If you really know me you probably would discribe me in 4 short lines:
1. Catholic who is very passionate
2 Some who really LOVES is girlfriend
3. A good musician but terrible singer
4. A Bob Rice Super Fan
If you are reading this and don't know who Bob Rice is then check out his web site Bob-Rice.com:
In the Past few Hours I have been reading old blog posts of his. Laughing, smiling, and really learning. When I started this Blog the thought was a blog for teens by a teen but as I have posted it is going to change. I wasn't sure how I could teach the faith, like I would for a Life Night, Retreat, or a just a Talk. So while I was learning I came across a Part of a post that Calls us, as Catholics. Most of the time people who are Catholic Listen to Christen Protestant music (Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Barlow Girl..ect) They read Protestant Books, and they Watch Protestant Preachers. We say things like "yeah, that church band is OK, but they are nothing like at the super church down the road." Or Yeah Fr. ____ is a good guy but his homilies are terrible and I would rather listen to Adam Romans, now he is entertaining and very engaging I saw him at Giant Eagle he said hi to me I only went to his church one time and he remember me". In this Post Bob Calls us to excellence, and to be engaging:
~Bobby
...If we’re going to engage the culture (which is what the Church calls us to do), then there is one simple way- we have to be great. Our music has to be excellent. Our books have to be engaging. Our acting needs to be real. We shouldn’t use the word “Christian” or “Catholic” like a golf handicap.
A great example of this is Matt Maher. If you don’t know him, he’s easily the most popular Catholic musician out there right now. His song, “Your Grace Is Enough” was covered by Chris Tomlin and sold umpty million... I don’t know. But he’s the thing right now.
Why is he so popular? Because he is spiritual? Well, I know Matt personally and he really is very prayerful and spiritual. But he’s also an amazing musician. In fact, he’s one of the best musicians I’ve ever played with. He is sensational at piano as well as guitar, notates music, studied theory, etc. This isn’t someone who just picked up a guitar, learned four chords and started praising the Lord. He is devoted, not just to God, but to his craft. We can all learn from his example.
As Catholics, I feel we need to strive more for excellence. We allow poor music at liturgies (isn’t it nice for them to volunteer their time?), lame homilies from priests (but he is really a nice man when you get to know him), poor writing in books (but doesn’t it have a nice theme?), bad acting in movies... the list goes on. As a musician/writer/teacher/author I am making this challenge as much to myself as to anyone. Have I been the jack of all trades and master of none? To some extent, yes. I’ve skimmed the surface of some of my talents and moved on to others instead of digging deeper and doing the work to find the living water underneath.
It’s hard to do, and I’m not rallying against the lack of success (I’ve tried and failed many times) but the seeming lack of effort. Preaching to the choir is easy because the choir has very low standards. Yes, the choir needs attention- but so does the world.
And maybe that’s what gets me. People seem content to stay in the bubble. But the Church has never acquiesced to such laxity. John Paul II wrote, “Involvement in the mass media, however, is not meant merely to strengthen the preaching of the Gospel. There is a deeper reality involved here: since the very evangelization of modern culture depends to a great extent on the influence of the media, it is not enough to use the media simply to spread the Christian message and the Church's authentic teaching. It is also necessary to integrate that message into the "new culture" created by modern communications.” (Redemptoris Missio 37)
EWTN does great ministry (will it ever air the “backstage” episode I recorded for them in February of 07?!?), but the Christian message also needs to be in NBC sitcoms, CBS dramas, the major radio stations, and the local cineplex. We don’t always need to tie it up in a Catholic bow, like the Mormon commercials that used to end with, “This message was brought to you by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” (Though I wish Catholics had an add campaign of ANY kind. Speaking of that, want to see a killer Catholic commercial? Click here, then give them money so it can be seen on TV.)
What is good? What is evil? How does evil effect us? What is our purpose in life? Is there more than just material things? What is beauty? These are the kind of questions that every human heart asks. God has answers. Catholic artists should use their gifts to express them. I hope I do.
We live in a culture that thinks it can just pick up a microphone and be famous on American Idol. Let’s not fall into that trap, but keep working on our natural talents to build up the supernatural kingdom. As my dad was fond of saying, “The magic is... there is no magic. Just hard work.” Let’s be excellent, yet not rely on our excellence but God’s grace. Jesus can do a lot with a little. A boy gave a few loaves and some fish to Jesus and he fed thousands of men, women, and children.
But the trick is that he gave ALL he had.
Do we?
PS. I hope you noticed not one, but two triple-score vocabulary words in one sentence: acquiesced and laxity. I was going to also use the word ubitquous (one of my favorite new words), but I thought that would be over the top. Besides, I don’t know what “ubitquous” means, nor do I want to. Because the mystery of it makes it sound so... ubitquous. Don’t you think?
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