User:Alvincura/Sandbox/OnFire2010

OnFire NorCal Jam 2010

Date	16 October 2010
Location	Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo, California, USA

The Diocese of San Jose, along with the dioceses of Sacramento, Stockton, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Fresno, Monterey, and Reno came together to celebrate the On Fire NorCal Jam 2010 on October 16 at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. The event is targeted toward Catholic High School Youth and Young Adults.

Over 3200 youths, chaperones, youth ministers, religious, and clergy were on hand to participate in the event, which included skits and choreographed numbers by the youth of the Solano Deanery of the Diocese of Sacramento, a keynote talk by David Bisono, a morning concert featuring Matt Maher and Sarah Hart, a Mass concelebrated by the diocesan bishops, a day at the amusement park, a picnic lunch, various exhibits from the Vocations offices of the respective dioceses, a prayer meeting for parents and chaperones, and a full evening concert.

Summary of Events

The park opened its gates to attendees at 8:00am, who were directed to Chabot Stadium within the park's grounds. Youths and Young Adults of the Diocese of Sacramento served as emcees for the morning program, introducing choreographed dance numbers, interpretive dance, and musical programs by the youth and young adults of the Solano Deanery.

Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento then took the stage to introduce David Bisono, the keynote speaker, who spoke of his experiences of hardship and the intervention of the Holy Spirit in his darkest moments, encouraging the youth to maintain a connection to God and to the church.

Afterward, Bishop Soto displayed his musical skills, playing the harmonica to open the morning concert as Matt Maher, Sarah Hart, and their musicians took their places and joined in to play with His Excellency.

Following the opening numbers, Matt Maher took to the microphone to encourage the crowd to take on a reverential and prayerful mood in preparation for the celebration of Mass. He proceeded to teach the assembly the chorus of each song of the service music, culminating in the Entrance Procession of the Mass.

The Mass was concelebrated by Bishops Soto of Sacramento, McGrath of San Jose, Blaire of Stockton, and Walsh of Santa Rosa. The Homily was delivered by Father Jayson Landeza, Pastor of St. Columba Parish in the Diocese of Oakland, who made reference to his service as a Chaplain for the Oakland Fire Department as he spoke of being of service to others. The Eucharist was served by the bishops and over twenty priests to the large assembly.

After the Mass, the park was opened for rides and entertainment; and the Picnic Area which had been reserved for the event served an All-You-Can-Eat Lunch Buffet. At the center of the Picnic Area, the Vocations offices of the participating dioceses sponsored a Vocations Carnival, with various tables, booths, and games setup for both entertainments and questions-and-answers with the youth and their chaperones. Religious members of mendicant orders, including several nuns and brothers also set up event tables to converse and share information with attendees. Following lunch, a Parent/Chaperone Hour of Prayer was held in the Picnic Area, where Sarah Hart was a featured speaker.

From the Diocese of San Jose, Father John Poncini of the Vocations Office and Melissa Tamayo from the Office of the Bishop were in attendance, along with several seminarians. Various priests from all participating dioceses were were on-hand to hear Confessions in the Picnic Area.

At 6:00pm, the main concert began, featuring performances by Tenth Avenue North, Addison Road, Matt Maher, and Sarah Hart. The music for the evening concert turned up the energy level of the audience, and went on into the night, ending at 9:00pm.

Editorial and Personal Observations

I had never attended such an event as this before, as World Youth Day came into being when I was well over the targeted age group. I had therefore had no idea what to expect.

The doctrine of the Communion of Saints is perhaps one of the most special and precious to me; for in this doctrine can be found the spiritual and theological basis for the brotherhood and community which we are intended to comprise. And it is from this place that I looked forward to being surrounded by a great mass of humanity, celebrating this event.

