'Festival of Praise'
The first step in prayer is to acknowledge the presence of God.
“When people praise God, it is like saying 'I love you too' because God's love is given back to Him,” said the Rev. Levi Hartle, the parochial vicar of the Butler Area Catholic Parishes of South Pittsburgh.
At the second Festival of Praise for the Butler parishes of St. Andrew, St. Fidelis, St. Michael, St. Paul and St. Peter Hartle will teach people how to pray in a more vibrant way.
The community is invited to the Festival of Praise running from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Michael the Archangel Church, 432 Center Ave., to come together for a celebration of Jesus through motivational speakers, a Eucharistic Procession, Benediction and inspiring music.
The Rev. Dan Waruszewski, parochial vicar at St. Andrew Parish, will be the presider and speaker.
Hartle, who is the worship leader of the festival, has a role in the worship office to bring these festivals to the diocese and renew and restore a vibrant liturgy.
Catholics go to Mass and often do not realize the what and why of what they are doing, he said.
When people pray more freely, they begin to understand prayer. Prayer is communicating and becoming one with God and vice versa and should be a constant everyday exchange between oneself and God, Hartle said.
At last year's festival, Hartle saw joy and a powerful presence of God as the community was brought together, he said. The festival shows that it is not the building, but the people that make the church.
As people attend Sunday's festival, Hartle said he hopes they are restored with hope, joy and love as they praise God and feel his love in the community.
Two years ago, festival leaders Bill Malloy of Butler and Joseph Savannah of Butler traveled on a bus to hear Hartle's group at St. Albert the Great parish in Pittsburgh. Savannah said he spoke to Hartle about setting up a Festival of Praise.
Following that experience, Malloy and Savannah were in charge of the prayer ministry at the St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church Festival of Praise, they said. From there, the two began to work to bring the event to Butler.Last year, about 454 people attended the first-time event in July that had the theme “Hope-Healing-Reborn,” Malloy said.The amount of people shocked Savannah, who thought about only 100 people would attend, he said.“It's powerful with the people,” he said. “To see, in the Catholic tradition, the openness within the church to have the young and old be in such a worshipping phase.”Compared to a regular Sunday Mass with traditional music, the praise band at the Festival of Praise plays contemporary music.The praise band is made up of musicians from the parishes including singers, guitars, bass guitars, drums and keyboards.“It's not just singing, it's meant to be worship,” Malloy said. “We are looking for the Holy Spirit to come down and bless everybody with its presence.”This year's festival theme is “Unity.”
Savannah and others came up with the theme because of the plan to merge the churches, he said.The five separate churches have come together as one grouping through the “On Mission for the Church Alive!” process, a plan to officially merge into one parish by 2021. Until that time, the parish will have five sites. As of now, there is no plan to close churches.Sunday's event will create oneness for the parish communities, which will help that transition, Savannah said.“As the number of clergy decreases in our diocese, it is critical for our lay people to step up and become even more active in the life of the church,” said the Rev. Kevin Fazio, administrator for the Butler Area Catholic Parishes. “That's what Bill, Joe and a very dedicated group of volunteers have done in planning the Festival of Praise for two years in a row.”Fazio said he is looking forward to giving the witness speech at the festival.
“But most of all, I look forward to all of us from the greater Butler area, and beyond, coming together in unity in the name of Jesus Christ,” he said.Prayer teams will be available at the festival to pray over people who come forward, Malloy said.If people have a private prayer petition, they will be encouraged to write it down and place it in a petition basket that will be placed in the altar area. After all have prayed over the petitions, they will be destroyed to ensure confidentiality.People in search of a positive or uplifting experience and those who are curious should attend the festival, he said.The power of prayer opens people up to the Holy Spirit and can heal physically and emotionally, he said.“The main thing when we pray with people is that they feel safe,” he said. “If someone is coming for prayer and they feel accepted, welcomed and loved, we consider it a successful prayer ministry.”
Here is the daily prayer for the Festival of Praise in Butler:Dear Heavenly Father, We praise and honor your unique oneness in the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. May this spirit of unity inspire us as we plan, prepare and participate in the Festival of Praise. May the faithful in the Butler area and beyond come together as one to give glory and praise to you. We humbly offer our time and talents in the hope of igniting a spirit of unity, and a burning fire of love for our awesome God. Let us recall the words of Jesus as He prays for His disciples “that they may be one even as we are one” (John 17:22). May the oneness that Christ prayed be present in us as we come together in unity to praise and glorify God. Amen.
WHAT: Festival of Praise hosted by the Butler Area Catholic ParishesWHEN: 2 to 3:30 p.m. SundayWHERE: St. Michael the Archangel Church, 432 Center Ave.WHO: Open to the community; all denominations and agesCOST: Free; a freewill offering will be collectedNOTE: Afterward, refreshments will be served in St. Michael's Hall.
