RandomHouze Productions

The following was posted in a parish bulletin last week.  This is a good article for catechesis so I thought it might be worth sharing to everyone:

The cantor leads and sustains the singing of the assembly. The cantor may also sing solos or alternate with everyone else. Whether your church is blessed with a choir or prays without one, the cantor helps integrate the service.

The cantor is also one of the ministers assigned to parts of the Mass. When the priest, deacon, cantor, servers, assembly and others accept their respective roles, we all celebrate Mass with more understanding. The cantor may lead the psalm at the ambo, assuming the same position as the reader of Scripture. The cantor may read or sing the petitions of the penitential rite and of the general intercessions. The cantor may lead other music such as the Alleluia, the Lamb of God and the Communion song. Thus the cantor adds a degree of solemnity to the Eucharist. A cantor will also provide encouragement and example for others to join in singing.

A well-trained cantor blesses the community. Cantors should possess enough musical ability to execute their ministry, but they need something more. They need to be men and women with religious understanding, who can not only sing a text accurately but also share their faithful soul and inspire the prayer of others. A good cantor will invite participation in song and spirit.

Some people prefer not to sing when they hear the cantor. In our culture, we expect that someone singing into a microphone is a soloist, so we may forget that all of us are “performers” at church. When the cantor leads our song, we should sing, not listen.

Since the cantor sings praise, prayer, petition and sorrow, the ministry demands someone experienced with life. Cantors who share their struggles and joys in song will help us meet ours.

©1997 Resource Publications, Inc., 160 E. Virginia St. #290, San Jose, CA 95112,(408) 286-8505, Paul Turner, pastor of St. Munchin Parish in Cameron, Mo.

On Sunday, July 25 @ 7pm, Monica’s Joy choir will present an awesome concert in the St. Monica Church Duval patio. Their new studio CD called Catholic Teen Classics from GIA Publications will also be on sale at a special price of $15.

Please use the links below to help spread the word!

PDF - Monica’s Joy concert poster (2.6mb)

JPG (high res) - Monica’s Joy concert poster (3.5mb)

JPG (low res) - Monica’s Joy concert poster (106kb) – FACEBOOK/TWITTER

MP3 Audio - “Come and Gather” (soloists: Tyler Jensen, Giorgi Centeno, Harrison Crenshaw)

MP3 Audio – “You Are My King, Amazing Love” (soloist: Karla Carrillo)

MP3 Audio – “Glory to God Most High” (soloists: Harrison Crenshaw, Phoebe Crenshaw, Maria Romero)

Our first full-length “live” audio CD!

Delivery Method:

Pick-up at Church $15.00 Mail First Class-USPS $18.00 Mail 2-day Priority-USPS $20.00

The concept for this album was simple: to share the spirit of our Sunday 5:30 Mass!   And thus, we present to you our first “live” album, compiled directly from our weekly Mass recordings.  Pick up your copy at St. Monica or get a copy shipped to you via RandomHouze.com.

There are several ways to order our new Audio CD:
1) St. Monica Bookstore (click here)
2) St. Monica Pastoral Center Reception (open daily 8:30am-8:30pm)
3) Credit Card – via PayPal (see above)
4) via DigStation.com – online MP3 downloads (check back soon!)

CD Track audio samples:

1 – I Am the Light of the World (by Greg Hayakawa)
2 – Let Us Stand (by The Jacob & Matthew Band)
3 – Gloria (by Grayson Warren Brown)
4 – Send Out Your Spirit (by John Angotti)
5 – You Know Who I Am (by Matt Maher)
6 – Homily: “My Lord and My God” (by Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson)
7 – All the Way My Savior Leads Me (arr. Chris Tomlin)
8 – We Are Many Parts (by Marty Haugen)
9 – The Lord’s Prayer “Echo Our Father” (by Jerome V. Andrews)
10 – Do This in Memory of Me (by Chris Muglia)
11 – I Am the Bread of Life (by Tom Kazcmarek)
12 – I Am the Vine (by Bob Hurd)
13 – How Great Thou Art/How Great is Our God (by Hine/Tomlin)
14 – I Send You Out (by John Angotti)

(courtesy of my favorite Christian Media guru Phil Cooke)

1) Return every call and e-mail quickly. Show up on time, even if you’re the only one there. Dress like you deserve your salary. Believe me, that will put you ahead of a surprising number of people.

