Sunday, September 26, 2010

The Catholic Defender: John Michael Talbot at Fort Hood

John Michael Talbot performed several of his older songs and dedicated much of his performance to songs of meditation. This was his first appearance at Fort Hood Texas and it was great to have him here. John shows he is still a very important presence as he dedicated 4 hours of music and teaching for the Fort Hood community. He would give the Gospel reading of the day and give a reflection on the message. There were about 300 in attendance for the concerts. His message is certainly important for our time.
John's ability to get a crowd inspired was noticed as he spoke with great knowledge and inspiration. He wanted to give the people something that would help them in their meditations. He made reference to St. Paul's encouragement to "pray unceasingly" using breathing as a means to pray. When you breath in, reflect on the name of Jesus, and when you breath out, let all those things that are not Christ like in our heart, mind, and soul flow out. John also gave a great testimony of how he began in music learning to play the banjo.

John's testimony of how he became a Christian, his involvement in the musical field, his movement towards Christian Contemporary Music and finally his conversion to the Catholic Faith. What an inspiration and what an example he sets for young people. As the Squires sitting on the front row listened, John spoke to them about the progression of the monastic life. The roots of the Faith demonstrated by the devotion men and women had from the beginning of the Catholic Faith. John spoke about the Rosary in the west prevalent with the Marian prayer and devotion.

John also informed them of the "Jesus Prayer and how this influenced the rosary of the Eastern lung. He made the point that if you took 15 to 20 minutes a day breathing in the Jesus prayer and breathing out the bad habits people may have, he promised that you would soon see a change in yourself. This is important in the light of how easy it is to allow things in your home that takes you away from the gospel life. John also promised that by making such devotion by the time you reached about the 15 minute mark, you will find that you should have about two minutes of deep meditation that will give you peace.

Having John here at Ft. Hood was special to everyone who attended the concerts. Tomorrow they go back to Arkansas to prepare for an annual event with the society in which his team belong. Soon after he will begin another tour starting in Florida. Please keep John and his team in your prayers. It was great to meet all of them. I was privileged to get to know them and they are for real. May the Lord grant them peace and safety as they continue home and beyond, that they are given good health, body, mind, and Spirit. Lord, give them strength to carry on! Amen!

Some day very soon, John Michael Talbot will air on deepertruth to give his testimony. Please keep watch for our advertising here as this will be a great blessing.



No comments:

Post a Comment