NYC Friars perform at Catholic Underground in Sydney.
By Bridget Spinks
The night of praise and worship was led by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal from New York who started Catholic Underground (www.catholicunderground.net) in 2003 – a year after WYD in Toronto.
In the cathedral, special effect lighting emphasised the real presence of Christ in the monstrance atop the new altar that was blessed during WYD, while darkness shrouded the rest of the Church.
"When I walked into the Cathedral [before prayer had even started] I felt like I had already been in deep prayer for some time," one young Sydney man, Alex, 24, said.
Now an established style of worship and evangelisation in America, CU begins with one hour of Eucharistic Adoration followed by a concert led by the Friars and supported by other contemporary Catholic artists.
After Vespers, the crowd moved into St Mary’s Cathedral school hall for part two of the CU program – the "Catholic rock concert" starring the visiting Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and Australian Catholic musician Roby Curtis and his band. Part of this revolutionary style of evangelisation is the manner in which the message of Christ is delivered. The visiting Friars’ contemporary music style blended acoustic rhythms similar to modern folk artist Jack Johnson and 60’s reggae beats similar to singer Bob Marley.
Already popular in America in several locations including Chicago and Los Angeles, Catholic Underground is the cultural apostolate of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.
It came about in direct response to a call that began with Pope John Paul II and is continued with Benedict XVI.
"JPII said that because the Gospel lives in conversation with culture, if the Church holds back from culture, the Gospel is silent. Therefore we must be fearless in crossing the threshold of the communication and information revolution now taking place," lyricist, lead vocalist and guitarist, Fr Christopher said.
The Franciscan’s lyrics are teaching tools. The spousal analogy such as between the earthly Jerusalem and the Heavenly Jerusalem takes centre stage as does the spousal relationship between the divine Bridegroom (Christ) and His bride (the Church – the people).
Friar Christopher said the reference to Jerusalem is relevant today because “It’s all about love, right? Christ comes forward as the divine Bridegroom ready to lay down His Life for His bride. When I write music and pray I think about the relationship of Christ and His Bride, Joseph and Mary, Adam and Eve.
This is what drives the human heart: the search for the beloved and to learn how to love the beloved," he said.
"To me the Church (ie the parishioners) is the most beautiful of brides but in many ways she’s a sleeping beauty because we’ve been distracted by the culture – by the noise of the world. We’ve forgotten who we are and we’ve fallen out of love with Christ.”
For Fr Christopher, seeing a renewal of love for Christ in the Church through evangelisation missions such as WYD, CU and the Sydney Congress Embracing the New Evangelisation (SCENE) in the last five years shows that "the Bride is waking up".
"Events like WYD are part of the Bride meeting up (with the Bridegroom). For those of us that belong to the Church it’s a privileged glimpse of the Church," he said.
Hermine, a 16-year-old French SCENE delegate with the Community of St Jean, said she "likes it because it’s about Jesus first and the speeches in
between the songs were impressive."
Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Julian Porteous, Chairman of the Congress, said WYD08 showcased the Catholic arts like music, drama and visual arts and showed that there are young people who, inspired by their faith, are using contemporary mediums of music and art to express and communicate their faith.
"The Catholic Underground was an expression of this one year after WYD – an event in Sydney where there was adoration in the Blessed Sacrament supported by contemporary music that was a joyful celebration for young people that expressed aspects of the Catholic faith and spirituality," Bishop Porteous said.
The prelude to SCENE’s launch on July 19 was a "perfect date", Bishop Porteous said, where the holy hour of Adoration of Christ in the Eucharist came first in the relationship, followed by the joyous singing and dancing.
