Interesting how our English language allows for such great freedom. Take the title of this post, in exemplum. JPII shows... well, what is the object of that Subject and verb? The former pope shows us what? Lots of things, notably his call for sanctity in the laity and in family life, the call that we as actresses in a Catholic drama company take to heart. It is up to each of us as members of the Mystical Body of Christ to reach out to all of our brothers and sisters, to take action in the world as participants in His mission to save souls, as representatives of His Church.
On the other hand, the JPII shows are our mainstage productions put on in conjunction with our St. Louis-based troupe at the John Paul II Auditorium. This beautiful little theater was to be our home for the three shows that would conclude our Midwestern Christmas tour. Since we do not usually perform with much of a stage, or any solid tech systems to speak of, the MSP were greatly impressed by the technologically and spatially advanced situation we now found ourselves in. We actually had a set. We really did have heavy red curtains and two levels of lights from every directions and an amazing sound system to play with.
And we had a whole other cast too! The St Louis cast does a funny opening act, and we were all rolling with laughter every rehearsal and show as the script slowly morphed with much ad libbing and side comments to the audience.
Speaking of the audience, we were able to meet and greet many different age groups after each show and chat on topics ranging from what we do, what they do, plays we have all acted in, down to where a good site to find online movies could be found. The old cliche "Its a Small World" (accompanied in my head by that outrageously repetitive Disney song) was proved again and again over those few nights. "Hey, you went to TMC? Founded by Peter Sampo? He taught me when I was in college years ago!" "Hey, I recognize you from ..."
We also were able to watch the airing of EWTN's "The Surprise," a Chesterton play in which our director played a main role, between shows. We have a contract with EWTN to begin filming in May for our own series, Theater of the Word, in which the MSP will have a segment. Look for it sometime over the next year!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Missionaries of Charity - St. Louis
+JMJ+
Come Holy Spirit!
The Missionaries of Charity. I love them. Some of the most beautiful and joyful women on this earth live in the MC convents. They love God so much and serve Him so well! We were able to spend the morning with them during their Christmas Party for the shut-ins. They have volunteers who help drive the sick and disabled people to their soup kitchen,
as well as many lay people who cook the lunch and serve the food. When we arrived, we saw the dining room transformed into a Christmas wonderland: decorations, Christmas trees, colored pictures (from the little children), red and green tablecloths... everything was set up perfectly for their Christmas Party. And as I watched, each seat was filled as the celebration began. These were people who were so sick that if such a party like this didn't happen, they wouldn't leave their poor homes, hospital beds, or wherever they spent their time. The Sisters organize this party for them - to feed them, to love them, and to give them a very special Christmas - one that I know they will never forget. Elizabeth and I performed "Making Room" which was very well received - but that was hardly the highlight of the day! The audience soon became a congregation, as the Sisters prepared the room for Mass. They asked a Priest from the area to come and celebrate Holy Mass with them that day, which made the whole day so special! His homily was an inspirational and passionate plea to them - to give their lives to God, for "there is no secret what God can do." He repeated this chorus over and over, and it was echoed by his congregation. He told them how to forgive and how to cling to God, even in spite of terrible suffering. Physical suffering was the least of what he talked about: the emotional scars from family, relationships, spouses, children. He challenged these people to believe that God could change their lives, and that they could be happy again. There were shouts of "Amen! Alleluia!" from these seemingly sickly people, who began to realize and actually believe that "There is no secret what God can do!" 
The priest was on fire and he was passing that flame of love and hope on to people who had lost it. The Holy Spirit was moving! It was AMAZING!!! The people were responding, some were crying, others got their hope back. And me? I was so motivated and filled with joy!! He opened our eyes to the power and mercy of God. He told us we could be healed and we could be loved - because we were first loved by Him. He made us see that we could love again - that healing and forgiveness was ours, if we could accept it. It was beautiful. He reminded us that there is no secret what God can do... he brought a life to my heart that I didn't realize needed to be awakened to a much greater faith. It was incredible, and I was so thankful to be a part of that day.
