Solidarity

www.christianfestivals.com is a great place to start when finding ways to spice up your summer. For now, here are a few bigger festivals to check out…

Cornerstone Festival

Where: Bushnell, IL
When: June 25-30
What: bands, games, prayer
Who: Switchfoot, Copeland, Deas Vail, The Wedding, Cool Hand Luke, Leeland, David Crowder Band, Skillet, Anberlin, Relient K, tobyMac, Underoath, Flyleaf, Pillar, Emery & tons more.
How: Adult passes are from $135 – $155 at the gate. Click here for more ticket info.
Why it’s Cool: You’ve probably at least heard about this one–it’s the biggest of them all and takes place in Bushnell, IL. People travel from all over the country to attend this 6-day Christian woodstock.

Cornerstone Florida

Where: Orlando, FL
When: May 11-12
What: bands, games, prayer
Who: MxPx, Pillar, Underoath, As I Lay Dying, Copeland, Darek Webb, Family Force 5, Jonezetta & lots more.
How: Adult 2-day passes are $44.95 if purchased by May 8, and $50 at the gate. Click here for more ticket info.
Why it’s cool: It’s a Cornerstone festival!

Celebrate Freedom

Where: Parker, TX (just north of Dallas/Fort Worth)
When: June 29-30
What: Bands & lots of booths (including the Catholic Pro-Life Committee of North Texas’ very own Youth For Life booth!)
Who: (not official) Rebecca St. James, Skillet & 33 Miles. An official list of artists will be on their site soon.
How: Tickets are free, but required. Pick them up starting in June at any DFW Chick-Fil-A, CareNow or Capital One location. Parking is $12 per vehicle.
Why it’s cool: As America’s biggest free music festival–and it’s Christian. Plus, this is the first year this one-day festival will be two days!

Kingdom Bound

Where: Darien Lake, NY
When: August 5-8
What: Music, prayer, extreme sports, kids ministries (can anyone say Veggie Tales?), speakers & rollercoasters (it’s at a theme park!)
Who: The Afters, Decemberadio, David Crowder Band, Dizmas, Leeland, Manic Drive, Newsboys, Skillet, Stellar Kart, Superchick, tobyMac, Chris Thomlin & more.
How: Full-event tickets are $105 if purchased after June 30. Click here for more ticket info.
Why it’s cool: Christians take over an ex-Six Flags theme park in western New York for 4 days. Need I say more?

In early March this year, the Pope was given his very own 2GB iPod Nano, “loaded with special Vatican Radio programming and classical music.” The Catholic News Service expounded on the story of the Pope’s new toy:

“Though the white iPod Nano is tiny, it still made an impression on the pope. When the head of the radio’s technical and computer support department, Mauro Milita, identified himself and handed the pope the boxed iPod, the pope was said to have replied, “Computer technology is the future.”

 

And our Pope is grateful for the gift of music today, as reported by the Vatican Information News Service…

VATICAN CITY, APR 16, 2007 (VIS) –

[...]“In looking back over my own life,” he added, “I thank God for having given me music which, almost as a traveling companion, has always brought me comfort and joy.”

The Holy Father also expressed his gratitude “to the people who, from the earliest years of my infancy, introduced me to this source of inspiration and serenity. I thank those who unite music and prayer in harmonious praise of God and His works. They help us to glorify the Creator and Redeemer of the world.”

“This is my desire,” he concluded: “that the greatness and beauty of music may also give you, dear friends, a new and continual inspiration to build a world of love, solidarity and peace.”

Spirit and Song is one of the bigger Catholic record companies today. It’s a great resource when looking for contemporary Catholic artists and discovering a budding Catholic music industry. On their site you can check out all artists on Spirit and Song radio (with four different channels!), find a specific song with the Jukebox, buy an album, subscribe to their Liturgy Podcasts, read bios on the artists, get your soul fed with Spirit Compass, become a free member (which as perks such as tools to discover new artists, artist podcasts, “My Favorites” and “My Wish List”) and learn about upcoming events. It’s a fun place to explore and find encouraging music when you’re having a slow day or are in need of finding some fresh music. Matt Maher and Curtis Stephen are two tried and true artists on the label–I personally know many Catholics who love their music (and I might enjoy them a little too…). Check out what www.spiritandsong.com has and enjoy some good God-glorifying music!

