As you may know, last week we went on Facebook LIVE for the first time in the studio... You have the final product with lyric video below. This is truly just an expression of the joy of the resurrection put into collaborative art of some young men seeking Jesus in their lives. Enjoy. (Download the song or stream from soundcloud which is also embedded below)
- The Symbol
- All is Love
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This was a few weeks back, but hadn't had the opportunity to speak about it. . . .
God has truly blessed me, and has given me the opportunity to bring light to dark places. Sometimes, the mission is simply to bring hope, and to educate where many times we want to shout Jesus in people's faces that may not what is needed up front in order to build bridges. I have said many times before when I attend these events it seems like family reunions, and times of deep reflection. This seemingly simple public school event here in the Bronx, took me back to when I was given the opportunity in High School to have my voice and my talent heard. It was the people who gave me this opportunity that allowed me to further deeply reflect on my life as I became more and more confident in my ability to create art and share it with others. Sometimes I wonder if we create enough of these opportunities in ministry. . . A time where we "pass the torch" and give people not yet fully trained the ability to lead in small ways and build them up in the process. The young people at this event where not only excited to "get out of class" for the day, but also to receive education through art, with skits, music, poetry, and special guests like myself and Hot 97 to meet them in their every day school environment. I pray God gives me more opportunities to enter venues such as this, and not only those visible within the church walls to bring an extension of the true goodness into the world. - The Symbol - All is Love
Recognizing the need to feed people spiritually more and more, as well as the use of technology to connect with people in many places, we went live at The Encounter this past Friday with my brother Dr. Alex Gotay and others.
We are building a beautiful community here and hope you will come and join us on the 3rd Friday of each month as we encounter Christ through the sacraments, through the arts, and through one another. Stay updated on our social media pages and on the website at: www.TheEncounterNYC.org
- The Symbol - All is Love
Tomorrow morning, Friday, April 21st, 2017 at 10 AM (Eastern Time), pray and create with us LIVE from the studio. Me and Stephen Eguino from Bosco Beats will make something in scratch with you guys in order to bring a little more of God's beauty into the world through music.
If you missed the session, no problem . . . Check it out in the saved Feed below.
For us, a marriage is so much more than the couple . . . It is the community coming together - it is families being united. Me and Janet are in an interesting space we like to call the transitionary generation. We don't really have generations from our families before us to take traditions from our torches to carry from those before us, and so we really start a new family in God. One of the beautiful things has been to see all of the support we have from our parish community, and just people I have done ministry with throughout the years. Below is a design layout thanks to our good friends over at Exodus Designs and Printing .... Because my Bride wanted something special for her and her girls. lol Please pray with us as Jesus prayed for all of his disciples to the Father "May they be one, as you and I are one" - John 11:11
As we continue to prepare(just over 2 months away), may this experience truly be one that unites not only Janet and I, but our community in God. Through the intercession of Mary and Joseph. Amen. - The Symbol - All is Love
Music Video from The Symbol
"It's so much more than the music, but they don't understand that." “Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says: You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I heal them.” - Matthew 13:14,15 - The Symbol - All is Love For the previous post, click HERE . . .
These past weeks continue my reflection on what it truly means to be doing Ministry; who it is intended for; and how to continue to engage in deeper ways. The funny one on my mind after this past weekend is... Who is is for? The word "Youth Ministry" is thrown around so much, but as I interact with people of different nationalities, financial backgrounds, and different geographic locations, it dawns on me how much of an injustice it is when we focus on "Youth" without focusing on the whole family and the larger community/society. This has led me to ask some deeper questions in observing where it is truly God is leading me . . . I have been researching some further History of the church and just what it means in being the "Laity". Questions like - What is our role? - and - How do we contribute? Among many others. The truth is, even the concept of "Lay ministry" is very new in our 2,000 + year history as a church, and to be able to work in the church on this level without being clergy is only from my parents generation to me. I am growing deeper in knowing what this means, and all I can say is this . . . I believe that this is so much larger than teens and young adults. This past weekend in 3 days I presented 3 different topics, in 3 different parts of New York City, with 3 completely different age groups, elementary, middle school, and above the age of 40 (some up in their 70's). The truth is, we need to engage the entire family, and be more inter-generational as well as multi-cultural. I have seen it at work, and in the field, in a way that engages all. Pray with me. As we continue to transform our world for Christ... Connecting all lay persons. - The Symbol - All is Love "Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. So by their fruits you will know them." - Matthew 7:17-20 The above photo is one taken by a very talented young teen I work with in my ministry program. At this parish we have really been exploring the arts as a means of expression and of deeper learning of our faith. We have done so through dance, photography, music, poetry, and the visual arts. . . We titled the above photo "Fruit Snacks".
For some reason out of all of the snacks I am able to get for our gatherings each week they seem to love the "fruit snacks" and because of that we reflected on some deeper analogies of the fruit snacks... I love my Catholic faith but let's be honest - the average Catholic does not do well with knowing his/her Bible. In my lifetime, I have actually heard people who are not even followers of Christ who know the contents of the Bible better than the average Catholic I speak to. And the crazy thing about that is that it was our church that originally decided which books, and readings were "canonical". Even more so, we see how our faith for many is not translated into their daily life, and actions aka "bearing fruit." In many ways, the artwork says this . . . Feed your mind with the "Fruit snacks" and then become those fruit snacks to the world. As the age old quote says "The only Bible anyone may ever read is you." This blog post I wish for the art to speak for itself, and to give you a simple Bible plan to start reading your bible(it's the one we are given as Idente Missionaries) 1) Read your Bible one chapter a day starting with the New Testament 2) Start in the 4th Gospel . . . John (personally my favorite, probably because it is so poetic and artistic in its nature) The good thing about starting in John is that it is super simple to feel and see the results in your Bible reading.... It's only 21 chapters! And so that means for a simple 5-10 minutes a day(giving yourself time to reflect), you can finish an entire book of the Bible in less than a month. 3) When you finish John, then go back to read Matthew, followed by Mark and Luke, until you read all through Revelations. 4) When you start, don't think of it as a Biblical scholar... If something confuses you of course you can visit the USCCB site, or read some notes in your bible, but to begin simply focus on what is speaking to your heart... And if you are so confused you feel it is not doing much for you that's ok... Simply in prayer say "Thank you Father for not understanding. I know you are God, and you know so much more than me. Please keep speaking to my heart, and help me to persevere." The key is to build up the good habit of staying in your bible. (In fact Thomas Aquinas would call Virtue a "good habit"... This is a way of growing in virtue) 5) Be very specific and schedule your reading... Whether at morning or at night, make it something you have built into your schedule just like anything else. Something I would recommend in order to learn and study your bible deeper after that is "The Bible Timeline" by Jeff Cavins. I personally use this and adapt it to teach my teens. It is my prayer that one day I will see the day where every Catholic "Bear Fruit" - The Symbol - All is Love |
The Symbol's MUSIC :These are my thoughts . . . My Beliefs . . . My Actions . . . Everything I do. This is the documentation of my quest towards creating more unity in the community by authentic #LOVE.
This blog was started at: DaLyricalMiracle.blogspot.com and continued at: allislovefeelx.tumblr.com But now, as I have matured in my understanding as "The Symbol" and no longer Brandon Feel-X Morel you can continue my journey with me here. FREE DOWNLOADs(click above images to get download link)
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