After Mass and receiving the Eucharist and we all received the blessing from Father. The room then filled with Christmas Carols and lots of good food. Santa Claus came to town and each of the people there received a Christmas gift, as well as a plate of food to take home with them. We had so many amazing conversations with them, and talked much of God, and who He is, and who we are. I learned so much. It was beautiful.
This was a life changing event for me. I hope that in the future, my husband and babies will come with me to events like these with the MCs, and we will see God at work in our lives. It was incredible. I would tell everyone - Go! Serve in the soup kitchen! Talk to these people! Learn from the Sisters! Learn from the poor! Love them like Christ loves them! It was beautiful.
Come Holy Spirit!
The Missionaries of Charity. I love them. Some of the most beautiful and joyful women on this earth live in the MC convents. They love God so much and serve Him so well! We were able to spend the morning with them during their Christmas Party for the shut-ins. They have volunteers who help drive the sick and disabled people to their soup kitchen,
as well as many lay people who cook the lunch and serve the food. When we arrived, we saw the dining room transformed into a Christmas wonderland: decorations, Christmas trees, colored pictures (from the little children), red and green tablecloths... everything was set up perfectly for their Christmas Party. And as I watched, each seat was filled as the celebration began. These were people who were so sick that if such a party like this didn't happen, they wouldn't leave their poor homes, hospital beds, or wherever they spent their time. The Sisters organize this party for them - to feed them, to love them, and to give them a very special Christmas - one that I know they will never forget. Elizabeth and I performed "Making Room" which was very well received - but that was hardly the highlight of the day! The audience soon became a congregation, as the Sisters prepared the room for Mass. They asked a Priest from the area to come and celebrate Holy Mass with them that day, which made the whole day so special! His homily was an inspirational and passionate plea to them - to give their lives to God, for "there is no secret what God can do." He repeated this chorus over and over, and it was echoed by his congregation. He told them how to forgive and how to cling to God, even in spite of terrible suffering. Physical suffering was the least of what he talked about: the emotional scars from family, relationships, spouses, children. He challenged these people to believe that God could change their lives, and that they could be happy again. There were shouts of "Amen! Alleluia!" from these seemingly sickly people, who began to realize and actually believe that "There is no secret what God can do!" 
The priest was on fire and he was passing that flame of love and hope on to people who had lost it. The Holy Spirit was moving! It was AMAZING!!! The people were responding, some were crying, others got their hope back. And me? I was so motivated and filled with joy!! He opened our eyes to the power and mercy of God. He told us we could be healed and we could be loved - because we were first loved by Him. He made us see that we could love again - that healing and forgiveness was ours, if we could accept it. It was beautiful. He reminded us that there is no secret what God can do... he brought a life to my heart that I didn't realize needed to be awakened to a much greater faith. It was incredible, and I was so thankful to be a part of that day. After Mass and receiving the Eucharist and we all received the blessing from Father. The room then filled with Christmas Carols and lots of good food. Santa Claus came to town and each of the people there received a Christmas gift, as well as a plate of food to take home with them. We had so many amazing conversations with them, and talked much of God, and who He is, and who we are. I learned so much. It was beautiful.
This was a life changing event for me. I hope that in the future, my husband and babies will come with me to events like these with the MCs, and we will see God at work in our lives. It was incredible. I would tell everyone - Go! Serve in the soup kitchen! Talk to these people! Learn from the Sisters! Learn from the poor! Love them like Christ loves them! It was beautiful.
Rockin' in Rockford
Ok, so what if Rockfordians get that all the time, I think there was come rockin' going on there.
We returned to Rockford to make up the two shows weather had made impossible to put on the week previous. It was a grey gloomy day, mushy with melty slushy snow (say that five times fast, why dontcha?) when we arrived. The set up was simple and the first show, for the students of St. Edward's Catholic school, went per usual. We had a few hours break before the evening show, so we checked out TAN Books and crossed a few names off of our Christmas shopping list there. Then we went on a quest for an Arts and Crafts store. We were looking for a glass container of some sort, whether square, flat, boxed, or circle or spherical was incidental to our plans. Our handy dandy GPS took us down some very long dark roads that seemed to be leading nowhere, but later rather than sooner we showed up in the mall area of Rkrd. Once there, there is really very little to tell, except that we did find an Arts store and a vase-like glass structure, complete with a lid (that later failed us miserably by breaking most inconveniently in our car after being crushed by one of our enormous suitcases. Silly lid.) We rushed back to the church and started the next show. The audience this time was about 200 kids from the CCD program, coming in from a variety of backgrounds. Most seemed unphased and unaffected by our performance, until the concluding talks. Typically our conclusions run about 10-15 minutes. Mary talked for almost an hour, interacting with the kids and demanding responses from them. Soon everyone was having fun, shouting out answers to her questions and joking with her and each other. By the time the kids filed out, the air was charged with great energy. Hopefully, God will work with what few seeds we were able to sow and grow a beautiful oasis in this troubled world of ours. Rock(ford) on.
We returned to Rockford to make up the two shows weather had made impossible to put on the week previous. It was a grey gloomy day, mushy with melty slushy snow (say that five times fast, why dontcha?) when we arrived. The set up was simple and the first show, for the students of St. Edward's Catholic school, went per usual. We had a few hours break before the evening show, so we checked out TAN Books and crossed a few names off of our Christmas shopping list there. Then we went on a quest for an Arts and Crafts store. We were looking for a glass container of some sort, whether square, flat, boxed, or circle or spherical was incidental to our plans. Our handy dandy GPS took us down some very long dark roads that seemed to be leading nowhere, but later rather than sooner we showed up in the mall area of Rkrd. Once there, there is really very little to tell, except that we did find an Arts store and a vase-like glass structure, complete with a lid (that later failed us miserably by breaking most inconveniently in our car after being crushed by one of our enormous suitcases. Silly lid.) We rushed back to the church and started the next show. The audience this time was about 200 kids from the CCD program, coming in from a variety of backgrounds. Most seemed unphased and unaffected by our performance, until the concluding talks. Typically our conclusions run about 10-15 minutes. Mary talked for almost an hour, interacting with the kids and demanding responses from them. Soon everyone was having fun, shouting out answers to her questions and joking with her and each other. By the time the kids filed out, the air was charged with great energy. Hopefully, God will work with what few seeds we were able to sow and grow a beautiful oasis in this troubled world of ours. Rock(ford) on.
No Show in KY
+JMJ+
Come Holy Spirit!
Ahh... the joys of winter... snow, ice, wet, slush, rain, bad weather, snow on top of ice, wet slush, makes really bad weather... I love the snow and winter time if I'm inside and warm, or on Christmas morning - a white Christmas seems to be the most memorable. But - trying to get people to come out from their safe and warm homes, even for a fun evening of Christmas shows is close to impossible. Consequently, show number three (this time in Kentucky) was taken from the books... It was a LONG drive to only get one show, but what can you do? Maybe visit some friends and get some Christmas shopping done. ;-D Stay warm!
God bless, Mary
Come Holy Spirit!
Ahh... the joys of winter... snow, ice, wet, slush, rain, bad weather, snow on top of ice, wet slush, makes really bad weather... I love the snow and winter time if I'm inside and warm, or on Christmas morning - a white Christmas seems to be the most memorable. But - trying to get people to come out from their safe and warm homes, even for a fun evening of Christmas shows is close to impossible. Consequently, show number three (this time in Kentucky) was taken from the books... It was a LONG drive to only get one show, but what can you do? Maybe visit some friends and get some Christmas shopping done. ;-D Stay warm!
God bless, Mary
A Story Written in Reverse Aesopian style
Moral of the story: you can't fool kids.
You may think it odd that I begin with the moral, rather than following the great Aesop's tradition of concluding with the point. But then I have learned a great lesson from the kindergartners, first and second graders of Holy Trinity School. Get to the point, fast!
So we arrive at the school at around 730 in the morning, having arisen at 5:55 am to make the drive. In this somewhat groggy state we size up the sitch: an enormous echoing gym with limited seating arrangements. Stage? One rotating chair. Lights? An amazing old-style can light that sends light blasting into your face from only one direction. Perfect.
We are quickly ready, and watch as the kids file in under the direction of their frazzled looking teachers. The show starts... and perhaps you're asking yourself when the point is coming... be patient... setting the scene is always the most important part of any story-telling attempt. Anyways, the show starts with me coming out as the inspector trying to find out who killed Christmas. For the kids, this was no joke. This was serious, and they really were going to help me find out whodunnit. Mary skitters out from the side, dressed in puritan garb with a black robe, white neck wrap, and a pointy black hat with a buckle. Very Pilgrim, right? Oh no, don't be so sure, my sharp-eyed gumshoes. The kids look on in horror, and then a single voice begins a cry that is quickly taken up by the rest of the shrill-voiced children, all 150 of them: "It's a Witch! She's a Witch!" It took a while to silence them, for what are two adult voices against the power of 150 young ones? After this day, I can answer without hesitation: absolutely nothing. The rest of the scene continued with just the usual comments from the intensely involved audience. The second scene brings Mary on again as a car salesman-type character. The kids instantly recognized her though, even with the costume change, and took it upon themselves to warn me: "Thats the Witch! She's the Witch!" The swell was even harder to calm this time. The final moment comes in the third and final scene, Mary as a police inspector from the future moves to arrest me for killing Christmas in my own life and heart. The kids came valiantly to my defense:"Don't take her! She didn't do it! You're the witch! You did it!" I tried in vain to admit my guilt, to persuade my supporters that I indeed was the guilty one, but to no avail. I do believe that the situation would have become ugly, had not Mary stepped up to the plate: "Listen, y'all kids," she said, "if you don't shut yer mouths, I'll write y'all tickets!" This threat slowly took affect and eventually all was quiet again. The script had pretty much gone out the window by this point, so we wrapped up in good ad lib style.
Have you forgotten the moral? It wasn't that we all kill the Spirit of Christmas by materialism, false tolerance, or by being killjoys. Rather, it was never to forget that you can't fool kids, no matter how clever your disguise.
You may think it odd that I begin with the moral, rather than following the great Aesop's tradition of concluding with the point. But then I have learned a great lesson from the kindergartners, first and second graders of Holy Trinity School. Get to the point, fast!
So we arrive at the school at around 730 in the morning, having arisen at 5:55 am to make the drive. In this somewhat groggy state we size up the sitch: an enormous echoing gym with limited seating arrangements. Stage? One rotating chair. Lights? An amazing old-style can light that sends light blasting into your face from only one direction. Perfect.
We are quickly ready, and watch as the kids file in under the direction of their frazzled looking teachers. The show starts... and perhaps you're asking yourself when the point is coming... be patient... setting the scene is always the most important part of any story-telling attempt. Anyways, the show starts with me coming out as the inspector trying to find out who killed Christmas. For the kids, this was no joke. This was serious, and they really were going to help me find out whodunnit. Mary skitters out from the side, dressed in puritan garb with a black robe, white neck wrap, and a pointy black hat with a buckle. Very Pilgrim, right? Oh no, don't be so sure, my sharp-eyed gumshoes. The kids look on in horror, and then a single voice begins a cry that is quickly taken up by the rest of the shrill-voiced children, all 150 of them: "It's a Witch! She's a Witch!" It took a while to silence them, for what are two adult voices against the power of 150 young ones? After this day, I can answer without hesitation: absolutely nothing. The rest of the scene continued with just the usual comments from the intensely involved audience. The second scene brings Mary on again as a car salesman-type character. The kids instantly recognized her though, even with the costume change, and took it upon themselves to warn me: "Thats the Witch! She's the Witch!" The swell was even harder to calm this time. The final moment comes in the third and final scene, Mary as a police inspector from the future moves to arrest me for killing Christmas in my own life and heart. The kids came valiantly to my defense:"Don't take her! She didn't do it! You're the witch! You did it!" I tried in vain to admit my guilt, to persuade my supporters that I indeed was the guilty one, but to no avail. I do believe that the situation would have become ugly, had not Mary stepped up to the plate: "Listen, y'all kids," she said, "if you don't shut yer mouths, I'll write y'all tickets!" This threat slowly took affect and eventually all was quiet again. The script had pretty much gone out the window by this point, so we wrapped up in good ad lib style.
