5 minute read
Hearts Open for Tomorrow, Today
Hearts open
for tomorrow, today
By Fr. Keith Amodia, SDB
Are you sure it won’t pick up the sounds from the church services?” we asked as Mr. Niño James Bañares was setting up the condenser microphone. We were in a room in a building adjacent to the church and we could hear the celebration of the Mass through the concrete walls. Mr. Bañares is setting up the recording equipment as we entered the room. We were here to record a new arrangement of a song.
He was con dent that the isolation pads around the condenser microphone would block out the noise. Mr. Bañares, or Sir Niño, is part of the Salesian Music Ministry (SMM). Just as the pandemic began last year, they have started to acquire recording equipment so they could set up a “mobile studio”–a music studio you could just unpack and set up anywhere. It had been the dream to record songs and produce music videos at the service of Salesian music, and now it is slowly coming true.
“Open our Hearts,” a song originally composed by Fr. Fidel Orendain, SDB and Mr. Jude Gitamondoc for the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of Don Bosco Labangon was chosen by the SMM as the theme song for facing the pandemic. “We want to reinterpret this song as an invitation for us to keep opening our hearts in the midst of the pandemic and in front of the 500 YOC,” Fr. Randy Figuracion explained to the other Salesians as they took their places in recording their parts. Not only were we ghting a pandemic, we are also pushing for renewal in the quincentennial celebration of Christianity in the Philippines.
The song, however, is just part of the series of productions in the pipeline of SMM. The group has been churning out music, new and old, in musical notations, albums, or in concerts. Last November 2019, they began to produce covers of Salesian songs that they have been posting on YouTube. “Open our Hearts” is the fourth in the playlist.
Their YouTube Channel does not focus only on music. SMM was established to promote creative works of the Salesians and the Salesian Family. On the channel are also short catechism videos produced for the parishioners of the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. The videos feature Fr. Randy as the parish priest explaining Catholic
practices and beliefs like the devotion to the Holy Mass, communion of saints, and devotion to our Lady. These have been produced monthly since last year.
“Salesian Music Ministry is our attempt to bring into mainstream or popularize our Salesian songs,” Fr. Randy explained in an interview. “It began in 2015, when we celebrated the 200th anniversary of St. John Bosco’s birth. We wanted to preserve the songs and preserve it for posterity.” The SMM promotes songs composed by Salesians and Salesian Family in the likes Bishop Patricio Buzon of Bacolod, Fr. Armand Robleza, Fr. Roneldo Vilbar, Michael Lapid, and also of newer composers in Lourdes Parish and the FIS province. “We didn’t just want to promote the songs but also be ambassadors of the music,” Fr. Randy continued. “So we organized the Pagdayeg Music Ministry as the choir arm of SMM.” Together with the Praise Strings, the instrumental arm, the SMM has two arms lifting Salesian music and culture.
Recognized by the FIS Province as one of its provincial services, the SMM has gone from producing music books and albums, to staging concerts and organizing music seminars. It has the three-fold aim of preserving, promoting, and educating. Proceeds from its concerts and activities have not only bene ted the Boys’ Homes in the province but also has funded scholarships among the choir and musicians. Weekly training and practices gather its young members to hone their skills and talents for music and for life.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought challenges. A concert organized months before had to concede to social restrictions. It became virtual. The live performance in the parish was live streamed on YouTube and Facebook. Now without tickets, free access to the stream has shown a new type of support: online donations through GCash and
Facebook stars. The musical concert of November 2019 did well that SMM pushed through with its Christmas Concert and the recent Marian Concert in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes which were held successfully.
SMM’s foray in using social media is not limited to music. Together with the scriptwriting of Fr. Abundio Bacatan and the artistic skills of Fr. Honesto Geronimo, SMM has also produced a series of catechetical web comics online. Dubbed “John P. Astilan,” the comic strip comedically presents the life of John, an altar server or KOA, in order to explain certain aspects of the faith. His middle initial and last name when combined is actually a Cebuano interjection expressing and stressing emotion, “pastilan!”
Other Salesians have also brought their ministries online. For two years already, Fr. Honesto, or Fr. Nioret, as he is fondly called, has been posting weekly Sunday re ections on the Province website. Fr. Mel Racelis and Fr. Joriz Calsa regularly share their re ections through their Facebook posts. In order to reach students stuck at home, the Evangelium classes of the Center for Lay Adults and Youth have used Zoom video conferencing. This year, the Social Communications started the year-long series of monthly online Salesianity webinars for the Salesian Family in preparation for the 400th death anniversary of St. Francis of Sales. The Salesian Youth Movement-FIS has also partnered with MariaTV in organizing an online talk show for and with young people. SMM joins these initiatives for more Salesian engagement online.
“We will record your parts here then master the whole track in my computer at home,” Sir Niño explained to us. “With this new music video, we do hope to continue churning out new content for our channel. In a month’s time we will produce a short lm on the devotion to our Blessed Mother. So be sure to subscribe.” And we did wrap up the recording of Open our Hearts–our hopeful anthem that despite the pandemic and in front of the quincentenary celebration, St. John Bosco continues to live on among Salesians online.
