One Friday evening, I was sitting on my front porch when a neighbor called over to me, “There’s going to be a concert in the park, if you want to come check it out--”
“And you need to wear a mask!” the girl skipping alongside her added.
The woman smiled. “And you need to wear a mask. Spread the word!”
“And you need to wear a mask!” the girl skipping alongside her added.
The woman smiled. “And you need to wear a mask. Spread the word!”
I looked up from what I was doing and noticed that several other families were filing down the street towards our little neighborhood park. The weather was beautiful and the summer sun had just dipped below the treetops. I couldn’t resist. I grabbed my mask and keys and followed along.
That evening’s lineup included some talented teens singing a variety of genres, from contemporary pop to classic barbershop tunes. A local professor of Turkish culture also performed folk songs on a wooden-framed bendir drum. There was clapping and laughing and dancing--and a sing-along, too. Behind the masks, I was sure people were smiling. The music brought us together.
A year ago, last August, I had gathered with 30,000 people to listen to the Christian bands at The Fest. In comparison, the concert in my neighborhood park was a much more intimate gathering of about 30 people. But live music is powerful, no matter what the scale. I realized how much I missed singing hymns and listening to the choir in church each week, which was not allowed under current public health guidelines. Large gatherings were also prohibited, which meant that The Fest 2020 would take place online.
The Fest website was set up like the physical grounds of the Borromeo Seminary, where The Fest typically took place. We streamed musical performances from the “Main Stage” section of the website. I also wandered over to the “Fest Grounds” section of the website to explore the prayer resources. From my family room couch, I prayed the home blessing:
That evening’s lineup included some talented teens singing a variety of genres, from contemporary pop to classic barbershop tunes. A local professor of Turkish culture also performed folk songs on a wooden-framed bendir drum. There was clapping and laughing and dancing--and a sing-along, too. Behind the masks, I was sure people were smiling. The music brought us together.
A year ago, last August, I had gathered with 30,000 people to listen to the Christian bands at The Fest. In comparison, the concert in my neighborhood park was a much more intimate gathering of about 30 people. But live music is powerful, no matter what the scale. I realized how much I missed singing hymns and listening to the choir in church each week, which was not allowed under current public health guidelines. Large gatherings were also prohibited, which meant that The Fest 2020 would take place online.
The Fest website was set up like the physical grounds of the Borromeo Seminary, where The Fest typically took place. We streamed musical performances from the “Main Stage” section of the website. I also wandered over to the “Fest Grounds” section of the website to explore the prayer resources. From my family room couch, I prayed the home blessing:
Bless this house and those within
Bless our giving and receiving
Bless our words and conversation
Bless our hands and recreation.
Bless our sowing and our growing
Bless our coming and our going
Bless all who enter and depart
Bless this house, your peace impart.
May the peace of God reign in this place
And the love of God forever hold you tight.
May the Spirit of God flow through your life
And the joy of God uphold you day and night.
As I concluded with “Amen,” I wondered how many other families had prayed this home blessing as well. It united us while we were physically apart. Even the Christian music celebrities, who I was used to listening to from my home, were now performing music for me from their homes. I couldn’t feel the physical energy of the crowds or the thunder of applause, but I knew that the 30,000 fans I gathered with each year would be tuning in from their own homes, like me.
Music, like prayer, is a powerful force that collapses time and space. When I had been a Companion in Mission with the Ursulines, I remembered Sister Mary Ann showing me her copy of The Liturgy of the Hours that she kept in her sitting room. She prayed the Divine Office by herself each morning, but she knew she was joining in prayer with Christians all over the world who also observed this tradition.
The experience of streaming The Fest created community in the same way. In fact, The Fest 2020 felt even bigger than the typical crowd of 30,000 who gathered on the seminary grounds. The physical gatherings were limited to people in the Cleveland area. In a virtual space, geography is no longer a barrier. I was reminded of this when people all over the world offered intercessions in their own language:
Music, like prayer, is a powerful force that collapses time and space. When I had been a Companion in Mission with the Ursulines, I remembered Sister Mary Ann showing me her copy of The Liturgy of the Hours that she kept in her sitting room. She prayed the Divine Office by herself each morning, but she knew she was joining in prayer with Christians all over the world who also observed this tradition.
The experience of streaming The Fest created community in the same way. In fact, The Fest 2020 felt even bigger than the typical crowd of 30,000 who gathered on the seminary grounds. The physical gatherings were limited to people in the Cleveland area. In a virtual space, geography is no longer a barrier. I was reminded of this when people all over the world offered intercessions in their own language:
...To seek the gentle voice of God calling us to a deeper love and more abundant peace so that we can put an end to violence and hatred in every form.
...For compassion, to care for all who suffer. Working together, may all healthcare workers find a quick end to the pandemic and healing for God’s people.
...For the safety of all who protect us, for the unemployed and underemployed, and for the one person we know who needs our prayers the most.
These are the prayers we hold closest to us, and they are also the prayers we share with our whole human family. This worldwide family was praying with me, just as my own family was praying with me here in our home. And together, we celebrated the Fest finale with a powerful call for peace, echoing the words of the home blessing: “May the peace of God reign in this place / And the joy of God uphold you day and night.”