 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||||||||
|
|
Have you said ‘thank you’ to the music minister at your parish lately? I don’t think I ever did in my life, but I’d like to go back now and tell her how I’ve gained a heartfelt appreciation for what she does. The source of my newfound sensitivity is that I now play the organ for Mass and the piano for choir at Mater Ecclesiae, and I’ve had firsthand experience of everything that goes into singing a joyful song for the Lord every morning. I’m a pianist by training, and learning to play the organ was an adventure in itself – it’s sort of like playing piano and dancing at the same time, which is a tall order for my not-too-coordinated self. And even after all the hours of practice, my best musical attempts are occasionally sabotaged by liturgical circumstances. For example, on Sunday I was just about to play the opening notes for All Creatures of Our God and King, when my fellow organist Mirianna suddenly leapt into my vision, arms waving. “It has alleluias and it’s Lent!” she hissed. Oh, dear. I frantically flipped pages, looking for a new inspiration, while Mirianna attempted to signal the problem to Jacquie, the choir director. Since there’s about a half-mile between the choir loft and the front of the chapel, poor Jacquie ended up with a very confused expression on her face when I broke into an unplanned song. This is a typical example of how being part of the “Mater Ecclesiae Music Ministry” keeps life from being boring, although that’s not necessarily why I got involved. I’m actually duly impressed with what our little group of musicians is able to accomplish. The core team is made up of Megan and Jacquie, who direct the music; Mirianna and I, who play the music; and Skylar, who does everything else. Then we have our every-ready choir, a group of dedicated singers who are gung-ho for anything from singing for an unexpected guest to providing the music for the national Divine Mercy celebration. There’s a deep bond among all of us, forged by hours of practice, long car rides to performances, and many mix-ups and fits of laughter. Although we haven’t been invited to Carnegie Hall yet, I think our little choir does an admirable job from a purely technical point of view. But that’s not the best part. There are plenty of choirs out there who are much better than us from that point of view, but there aren’t many choirs made up entirely of consecrated women. I’ll admit that that fact doesn’t increase our musical quality by default, *sigh* but it does mean that wherever we go, our music is really not the point: it’s just one more way that we can spread God’s love. Now, that’s something to sing about. October 14, 2011 Beginning in the sixteenth century when Jesuits, Franciscans, and Benedictines arrived in Brazil with the Portuguese colonizers, Brazil was for several centuries considered “missionary territory.” The vast percentage of Brazilian Catholics proves that their country was thoroughly evangelized. Now, interestingly enough, the process is being reversed: Brazil has sent a missionary back to the northern hemisphere in the petite and spunky form of Elisa Funari. A native of São Paulo, Elisa arrived in Rhode Island in September 2010 to begin her junior year at Mater Ecclesiae College. At this point she knew only basic English, and since this made communication difficult, the first thing we learned about Elisa is that she is fast. Very fast. On the basketball court, at the sink washing dishes, or furiously typing on her computer, Elisa flies through life with enough energy for several people. But in the midst of all the action, Elisa says that God has been working in her soul, especially during her first few months of finding her footing in a new country. “I was totally lost,” Elisa admits; “I didn't know anyone; I didn't know how to speak. But at the same time, it was a moment to be with God alone; a moment to understand that he is the important one.” God began to take the place of first of importance in Elisa Funari’s life long before she arrived in Rhode Island. When she was 14, she began visiting Christ in the Eucharist each morning before school, and it was here that she says God began to change her heart; here she discovered a desire to belong to him alone. Four years later she fulfilled that desire by consecrating her life to him. “My motivation in getting consecrated was Christ's love for me,” Elisa says. “I also knew that this consecrated life would make me really happy; I knew that I couldn't be happy without living for him.” This happiness has stayed alive through the normal hardships of leaving home and family, and the added challenge of adapting to life in a new culture. When she first received the news that she would be coming to the United States, Elisa says that she “felt a lot of things at the same time: fear, hope, enthusiasm, joy. But as time went on I started realizing that maybe it wouldn't be so easy to leave Brazil; it wouldn't be easy to leave my companions, my country, my culture, my language, my family.” Immersed in a new language and culture, Elisa admits that a whole semester went by before she truly settled into life at Greenville. “I just miss being in my country,” Elisa tells us; “You know, here it is not my country. But I also feel that here was the place of my ‘second call;’ I said a second ‘fiat’ to Christ - a fiat that I know will last forever, with Christ's grace, of course.” And now? “I started opening myself to this culture, to my companions here, and everything changed. I started to feel that here was my home; I finally found here the same family that I had left in Brazil: the family of the Movement and my consecrated sisters.” And if Elisa has benefited from her integration into this new family, that family has benefited just as much from her. Elisa imbues her environment with so much spontaneity and joie de vivre that we can’t quite remember how we used to get along without her! A firm believer in not sweating the small stuff, Elisa makes sure that our lives roll forward with a minimum of stress and complication – and a practical joke every now and then for emphasis. In the life of Elisa Funari, Brazil seems to be passing on what it received from centuries of missionary work. And as the fourth years prepare to receive their destinations at the end of the year, Elisa says that she is also ready to give herself to others and pass on what she’s received. “When I got consecrated,” she says; “I thought I was the protagonist; I thought I was the one who was giving. Now I realize that Christ is the protagonist of my consecration, and I can say that it's worth giving my life to him. He makes me really happy with a joy that no one can take away from my heart.”
|
| EditRegion3 |
