By Jay Sorgi<\/p>\n
Sometimes, things reach us differently on a different stage. Including the ways God reaches us.<\/p>\n
For years, the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton has taken those attending the faith and lesson-filled \u201cBack From the Dead\u201d on a theatrical walk through its cemetery, where many people found their journey with God forever-changed.<\/p>\n
But for one night, on All Souls Day 2024, a larger audience found a deeper encounter with God through the same powerful performance, but in a far-different setting than the cemetery. While this was not the first time Back from the Dead was performed indoors, it was a particularly striking event this year. The drama, which portrays characters from the devil to numerous saints helping people to understand the necessity to more deeply foster their relationship with God, occurred inside the Basilica itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an intimacy at the Basilica program that I did not expect,\u201d said Sarah Heil, the shrine’s outreach programs coordinator. She said the lighting and audio capabilities within the Basilica allowed for more people to find themselves emotionally moved.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople were weeping to hear the Blessed Stanley story,\u201d she added of the portrayal of Blessed Stanley Rother, an Oklahoma-born missionary who completed his priestly formation at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary, then was martyred in Guatemala in 1981.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like he was just really close to us and telling us what had happened to him..it gave us the sense of real closeness with the saint. He’s right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Initially, the impetus to hold the faith drama inside had to do with giving people access to the play who otherwise might never have experienced it, due to mobility and other issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing that really warmed my heart is seeing a large contingency of our sisters who live here in Emmitsburg able to attend,\u201d said Erica Delp, the shrine’s education programs coordinator. \u201cJust the joy on their face and being able to watch the performance, that was very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter where you sat in the Basilica, one side or the other, everybody got a good view,\u201d added Heil about the religious community members’ experience. \u201c(Sound) was amplified. We have a lot of people who have hearing aids…it’s kind of hard to hear outside, and this made it accessible for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
That also made the moving portrayals more accessible for everyone in attendance \u2013 an experience that led to countless responses from crying to changed hearts.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime as humans living on this earth that we get out of the mindset of thinking about me, it is such a big step forward to getting closer to God when you’re thinking about others and praying for them,\u201d said MaryBeth Johnson, a Lutheran who traveled 25 minutes across the state line from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania to attend after recently losing a loved one.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found the whole idea of the Catholic message that the dead are praying for you so moving,\u201d she explained with emotions moving her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know he would be praying specifically for me, and for many who need his intercessory prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many who attended even took immediate time to act upon the experience in coming closer to God.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’re invited…to either have time and contemplation or adoration before the Blessed Sacrament if they would like, and we also offer confessions,\u201d said Delp.<\/p>\n
The new setting proved to bring a new capability to share the drama’s message of the incredibly small space that resides between our lives and the day they end, and the need to grow in relationality to the God that made us, saves us, and loves us unconditionally.<\/p>\n
As Johnon added, \u201cThere’s just a thin veil between this world and the next.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
La representaci\u00f3n de la obra en la Bas\u00edlica el D\u00eda de Todos los Santos aument\u00f3 la accesibilidad a la obra y a su mensaje transformador.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":194329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[3920],"tags":[4154],"class_list":["post-194326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsroom","tag-back-from-the-dead"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n