Have you forgotten the moral? It wasn't that we all kill the Spirit of Christmas by materialism, false tolerance, or by being killjoys. Rather, it was never to forget that you can't fool kids, no matter how clever your disguise.
Our Lady of Guadalupe
+JMJ+
Come Holy Spirit!
Well, after an ice storm cancelled the rest of our tour in Rockford, Elizabeth and I drove a few hours through CRAZY cold weather to beat the storm before it hit south of us. After much excitement, and God taking good care of us, we ended up at a grade school (with a really nice re-done stage/theater) on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There we were able to perform the pro-life drama, in honor of her! Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531 in Mexico. She appeared as a young princess, great with child. Her message was one of love of God and love of people, and after the apparitions and miracles surrounding her coming, MILLIONS of people were converted to Christianity. She has been taken as the patroness of the Americas and the patroness of the unborn, and we ask her
intercession for the ending of abortion. So, it was very special for us to perform on her feast day. God is so good to us! My favorite quote from her from these apparitions is this, "Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you." I love Our Lady of Guadalupe! She is my favorite... to quote St. Louis de Montfort, "To Jesus through Mary..."
God bless you, Mary
Come Holy Spirit!
Well, after an ice storm cancelled the rest of our tour in Rockford, Elizabeth and I drove a few hours through CRAZY cold weather to beat the storm before it hit south of us. After much excitement, and God taking good care of us, we ended up at a grade school (with a really nice re-done stage/theater) on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. There we were able to perform the pro-life drama, in honor of her! Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531 in Mexico. She appeared as a young princess, great with child. Her message was one of love of God and love of people, and after the apparitions and miracles surrounding her coming, MILLIONS of people were converted to Christianity. She has been taken as the patroness of the Americas and the patroness of the unborn, and we ask her
intercession for the ending of abortion. So, it was very special for us to perform on her feast day. God is so good to us! My favorite quote from her from these apparitions is this, "Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you." I love Our Lady of Guadalupe! She is my favorite... to quote St. Louis de Montfort, "To Jesus through Mary..."God bless you, Mary
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
To Rockford!
Driving north from St Louis through the plains of Illinois brought us to the beautiful retreat center in Rockford Illinois. As we left the highway and started further out into the county, the roads became rougher, the trees thicker, and the snow whiter. By the time we arrived at the hidden retreat center, we wanted to stay. The lights from the windows lit up the the thick snow covering the entire landscape, including, rather unfortunately, the sidewalk. With just a few close calls, however we made it into our rooms, dropped off the suitcases that you have heard tell of before, and then followed the bright flashing sign somewhat incongruously proclaiming the whereabouts of the Christmas shows. The large room was set up for dinner, and was decorated tastefully with a peaceful nativity scene, and several bright Christmas trees. It only took a few small touches to ready the stage for the night's performance. We had a large group of people that night, enjoying prime rib (which we partook of following the show) and hopefully our show too. The next night had a more family feel, but was also a dinner theater setting. We were able to leave everything set up from the night before, although we did change the program. Originally we performed Who Killed Christmas and Making Room, the story of the innkeeper's wife on the very first Christmas and how she came to eventually find room for the Holy Family in her life. The second night the St Louis cast performed their version of Who Killed Christmas and we performed not only Making Room but also Sarah's Christmas Secret, our pro life drama with a holiday twist. Both nights went well, and we very much enjoyed our time in Rockford! An added surprise to our weekend of events was an invitation to be interviewed on the Catholic Radio Station - which was so fun! They told us we'd be able to get the interview via the website, so check it out at http://www.1440wrok.com/index.php ...
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