Cultural Event: Choir Concert

Towards the middle of October the Cliff Singers had our first concert at the First Presbyterian Church here in Sioux City. To begin with this was a very unique feeling for me because my last choir concert for Heelan was held at this church. It was a good feeling to think that my first step as a musician in college took place at the same venue as my final step as a high school musician. It is a much different atmosphere singing with a college choir than a high school one. In high school most of the students are in choir simply out of a love for music, but many of the students in a college choir are going to be turning this into a career someday so there is even more passion in their singing. I am very grateful to be a part of this group and I am looking forward to singing with them over my next four years here.

Cultural Event: Christmas at the Orpheum

During the first weekend of December the Briar Cliff choir was given the opportunity to perform with the Sioux City Symphony orchestra for the yearly Christmas at the Orpheum program. This was a very unique concert to be a part of. Singing simply with the accompaniment of a piano or organ does not match the musical quality of working with an entire orchestra. It made me feel as if I was part of a professional choir. Even the songs which the symphony performed without the choir were incredibly impressive. What I find enjoyable about listening to instrumental music is I can simply sit back and enjoy it without having to focus on lyrics to understand a song. With instruments the listener can feel the emotion from the volume the orchestra is playing or the different intonations they use throughout a piece. My favorite song the orchestra played was a medley of various tradition songs all pieced together to form one flowing song. It was a wonderful privilege to work with musicians of that caliber and I am very thankful that I got to experience it. 

Cultural Event: Madrigal

Last weekend I went to Nativity Middle School to watch Heelan's performance of their yearly Madrigal program. For this show, the students of the Bishop Heelan choir department dress up in costumes appropriate of the medieval time period and sing tradition Christmas carols. For the last four years I was always a part of the concert, so this was the first time I have had the privilege to view the show from an audience member's perspective. Overall it was a very enjoyable night. The first half of the show some of the students put on plays between the songs, and young ladies dressed as maids from the time period bring the audience food while the choir sings. The second half of the show was strictly a concert portion and it was very well sung. One of the highlights of this half is the song "The 12 Days of Christmas". While the choir sings this piece the two jesters act out each of the gifts in a very humorous way. The show ends all of the choirs making their way throughout the crowd while singing "Silent Night". It was a very beautiful way to end the concert. The entire show was a perfect way to start off the holiday season, and I look forward to going back and seeing it next year.

Stigmata

The Stigmata is a very rare and unique medical condition in which the recipient bears the wounds that Jesus received when he was crucified. The first person in recorded history to receive this wound was St. Francis. He was on a fast on Mt. Alverna. Francis was visited by an angel who appeared to be on a crucifix, and proceeded to inflict Francis with the wounds. Another example of a saint who received these marks was Padre Pio. What was unique about his stigmata was the fact that after a while they disappeared, and some time later they reappeared again. One case that struck me as particularly unique was that of Anneliese Michel. She was a young German woman who grew up in a very strict catholic home. During her late teen years, she began to hear voices from what she claimed were demons. When she was finally exorcised a few years later, she received the marks of the stigmata.
Over the centuries, nobody has been able to find a scientific or medical explanation of the stigmata. It is hard to image how blood sores would show up in those specific places. It is also strange that the spots of blood never become infected during the time they are on the victim. I personally believe that people receive them for strictly religious reasons. I believe that Francis received his as a sign from Christ that he was correctly emulating the life of Jesus.

St. Francis Day

Last week we were given the opportunity to attend one of the two prayers services celebrating St. Francis. The first was a solemn prayer service in remembrance of his death. I did not attend this one, but from what the other students said, it seemed like it would have been very interesting and enjoyable. The service that I attended was the next day, and was a celebration of his life. I enjoyed how upbeat and joyful this celebration was. For example, during the opening song there were several students ringing bells and carrying streamers. The Cliff Singers were invited to sing for this service. We went to the front and performed a musical version of the peace prayer, which we learned was actually not written by Francis. It was a very enjoyable service, and I enjoyed sharing the gift of music for the other students.

Altruism and Service

I do believe that the service project we participated in relates directly to altruism. I went into the service day not expecting to get anything back from it. We were to asking to get paid for our work, and we did not receive any service in return. To me, the reward from it was looking at the fields at the end of the day and seeing how much cleaner they were. When I first heard what we were doing for the service day, I expected to be working down near the river removing a wall of sandbags. I was slightly disappointed when I got there and saw that we were simply removing muck from the fences of the baseball fields. After lunch, myself and about five other guys were asked to help move bleachers with two works from South Sioux City. I enjoyed this work much more. It went by very quickly and the progress of the job was obvious. We found out that the bleachers were going to be used at the remembrance ceremony for one of the U.S. Marines that was recently shot down in the middle-east. It was a great feeling to know that we were helping a man who gave literally everything he had to protect our country. In regards to the topic of "Pay it Forward", I believe that the idea of it is amazing. It would be incredible to see everyone on the planet working together to help one another out. The big problem with this is that there are far too many people that are introverted and care only about themselves. It would take years of work to convince these people to help three others out. However, with enough dedication to the cause, maybe someday this would work out. 

Three thoughts from our discussion

The first thing which we talked about in class that I found interesting was the large transition in Francis' life during the second chapter. During the first chapter Francis was a sort of party animal who led a very social life, and was well loved by everyone. At the end of the first chapter, Francis began having vivid dreams that made him want to turn his life around. In the second chapter, he began to help the poor more often. When he met a beggar in the street, Francis gave him money to make his life better. Francis' father began to dislike his son due to this new change in his life. I believe he had the wrong outlook on what Francis was now doing. It is not fair for him to disown his son because he felt that being outgoing by viewing it as a way of being too open about his personal life. I was also surprised that Francis stopped talking to his father at this point. It is hard to believe that someone who led such a religious life to hold a grudge for that long.

I also found our discussion about the citizens' reactions to Hurricane Katrina very interesting. I feel that when something bad happens to people, their first reaction is to blame this act on God. The flaw I find with this is we have always been taught that our God is not a vengeful one. He would never destroy an entire city simply to send a message to its inhabitants. A better reason to ask this question is simply to rationalize why it has happened. If the people were to sit back and think about the wrong things they have done, they can turn these around. This will not remove the damage that has been done to the city, but it could have made it a better place once it was fixed.

Lastly, I would like to discuss a topic that relates the first two together. I believe that had St. Francis been alive at the time, he would have been in New Orleans to help out the survivors of the hurricane. In his time, Francis would travel around to spread the good news of God, and work to help out the poor. If he was here today, he would be doing things no differently.