The tenor’s fluid rendition of the song gave me goose bumps. “Hosanna, in the highest. Let our King be lifted up. Hosanna.” A hush fell over the audience as Arun Gogna, the last speaker for the Kerygma Conference 2011 Faith Stream, announced the arrival of our special guest.
He was ushered in by 4 young men bearing banners that proclaimed His greatness – “King of Kings”, “Messiah”, “Alpha & Omega”, “Lamb of God.” Our special guest was Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist.
As Fr. Steve Tynan bore the monstrance down the aisle, the crowd instinctively fell on their knees in adoration. It was a stirring sight enhanced by dancers solemnly marching in with raised flags.
Many faces were bathed in tears, mine included. Unlike the audience, I knew what was going to happen but I was still awed by His presence in the unfolding event.
It was a fitting finale to a day spent deepening our knowledge about the Catholic faith. It also capped months of preparation by the Faith Stream team; the last few days steeped in stress. With Jesus before me, I could now serenely look back to what was…
The job description for Production Manager only said: 1) assemble production team and coordinate communication; 2) coordinate with secretariat; 3) provide scripts/schedules; 4) provide t-shirt sizes of the team; and 5) coordinate with PAs of speakers.
Sounds manageable. I can do that. I agreed to serve especially since the whole team is from Feast Alabang. But my duties morphed into something resembling the mythical Hydra. When I ticked a task off my list, more popped up.
So there I was at the Faith Stream dealing with a string of unrelated tasks and bloopers. “Where are the table cloths for the book tables?” Huh? “Where will we put the signage for the parking lot?” Duh. “There are attendees who bought food stubs for the other venue and they’re mad the concessionaire is not here.” Uh-oh.
“Sis, even the front row seats were numbered, where will the speakers sit?” I cringed as I imagined asking our first speaker, the Archbishop-elect of Manila no less, to vacate his place when the ticket-holder for that seat comes.
And there’s my personal blooper. I turned my cellphone to silent mode in obedience to the house rules. I therefore missed several calls to alert me that Bro Bo Sanchez had arrived. I flubbed my primary role of being the key coordinator.
But I was not alone in the welcome bloopers. When Myrna, our hardworking Program Director, asked Bo to sit beside the Archbishop who had arrived earlier, he mentioned that her beloved hubby was still at the entrance waiting for our esteemed guest.
By God’s grace, the problems were addressed and the bloopers became memories we could laugh about over dinner.
God rewarded the teams’ efforts by helping each one survive many challenges. The stage with its stained glass cathedral windows design came out majestic. The singers and the band heightened worship with world class music. The dancers were gracefully in sync. The technical team managed a glitch-free event.
We were also blessed with high powered speakers(Archbishop Chito Tagle, Bro Marwil Llasos, Fr. Domie Guzman and Arun Gogna), host (J Yogawin), worship leaders (Rissa Singson-Kawpeng and our track head, Carl Fontanilla) and capable Central Support teams.
As I knelt before the Holy Eucharist during the recessional, I thanked God for revealing His glory at the KCon.
Special thanks to IC de Guzman for this precious photo with Archbishop Chito Tagle who is touted to be the next Pope. (I hope, I hope, I hope.)
No comments:
Post a Comment