Lent is never an easy time for Catholics (or other non-Catholic Lenten Observers). It’s not supposed to be easy. So, it’s a good practice to start thinking about it now and how we can best use Lent to help us prepare for the climax of the Church Calendar – Easter!

As it turns out, a friend and fellow Catholic Musician – Nick Alexander – has just released a video that will get us thinking about Lent and how we can make Lent more than just giving up desserts and television.

This video comes at just the right time. I hope you enjoy it! And I hope you’ll comment and share it!

Lyrics:

This Time of Forty Days

by Nick Alexander (Parody of “King of Pain” by The Police)

There’s a little black spot on your head today
I guess it must mean today is Ash Wednesday
And we enter a time when we will give things up
For some it’s so easy but for me it’s tough

I hope I can last without it being a pain
On Friday’s no meat, but at least fish is okay
We just got our throats blessed on the Feast of St. Blaise
And it starts right this week, this time of forty days.

There’s a little black spot on your head today (Is my soul prepared?)
It’s to remind us that from dust we came (Is my soul prepared?)
Guess I should read a good book, and watch the t.v. less (Is my soul prepared?)
Should I complete the Old Testament, or Prayer of Jabez? (Is my soul prepared?)

I hope I can last without it being a pain
On Friday’s no meat, but at least fish is okay
I guess I should stop calling my sister bad names
And it starts right this week, this time of forty days.

When you fast don’t act like all those Pharisees
Rumpled hair, bruises on your hands and knees
Instead wash yourself, put on a happy face
And on the Feast of St Joseph you can take a break…
Forty Days

Now, Jesus He fasted through the wilderness (Is my soul prepared?)
With all the Church offers, can we do no less? (Is my soul prepared?)
There’s a little black spot on your head today
Is it dark, is it bold, or has it faded grey?

I hope I can last without it being a pain
On Friday’s no meat, but at least fish is okay
When I’ve completed this Lent, don’t want to be the same
As I am right this week, upon these forty days.

Forty days…
You’ll always need forty days…

I had no idea what to expect when we got down there. And for the most part, Mike didn’t have any idea either. We both just felt the need to get outta Dodge for some R&R.

There was one thing that Mike scheduled for that weekend and it was supposed to be a surprise. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, and I had to exercise extreme restraint to keep from hounding him with questions about it. But after sleeping in on Saturday and getting up in time to catch the breakfast at the hotel before it closed, we headed to the streets and a block away was the Dallas Segway Tours!

I’d never ridden one before, and I had my doubts, but after a 15 minute training I had the basics down.

Proof!

We also went to the Dallas World Aquarium which was also just down the street from our hotel.

It was a fun trip. And some much needed time away…

Gilbert’s finest restaurant – actually, it’s only restaurant, The Gilbert Cafe, is just down the street from the hostel. And on an average night, you’ll be able to hear a local musician pick away at his guitar and banjo played through an amp that’s mounted to the back of his 4-wheeler. I think he likes Johnny Cash’s “Walk the Line” because he plays it quite a bit.

On a REALLY good night, a band of hillbillies will come in, clear the floor, set up some chairs and a mic and play some of the best Ozark bluegrass you can imagine. And these are hillbillies with the overalls, barefeet, pointed hat and even the missing teeth.

But I digress…

Thomas and I arrived late on Friday night and pretty much went straight to bed. On Saturday morning we had breakfast, played around, and got ready for our 2-3 hour float trip.  I’m proud to say that none of us tipped over on our way down the Buffalo and no one got sunburned either.

Taking a swim / snack break during the canoe trip...

Saturday night was dinner at the Gilbert Cafe, bananas foster back at the hostel  and then our obligatory fogata (Spanish: a bonfire) out in the front yard. And you can’t have a bonfire without roasting marshmallows!

Sunday morning we hit the road again for Fayetteville and caught the Spanish Mass and met with some friends before heading back home to Alma. It was a long trip, but it was a lot of fun.

Jackie is a founding member of every 6 steps and sang with us all throughout her undergraduate program.  She started her freshman year in 1999 and to think that she was getting married just blew my mind. When I picture Jackie, this is the image that usually comes to mind:

Jackie (left) & Jessica (right) in 2000

Okay, so here is Jackie now…

Jackie in 2009

In addition, Jackie’s twin sister, Jessica, was not only the Matron of Honor at the wedding, but she got to jump in with the choir to sing at the wedding. And to top everything off, James Eckhart and Michael Berumen came in to town and provided backup guitar and vocals for the music as well.

WE GOT THE BAND BACK TOGETHER!!! . . . well, almost. (every 6 steps: the 10 year reunion)

The whole rehearsal, dinner, wedding, reception was so much fun. And Thomas got to tag along with me as my roadie, especially since we were heading to Gilbert right after making a brief appearance at the reception.

But I’ll save that for another post…

I’m blessed with the opportunity to accompany an extremely talented keyboardist, Michael Schneider. We’ve performed together at my old parish before and he’s also done a number of weddings. But even more impressive is that he performs and tours as a band member for Boris Silva.

I’m still pretty new to this touring thing and I understand that “videos from the road” are a popular thing to do. So here’s my first attempt:

NOTE: I’m not playing the background music in this clip. YouTube just didn’t like the fact that I used Dire Straits as the background originally.

It’s not much, but it’s a start. I’ll work on a better quality video for the next trip.

The wedding was wonderful! Byron and Kalisa were a great couple to work with! Very flexible, laid back and knew what they wanted. My only regret was that I wasn’t able to attend the reception – I’m sure it was a blast!

But, after the wedding was over I jumped back into my father-role and headed back home with the family.

Next stop is going to be Conway, AR – and this time Thomas is going to be joining me.

Session 2 Audio (Right-click to download)

Session 2 Notes (Right-click to download)

Sancti Ministry’s website is coming together, and I’ve posted the audio files over there as well. The audio for Session 1 on their site is the one recorded by Padua Media and it’s a bit clearer than the one I made. Once we get their recording for Session 2, I’ll put it up as well.

tc

Here are some more pictures: