The Tekakwitha Conference 1987
It was 1987, the year after my 1st pilgrimage to Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, where six young visionaries had been seeing visions of the Blessed Mother since June of 1981.
My cousin, Sr. Joyce, is a Dominican Nun that was working among the Ojibwa Tribe in Watersmeet, Michigan, located in the Upper Peninsula. I too was a lover of the Native American people, and have spent time with different tribes out West. She called me to ask if I would be interested in meeting her at the Tekakwitha Conference in Pheonix, Arizona. The Conference is a Gathering of Catholic Native Americans, and Pope John Paul II would be there. The Native Catholics were hoping for the Canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha as the 1st Native American Saint of the Church.
When I arrived at the Conference I signed in, and was given a folder with all the activities for the next five days; including all the places where the Masses would be held, including all the words and music to the songs that would be sung at each.
As I looked around all I saw were Native Americans, or the Religious who ministered among them. I met with Sr. Joyce and told her of the discomfort I was experiencing in feeling out of place.
“Sister, I’m wondering if I should even be here. Unless I can somehow get involved musically, maybe I should leave.”
She said she would ask Fr. John Haskel, who was the current President of the Tekakwitha Conference. I had met Fr. John a few years before. At that time he was Sr. joyce’s Spiritual Advisor up in the Watersmeet area, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He wanted to become a Bishop in the area so he would have a larger group of Native Americans to minister to. Instead he became the President of the Tekakwitha Conference, which made him available to minister to even a larger group.
But feeling so out of place, I was impatient to find my place, and reason for attending the Conference. So the next morning I was up early and on my way to find the Auditorium where the 1st Mss would be held. It was huge. I was one of the first to arrive, but I could see where the musicians would be set up. A short while later 5 very Native American looking guys showed up carrying their instruments, and I asked if they minded if I played along. They said that they didn’t mind but I’d have to ask Sr. Kateri, who had also just arrived and was in charge of the Liturgy. She told me that it was fine and said:
“Everyone get your instruments out and we’ll run through everything from the top. Who wants to lead on ‘Gather Us In’?”
Next to me were 5 Native Americans, none of which knew the song, so I said,
“We do it all the time at my Church back in Illinois.”
“OK Tom, you can lead on that one.”
Well as it turned out, I ended up leading on at least 4 songs that day.
The next morning we met in the same Auditorium, and Sr. Kateri called me over: “Tom, I’d like to talk with you about the music for today’s Mass. Do you know ‘Mary’s Song’?”
I told Her that I had been to Medjugorje the year before and had learned many Mary songs since then.
She said, “No, this one is called ‘Mary’s Song’,” and handed me the music. I took a quick look and replied, “No, I don’t know this one,” and handed the music back.
“Well, you’ll learn it by the time Mass starts.”
I took the music back, and noticed that there were no chords above the lines. In a bit of a panic I turned around and saw a girl who was taking a flute out of her case. I asked her if she could play the melody line for me.
She said she could, and I was able to write the chords in above the words.
So thirty minutes later, and the day after I worried whether I belonged at he Conference or not, I was leading 3500 Catholic Native Americans in ‘Mary’s Song.’ I knew that things like that didn’t just happen, and that Mary, the Mother of our God, had granted me this Special Blessing.
My cousin, Sr. Joyce, is a Dominican Nun that was working among the Ojibwa Tribe in Watersmeet, Michigan, located in the Upper Peninsula. I too was a lover of the Native American people, and have spent time with different tribes out West. She called me to ask if I would be interested in meeting her at the Tekakwitha Conference in Pheonix, Arizona. The Conference is a Gathering of Catholic Native Americans, and Pope John Paul II would be there. The Native Catholics were hoping for the Canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha as the 1st Native American Saint of the Church.
When I arrived at the Conference I signed in, and was given a folder with all the activities for the next five days; including all the places where the Masses would be held, including all the words and music to the songs that would be sung at each.
As I looked around all I saw were Native Americans, or the Religious who ministered among them. I met with Sr. Joyce and told her of the discomfort I was experiencing in feeling out of place.
“Sister, I’m wondering if I should even be here. Unless I can somehow get involved musically, maybe I should leave.”
She said she would ask Fr. John Haskel, who was the current President of the Tekakwitha Conference. I had met Fr. John a few years before. At that time he was Sr. joyce’s Spiritual Advisor up in the Watersmeet area, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He wanted to become a Bishop in the area so he would have a larger group of Native Americans to minister to. Instead he became the President of the Tekakwitha Conference, which made him available to minister to even a larger group.
But feeling so out of place, I was impatient to find my place, and reason for attending the Conference. So the next morning I was up early and on my way to find the Auditorium where the 1st Mss would be held. It was huge. I was one of the first to arrive, but I could see where the musicians would be set up. A short while later 5 very Native American looking guys showed up carrying their instruments, and I asked if they minded if I played along. They said that they didn’t mind but I’d have to ask Sr. Kateri, who had also just arrived and was in charge of the Liturgy. She told me that it was fine and said:
“Everyone get your instruments out and we’ll run through everything from the top. Who wants to lead on ‘Gather Us In’?”
Next to me were 5 Native Americans, none of which knew the song, so I said,
“We do it all the time at my Church back in Illinois.”
“OK Tom, you can lead on that one.”
Well as it turned out, I ended up leading on at least 4 songs that day.
The next morning we met in the same Auditorium, and Sr. Kateri called me over: “Tom, I’d like to talk with you about the music for today’s Mass. Do you know ‘Mary’s Song’?”
I told Her that I had been to Medjugorje the year before and had learned many Mary songs since then.
She said, “No, this one is called ‘Mary’s Song’,” and handed me the music. I took a quick look and replied, “No, I don’t know this one,” and handed the music back.
“Well, you’ll learn it by the time Mass starts.”
I took the music back, and noticed that there were no chords above the lines. In a bit of a panic I turned around and saw a girl who was taking a flute out of her case. I asked her if she could play the melody line for me.
She said she could, and I was able to write the chords in above the words.
So thirty minutes later, and the day after I worried whether I belonged at he Conference or not, I was leading 3500 Catholic Native Americans in ‘Mary’s Song.’ I knew that things like that didn’t just happen, and that Mary, the Mother of our God, had granted me this Special Blessing.