Duel to the Death

Often, people ask me what good Catholic music is out there. I usually can’t find much after Franz Schubert. This is an area of the new evangelization where we couuld certainly stand to do better…

Enter my friend, Fr Claude “Dusty” Burns, AKA Fr Pontifex, who has been doing some great work with spoken word videos in collaboration with Spirit Juice Studios. His videos are raw, clear, charitable, orthodox, and engaging, and he has the YouTube hits to prove it. His last hip hop album, “Ordained,” was a poignant and personal reflection both on the priesthood and the daily struggles and joys of living as a Catholic. To follow up, he’s partnering again with some of the same folks, as well as with Spirit Juice, to put together an album and music video that is as high quality as anything you’d see in the mainstream. I’ve heard a couple of raw tracks, and have been very impressed.

If we want our message to be taken seriously by the culture, we have to put forth the best effort we possibly can. Consider giving $5 on #FundingFriday to make the next musical effort from Fr Pontifex a huge success!

You may have seen them on the Oprah Winfrey show, and you may be familiar with the fact that they’re one of the fastest growing religious orders in the country, who have more applicants than they have rooms to accommodate. Now, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, are slicing their way through the competition on GSN’s “American Bible Challenge,” hosted by Jeff Foxworthy.

Right now, “American Bible Challenge” is hosting a fan poll; whichever of the competing teams gets the most audience votes by May 19 will get $10,000 toward the charity of their choice, which in this case, happens to be their own needs related to the rapid expansion of their order.

It’s super easy to help out- all you have to do is visit the American Bible Challenge website and vote once per day- right now, the Sisters are in the lead, but let’s make sure they carry it through till the end!