2) Write thank-you notes. Remember birthdays. Remember the assistants, and the secretaries, the coordinators, and the mailroom folks. This is a people business. And people never forget how they are treated.

3) Every day, you are placing a brick in the tower of your reputation. Remember, everything you do, big and small, either adds or subtracts from your reputation.

4) Watch what you say in elevators, in restrooms, on airplanes and in casual conversation. She could be the client’s wife. He could be the boss’s brother. She could be your competitor’s accountant.

5) Don’t care who solves it. Just get it solved.

6) Learn how to tell a story: Every client presentation, every report, every commercial-it’s all about stories. Stories are how human beings make sense of the world. If you want to succeed in this business, be able to tell stories in ways that capture your audience’s attention.

7) When emotions are running high, make sure yours are running low. Life is unfair, so learn to lose with dignity. And, learn to win with dignity. That means no excuses. No crybabies. No bragging. No trashing. Learn how to move on.

Proofread. Spell-check.

9) Good enough, isn’t. There is going to be someone out there who will sleep less and work harder, will give up their weekend, and give it one more shot. That is the person that I bet on to win.

10) Think different. Be brave. The world is full of people with conventional ideas who go along with the crowd. It’s the mavericks and the dreamers who move things forward. When you hear an idea that makes you nervous, makes you sweat, occasionally gather your courage, take a stand, take a risk, suck it up and go out on a limb. Hey, you might even be right.

ARTICLE POSTED on MAY 28, 2010 by ANDREW PAUTLER from NewCityCatholicChurch.com

A few weeks ago I was told about The Prayer Engine. After initially being drawn in by the beauty and simplicity of the site, I learned more about the huge capabilities of the Prayer Engine and believe it is a great resource that parishes should tap into. The Prayer Engine is a customizable, web-based prayer wall and moderation system that you host directly on your site. It merges prayer with technology. It is a great way to use the technology God has given us to strengthen our parish communities.

How It Would Work
On the Prayer Engine website there is a ten minute demo that explains how the Prayer Engine works and what it can offer your parish. I would encourage you to watch the video and spend some time on the site to learn more. Below is a brief explanation of how it could work for your parish.

Begin by paying for, downloading and installing the Prayer Engine. The Prayer Engine costs a one-time fee of $99 and on the site they claim it takes less than five minutes to install. You can also test drive it if you would prefer to try it out before purchasing.

Once it is all setup, parishioners can begin sharing prayer requests on your parish’s prayer wall.
During the installation process, you will setup an administrator in your parish who will monitor prayer requests. As parishioners share prayer requests, they will be filtered through the monitor to make sure there is no sensitive or inappropriate information. Once the monitor reads over them and approves them, they prayer request is posted on the prayer wall.
Parishioners can ask to receive the prayer requests from the prayer wall either through email, RSS feed or other newsreader program, Twitter, and mobile web app. This means that whenever someone adds a prayer request to your parish’s prayer wall, you can receive an email, have it come up on your Twitter account, etc. informing you of that prayer request. The Prayer Engine makes sharing prayer requests so easy.
The Prayer Engine also allows people to know when they are being prayed for. After submitting a prayer request, there is an “I prayed for this” button next to each request. Whenever someone hits that button, the person who submitted the prayer request would get an email letting him know that whoever clicked the button is praying for him.
Overall, the Prayer Engine is a simple, inexpensive way to strengthen your parish community by increasing the amount you pray for one another. Many churches I know have a prayer book, but like so many other areas within the Catholic Church, why not bring this up-to-date with the 21st century? The Prayer Engine lets parishioners know each other’s prayer requests throughout the week regardless of where they are. I would encourage every parish to look into the Prayer Engine and think about using it in their community.

Download a flyer of Lenten Activities at St. Monica Church | LENT Newsletter 2010

Forgiveness Wall…

In the comments section below, we ask you to post a STATEMENT OF FORGIVENESS, either to a specific individual or even to yourself.

In these days of Lenten Journey, it is our hope that sharing thoughts of forgiveness online will translate into actual forgiveness between individuals (or with yourself) in the days to come…

We love you and are praying for you.

I am honored to produce the first “live” webcast from the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress on Friday, March 19 (all day) with additional coverage on Sunday, March 21, 2010.  Production Crew bios.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

I’m Just Sayin’ | 2010 Youth Day theme song

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Incredible Abundance | 2010 main theme song

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_19886/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=1KQSzBZm

click here for LINK

“…that you may evangelize today’s digital continent.”