VANCOUVER—Seven friends became inspired to live their vocations as priests, religious, and spouses after World Youth Day in the Philippines.
So runs the plot of the high-energy musical One Voice, One Heart, One Spirit, performed twice at St. Mary’s Parish in Vancouver Dec. 6.
“The main message was that absolutely everyone is called to follow Christ and has been given everything to lead a love-bearing life,” said director Frida Abaroa.
The play highlights the value of World Youth Days, one of St. John Paul II’s legacies. His canonization April 27 is fresh in Abaroa’s memory.
“Pope John Paul II called us to use the new media as a method for evangelization. This of course, includes music,” she said. “We used quite an array of songs, from oldies to modern, secular to classic Christian hymns.”
The action takes place in the Philippines, where the Pope attended WYD in 1995.
Father Gabriel de Chadarevian, OP, an assistant pastor at St. Mary’s, added that the saint’s own pursuit of his vocation is woven into the story about the seven young people.
“There’s something deeply Christian and Catholic about the life of St. John Paul II, which is the heart of it,” he said. “It was a wonderful musical concert.”
The cast of 15 characters, 25 backup dancers, and a band of six practised for half a year before performing the musical twice in early December. Several parish ministries worked in tandem to put the play together, including Praisefest, St. Mary’s music ministry.
“There was lots of creativity and sweat, and many adults, younger and older, were involved from all of the ministries,” Father de Chadarevian said. Abaroa described the group as a “very tight family.”
Committee chairwoman Teresa Lung confirmed that a total of 600 people had attended the two performances. Some performers also made appearances on 93.1 FM.
