By Maryann Gogniat Eidemiller

'It's all a big party for Jesus'

Festivals for young Catholics mix Gospel message with music

Benedictine Father Fred Byrne saw at the World Youth Days in Denver, Paris, Rome and Toronto how music can draw young people together to celebrate their faith.

He saw, he said, the message of the Gospel, the same as it was 2,000 years ago, being spread through what Pope John Paul II called "the new evangelization."

"The message of Christ risen and living in our midst and the call to discipleship is always the same, but the vehicle of the proclamation needed to be adapted to the modern world," said Father Byrne, director of the Office of Vocations at Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, Pa. "The Youth Days took that inspiration from [Pope] John Paul's constant invitation to open their hearts to Christ, and I felt that when young people do that, they can actually hear God calling them to whatever vocations they have in their lives. So, since young people are used to gathering for rockfests, why not use that to reach them?"

Three years ago, he organized the first Ultimate4JC Fest at Saint Vincent. It drew more than 400 people. Last year, there were 700.

Typical of most Catholic youthfests, there was much more than bands. Musicians and speakers talked about their faith, priests heard confessions, and there was Eucharistic exposition, a procession and liturgy.

"It's all a big party for Jesus," Bob Halligan Jr. of Syracuse, N.Y., told OSV at last year's gig. As frontman for Ceili Rain, a Celtic rock band of Christian music, he travels the country with music and a message, a combination that's drawing young people into the growing world of Catholic youthfests.

Bands play, teens pray

Praising God with music is rooted in the Old Testament, where psalms proclaim making a joyful noise with trumpet, lyre, harp, timbrel, strings, pipe, clanging symbols and dancing.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recognizes music's role in making worship relevant to young people. "A Vision of Youth Ministry" states that the "language expressions, musical styles and the ways of life" of the young "are often quite different from those of older generations." Therefore those who prepare the liturgy for youths are encouraged "to explore contemporary accompaniments and focus on the song and pace of the music."

So, in a generation that's tuned into iPods and MP3s, bands play and teens pray.

"Music is such an effective tool that we need to be using it to communicate our message," said Father Robert Stec, who seven years ago founded The Fest at Borromeo College and Seminary, near Cleveland, when he was director of vocations. He now is pastor of St. Ambrose Parish in Brunswick, Ohio. "Our goal is to raise up the next generation of Church members and leaders in such a way to show that the Church is alive and full of energy. Music has the capacity and the power to speak, so if that helps to bring the Gospel message, then we need to be using it."

Zach Briers, a student at Borromeo Seminary, is on the planning team.

"Everybody you meet says that the music was great, but what they really remember from The Fest is all those people gathered for Mass," he said. "They say that it's unlike any church experiences they ever had."

Last year The Fest attracted 22,000 people."They see thousands of their peers, and that's inspiring and imaginative enough to strengthen them in their faith," Father Stec said. "There's a great energy in connecting with a vision that's bigger than their own. There's also an attraction to a pilgrimagelike destination. Traveling to ultimately seek something else -- going some place to meet the Lord -- has long been a part of Church tradition."

God-given abilities

Youth Day in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has attracted teens from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii. More than 15,000 attended the event in March.

"It's a place for young people to see the larger Church and to see themselves involved in it," said Michael Norman, associate director of the office of education in the archdiocese. "They look up on the screens and on the stage, and they see themselves. That's very important. It gets them excited, and they take that back to their parishes."

Teens in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, Ga., travel to Fort Walton, Fla., where they have a retreat the first week in June. Last year, 400 attended Sonfest.

"Our teens make a commitment to go," said Lynn Ory, youth minister at St. Oliver Plunkett Parish, one of the participating churches. "I'm not taking them on vacation."

The parish's youth group meets twice a week, and those who sign up for the retreat have to attend at least half the time. They also are involved in planning sessions and writing skits.

John Paul "JP" Williams, 19, a member of St. Oliver Plunkett, has attended Sonfest for five years.

"Teens listen to electric guitar, drums and keyboard every day, and God gave humans the abilities to create and use that to glorify him," he said.

Stealth evangelization

Larry Nolte, a youth minister at St. Anthony Padua Parish in St. Louis, organizes Crossroads Catholic Music Festival in Steelville, Mo. "We kick up the music and it really rocks, and the kids are surprised that it rocks so hard," he said.

They also are surprised, he added, that music with lyrics about God, Jesus, the Blessed Mother, forgiveness, holiness and redemption from sin is better than they expected.

"It's stealth evangelization," Nolte said. "We show them a good time, and we believe that God will speak to them when they're here. They come away knowing that something happened, and they have a new commitment to Christ. We've heard from kids who said they were struggling with their faith, or didn't take it seriously, but something happened. It's definitely the work of the Holy Spirit."

Peter Campbell, founder of Proud2B Catholic Festivals, based near Boston and sponsored by the U.S. Province of the Missionaries of LaSalette, volunteers in youth ministry at his parish, Immaculate Conception, in Salem, Mass. With experience in marketing secular concerts, he staged his first Catholic festival in 2001.

"It's very important for us to be proud of being Catholic and to proclaim it," he said. "We need to live it and show people what it really means."

The festivals around the country attract from 500 to 3,000 people with programs based on what the sponsoring parish or diocese thinks will appeal to their audiences, whether it's rap or rock or something else.

OK, so pick up the town of Jerusalem at the time of Christ and fast forward. Would Jesus come to one of these festivals?

"Jesus is at the fests," Campbell said. "There are Masses at every one, and Jesus comes to every Mass."

Festivals speak to young people through song

Youthfests are much more than music.

"The best gatherings are part of a bigger program that works in terms of exciting our young people and giving them a vision of a larger universal Church," said Sister of St. Joseph of Cluny Eileen McCann, program coordinator for Youth and Young Adult Ministries at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. As such, they should include Church teachings and "the need to go out and serve."

The Youth Outreach Office of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, has been sponsoring conferences for 30 years, growing from a local event that attracted 500 people to this year's 15 youth conferences in eight states. The weeks prepare participants for ongoing evangelization rooted in Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and inspired by the lives of the saints.

Music is part of those experiences, and it also plays a vital role at ND Vision, a conference for high school students founded at the University of Notre Dame, in Indiana, in 2002.

"Music sets the tone for the week and for the individual sessions," director Leonard DeLorenzo said. "We have liturgical music that helps us to pray well, and we use music for reflection and for praise, or just for the ability to sing out in prayer with one another."

"I have seen some evidence of the power of music to speak to young people in particular situations and to bring them more closely in touch with the living traditions of the Catholic Church," DeLorenzo said. "I think it is well-known that St. Augustine said that one who sings prays twice."