Into Canada we go..

Ok, actually we're already in Canada. We had a great concert in Great Falls, Montana Tuesday night. Stayed with the Poor Claires in their new retreat house. Special thanks to Colette Bernica at Central Catholic HS for enduring the flood of packages and other mayhem that ensued because of the fire. Thanks too, to Marty Severson for bringing me a decent little PA on short notice.
Wednesday we made the drive across the border. Spent an hour or so dealing with immigration. No great trauma there, just bureaucracy along with friendliness. Made a stop in Calgary; while I picked up rental gear John Michael did an interview with the Calgary Herald. Thanks go to the fellas in rental at Long & McQuade.
That brings us to today here in Red Deer, Alberta. I had to make a run this morning to pick a pile of assorted stuff necessary to getting my job done from day to day. Then this afternoon it was off to St. Mary's parish for our first Canadian concert. Turned out to be a great night. Irene, our sponsor, did a great job and my volunteers were cheerful and willing at every turn. Except for me a making a couple mistakes with the new PA it was a really good concert. Tomorrow and Saturday we're in Sherwood Park.
JMT in Red Deer

More Photos from the fire

These photos come from Richard Ims, BSC.



LittlePortionFire from Richard Ims, BSC.

Tour departs on time...

At 6:00 a. m. this morning, Viola, John Michael and I, along with Bill our driver for this trip, boarded the bus for our first Canadian tour. Meanwhile, life at Little Portion has already regained some sense of order if not normalcy. It's been one heck of a four day ride for the community. Myself, I chipped in a little here and there. I was able to help get the wheels in motion to have a new phone system installed and took the first steps towards having new broadband internet access brought on site. I also made some small electrical repairs to the interim common center. That, strangely, felt like the most productive and satisfying thing I did this week. There are many special little things I've seen or heard this week. I watched Tuesday as the children walked around the site taking in the damage for the first time. Many visitors were asked to make a prayer walk around the site and to pray over the grounds. Father Bob & Father Thomas I am told, prayed over the ashes of the Altar which lay atop my gear.
Thursday the whole community participated in celebrations for The National Day of Prayer at the Carroll County fair grounds. The event concluded with John Michael performing, the final moments were in candlelight. It's almost surreal to me to think of this event. Looking into the stands I saw a profoundly American, and newly ecumenical, picture. All of the Brothers, Sisters & Families from Little Portion in their habits. Mennonite children sitting among the LP children. Baptists, Pentecostals, Presbyterians... Anyone who knows me knows that I don't pull punches when it comes to doctrine and belief. But that doesn't mean that I am unaware of, or opposed to, the significance of such an event. Many of my ancestors after all were Puritans with names like Cotton, Dennison & Gallup. Special thanks go to Rand Franz and family for the generous use of their PA for the whole event and the special assistance that Randy provide John Michael & Me. I have more to post about but am thoroughly exhausted at the moment. More pictures to come soon I hope.

Early morning after the fire

These were taken early Tuesday morning. The last fire fighters didn't leave until about 6 a.m. They returned later that day to try to douse some hotspots in the area of the stock room & library. Even now that area is still smoldering.


LittlePortionFire

Fire at Little Portion

Friends,
I'm writing to you from Little Portion Hermitage, the home of the Brothers & Sisters of Charity and their founder, my friend & client, John Michael Talbot. Late Monday night a fire broke out in the Chapel here. By the time the Sisters came to wake me up at 2a.m. The Chapel was completely gone and the adjacent common center was completely engulfed by the fast spreading fire.
Four volunteer fire companies responded to this remote location in the Ozark mountains. They worked hard to prevent the fire from spreading to the other buildings of the monastery. The workshops, farm buildings, convent, brother's hermitages, family residences, and the smaller Portiuncala Chapel were all spared. Unfortunately the Main Chapel and the common center were a total loss. In addition to losing their primary worship space the community lost its kitchen, dining rooms, offices, infirmary, classrooms, recreation room, stock room (full of CDs & books), and the library & community archive. This is a devastating blow to the BSC who are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, fortunately no community members or firefighters were injured.
While I am not a member of the community it has been a part of my professional & personal life for about eight years. It's difficult to describe what it's like to watch your friends endure such a blow. Even more, words seem inadequate to describe the resilience and faith which this community and its friends have responded. By sunrise Tuesday friends and neighbors began arriving bringing coffee, food and offers of help. Working through the day the Brothers quickly restored power throughout the undamaged portions of the monastery and more importantly water, which was so desperately needed to care for both community members and farm animals. Office operations and a community gathering area were quickly reestablished in an empty residence. At 1pm the community and visiting guests crowded into the Portiuncala Chapel to celebrate Mass. Fr. Bob quoted Job: "The LORD giveth, The LORD taketh away, Blessed be the name of The LORD." At 5:30pm the community was back on it's regular schedule, gathering for evening prayer in the Portiuncala Chapel. Despite reduced phone and internet access messages of support and prayer have poured in from community friends far and near. There have been regular visitors from nearby catholic & non-catholic churches, local and regional press, and even from Subiaco Abbey, some distance away.
With the encourage ment of the community John Michael's scheduled tour to Canada will proceed as planned. John Michael, Viola & I will be leaving Saturday for the Journey to Alberta, with one concert stop in Montana along the way. All of the equipment we tour with, much of it purchased just a few years ago, was lost in the fire. There is not one cable, microphone, speaker or amplifier left. I'm making arrangements for rental equipment as we go along. It will be a simple, minimalist setup this trip.
If you are of a mind to, please say a prayer for the Brothers & Sisters of Charity. I know that they are ever grateful for all the support they receive. If you'd like to know more about the community or to make a donation please visit http://www.littleportion.org. Lastly, if you have time, stop my tour blog: http://monkrocktour.blogspot.com. As soon as I have decent internet access I'll post some pictures from the fire along with any more news and my regular updates from the road.
God bless,
John

Catholic New Media Celebration!

Just checking in...

Didn't want anyone to think I've completely forgotten the blog. We'll be leaving on another JMT tour in a couple weeks. We're heading to Alberta, Canada this trip. Our first time across the border on tour. I'm a little concerned about dealing with customs but I think we've got it all worked out.
Meantime it's been a sleepy but somewhat productive winter. I just finished a pretty large bunch of archival material for the BSC library. I'm hoping that some of this historic material will eventually be made available on the web. This year marks BSC's 25th anniversary at Little Portion so it's an appropriate time.
In my own world work continues on my house bit by bit. I made it to the Faith & Media Conference at Franciscan University earlier this month. A worthwhile trip that provided some insight into the way new media can impact the church. Not quite sure how I fit into it all myself though. To see & hear some of this new media check out SQPN.
I've also been posting randomly to my other blog.
More to come as we get going on our way to the great white north.

Liam Lawton on PBS

Irish priest & singer Liam Lawton credits JMT in this story that appeared today on Religion & Ethics News Weekly.

There are two still images of JMT in the piece. The first is in the chapter room at Little Portion. The second is one, likely taken by me, from a concert at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Phillip in Atlanta.