Although my life has taken place in the time post-Vatican II, my upbringing reflected the catechesis of my parents, in terms of the principles and theology which I was taught at home. I have therefore always valued reverence and prayerful disposition in relation to the Church, and to the Holy Mass specifically. It was therefore with a mixture of excitement and trepidation that I looked forward to experiencing a youth-oriented service in the presence of four bishops; perhaps partly because of their implicit approval of the handling of the Liturgy. After all, the Episcopate has undergone the completeness of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and they are in our tradition the heirs of the apostles themselves.

The use of contemporary music and theatrics has been the subject of some debate in the church. I suppose this is perhaps most evident in the fact that a new edition of the Roman Missal will be put into effect beginning at Advent 2011, and most of the changes harken back to the 1962 liturgy, in the forms of response and antiphons.

And so, in our current liturgy and order of mass; we have seen debate about the appropriate use of music, placement of choirs, use of contemporary instrumentation, and the like. My own views echo those of the "old school", who find the modernization disruptive to the reverence of the liturgy; and most importantly, disruptive to the observation of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, of transubstantiation, and of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist from the moment of the consecration.

Yet, our contemporary lives, the world which our youth and young adults live in, and the lives which their parents have led has shown us that the lack of immersive education of the Church and its doctrines has left a real gap in the spiritual lives of young people, and that the Word must reach them in forms familiar to them and which they can relate to. I must admit that I find it somewhat ironic to be writing these things; I myself am only 38 years old.

This event showed me, more than any other event or Youth Mass how the use of contemporary music, when reverently played, truly can be in service and harmony with the Liturgy.

A great amount of credit must therefore go to Matt Maher, Sarah Hart, and their fellow musicians. The up-tempo music, the drum kit and cymbals, the electric instruments, and the outdoor stage were no impediment to the celebration of Mass. They referred to the Eucharist by name, referred to the Sacraments as a treasure, intuitively managed their instrumentation and musical arrangements to be in service of the Mass. They encouraged the crowd to be reverent but joyful, energetic but focused, uptempo but prayerful. During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the musicians were on their knees facing the altar, instruments hanging from their necks and heads bowed.

I could almost envisage specific passages of "Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship", published by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in the Pastoral Liturgy Series. In the front of my mind, the various instructions I have received under the tutelage of our Director of Liturgy Diana Macalintal were present, correlating the music and its arrangements to the order of the Mass. From the lyrical correlation of the songs to the action upon the altar, even to the arrangement of Lamb of God, complete with "miserere nobis" and "dona nobis pacem" in Latin; most of the criteria for appropriate liturgical music were met.

And yet, at the evening concert, all of the elements of a fun, raucous, and lively rock concert were met. Minus substance abuse and drunken fights, that is. Many of the songs used at Mass were played again, but this time in different context, in their full electric, high energy and amplified performance. The commentary and speakers in between songs maintained their positive messages, but with an amped-up energy which resonated with the crowd.

At one point, I met a young man from the Diocese of Sacramento; whose introduction to me included him saying that he didn't much like rock music (his clothes and demeanor said "hip hop"), but that the energy of the people and the background of spiritual rejoicing made it appealing to him.

In fact, I met several young people that day; of different ages, background, sizes, and shapes; some of whom I envisioned as having grown up as well-behaved youths who are adjusting to their impending adulthoods, and some of whom I envisioned as having returned to the Church after having encountered too much hardship too soon in life (in the form of drugs, rowdy friends, peer pressure, bullying, materialism, or any of the plethora of pressures that today's youth is vulnerable to). And no matter where they were from, no matter their socio-economic status, or any of the worldly divisions that separate us, not even the friendly competition of whose parish is better or whose diocese is better, I saw them participate in an event which included many entertainments, but which maintained that the presence of the Triune God is the mover of all true joy and all true redemption.

Communion of Saints indeed.

About the Author

Alvin Cura has been a tech professional in Silicon Valley for the past 17 years, having moved to the area from Portland, Oregon. He currently holds the position of Sr. Systems Engineer for a tech company based in the area. He attends St. Joseph Parish of Mountain View in Deanery 2, where he is involved in the music and youth ministries of the parish.