With a classically trained vocalist who uses his falsetto skills well, this Brave New World Records artist is likely to develop a devoted fan base, much like artists with a related sound such as Mae and Coldplay. This Christian band claims to work hard at their music and with just their carefully written lyrics smacking of epic storytelling echoing the love of God and our struggles on earth, you can tell. And Steve Henderson of AbsolutePunk.net puts it well…

Overall, Deas Vail embraces moods and sounds that are ethereal and elegant, tossing around shimmering, light guitar lines and snappy drum notes, but these contributions are secondary to the group’s core of thoughtful piano arrangements building a foundation for Wes Blaylock’s stunning vocals.

In a song very worth hearing, “Follow Sound”, the song escalates to a pinnacle of hope…

Won’t you open up your eyes.
Through your window you’ll see.
The sun is shining bright and I promise there’s a world out there.

Listen to “Follow Sound” or their whole album (minus one song), which was released in early March, on EmotionalPunk.com. Also, watch them perform their song “Surface” on Youtube. And if you enjoy them, their album All the Houses Look the Same is available for $7.99 on the Brave New World Records website through May 5, 2007!

And if you still have no idea who Deas Vail is…

If Angela Bassett, Blair Underwood and Cuba Gooding Jr. came together to create a CD on The Easter Story from the series Inspired by… The Bible Experience, would you be intrigued? I must admit–it caught my attention. And the best part about this curiosity is that it can be satiated for free, by downloading the audio file from the iTunes store.

“The story of the events leading up to and including the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ are reenacted with incredible drama, sound effects and cinema-quality background music. The Scripture portions included in this audio program are from Matthew chapters 26-28. Taken from Inspired By…The Bible Experience, you will hear Blair Underwood as Jesus, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Judas and many other leading celebrities bring to life the drama of the last days of Jesus, his sacrificial death, and triumphant resurrection.“

Released by Zondervan, a nondenominational Christian publishing company, it is an inspiring, high quality audiobook of the Biblical events, but may not necessarily be in complete agreement with Vatican in terms of Bible version used or interpretation. Either way, as a free audio download, it is certainly worth listening to while allowing inspiration from our Lord’s Easter story fill our lives with the hope and love that we strive for.

Finding out about bands such as Mute Math, Switchfoot and Deas Vail is just one of the major perks of listening to a Christian rock station that will make any Christ-following head-banging music lover’s day. Power FM is in Dallas/Fort Worth but anyone can listen, especially if you’re reading this blog.

And they’ve got all the fun things that secular rock stations have such as call-in contests and their very own Powermobile.

Check out Power FM, The Christian Rock station on your computer or, if you’re in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, tune your local radio to 89.7 FM.

28-March-2007 – ZENIT.org News Agency

Vatican TV Releases DVD Collection

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A Vatican Television Center catalogue of DVDs in various languages is now available by Internet.

The collection was presented to the press today by the director of the television center, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, and by the administrative director, Roberto Romolo.

The DVDs have been made public to mark the anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s death (April 2, 2005) and the election of Benedict XVI.

The catalogue has already been distributed in the United States, Poland and Spain.

The DVDs are available from eBay and Amazon.com.

The collection includes presentations (with Latin titles) on: The Keys of the Kingdom: From John Paul II to Benedict XVI; John Paul II: The Pope That Made History; The Vatican: How the Smallest Kingdom in the World Works; and John Paul II: This Is My Life.

Grassroots Films is an independent film company catalyzed by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in response to JPII’s message,

“The film industry has become a universal medium exercising a profound influence on the development of people’s attitudes and choices, and possessing a remarkable ability to influence public opinion and culture across all social and political frontiers.”
~the late Pope John Paul II

It’s so true. There needs to be more of us using film as the medium with which we speak God’s truth. There are more and more people getting involved in media just for this purpose, and it’s so exciting! Just check out YouTube and start browsing through different priests’ videos, you can find pro-life videos and even Grassroot Film’s trailers.

The Human Experience, which will be released Fall 2007, is Grassroot’s latest project, and it’s about, well, what it’s like to be human. Watch the trailer on Myspace by clicking on the image below and anticipate great cinematography and a fascinating message based on the truth of our God.