the Clinton presidency. If you find that someone is wearing a t-shirt espousing views that you don't like, ignore them. Or better yet, talk to them about it. You may make a new friend, and more importantly, you may learn something.
• Not everyone holds to the same "holiness standard" that you do. Some people smoke, drink, and wear two-piece bathing suits. Try and focus on the beams in your own eyes before plucking slivers out of theirs.
• Remember that not everyone has had the blessing and benefit of a good upbringing. Sometimes the people who seem to be the most rude and obnoxious are at Cornerstone because they really are trying to live a Christian life. It isn't easy for a lot of people to transcend their upbringing (or lack thereof), show grace and understanding with such people. This doesn't mean that you should be a pushover, or should tolerate abusive or dangerous behavior. It just means that you should try and settle problems with people in a gracious and understanding way, rather than immediately going to security."

As an aside, there are at least 2 other Catholics here - one had a Benedict 16 shirt on and the other a Cardinal Ratzinger shirt. I wore my JPII shirt from DYD but didn't get any comments positive or negative. Wish more Catholics were exposed to Christian music - most don't even know it exists. (I know Boom, Mr. P and I are trying to get the message out) The music quality is good and the message is better.