The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) will perform at the closing Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress thanks to a generous grant, organizers told Our Sunday Visitor.
“I hope that the music at the National Eucharistic Congress helps … people to set aside the distractions of the world, the distractions of life, the divisions of the world, the divisions in our own life, and to recenter their focus on Jesus,” Dave Moore, director of music and liturgy for congress, said. “I hope that it helps facilitate an encounter for people to come to know Jesus.”
The 10th National Eucharistic Congress, the first National Eucharistic Congress held in 83 years, will take place July 17-21 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The event marks the culmination of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative by the U.S. Catholic bishops that seeks to renew the Catholic Church by enkindling a living relationship with Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist. Organizers expect as many as 80,000 Catholics to attend.
The ISO performance is made possible through a new $500,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., a private philanthropic foundation based in Indianapolis.
The importance of grants
Founded in 1930, ISO boasts more than 80 musicians and exists to inspire, entertain and educate the Central Indiana community through music. The orchestra, Moore confirmed, includes Catholic musicians.
He called the grant “a confirmation that [God is] going to move in power at the National Eucharistic Congress and he’s moving into motion the things that need to be to restore what is true, good, and beautiful.”
Joel Stepanek, vice president of programming and administration for the congress, called grants critical for the event in Indianapolis.
“The generosity of sponsors and then grants like this allow us to offer ticket prices that are going to be more economical for people,” he said, “and allow us to provide an experience that would exceed what we’d be able to do with a lower ticket price.”
In addition to the ISO performance, he revealed that the grant will also cover signage for the congress at the airport and around Indianapolis. This signage, he said, will both welcome pilgrims and serve as a tool for evangelization for the rest of the city.
Stepanek expressed excitement and gratitude for the grant that enables the congress to provide experiences that, he said, will feed into the local community and surrounding communities of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
A closer look
As director of music and liturgy, Moore shared why he wanted ISO to perform at the closing Mass.
“I wanted to do something that was really embodying a large group of people that came together to make something beautiful,” he began. “When you bring an orchestra together, you have all these different elements and instruments — and it embodies the fact that we all come together and make this unified sound.”
He added: “I want that for the Church.”
The music — and everything organized by the National Eucharistic Congress team — is meant to reach beyond the event in Indianapolis, Moore stressed.
“When people attend, we want them to experience the power of God,” Moore said. “We want wanderers to become seekers and we want seekers to be inspired to become disciples.”
Extending beyond the national event
He gave an example of how he hopes the music at the congress will inspire beyond the event: They are keeping Catholic school children in mind while composing and publishing orchestral arrangements for the symphony.
While working to capture the grandeur of the National Eucharistic Congress, his team also wants the music to serve as a resource for Catholic school children “so that, in their own schools, they can actually replicate this and beautify the music in their community.”
“I’ve wanted so badly to see our Catholic school kids really empowered because the youth aren’t just the future of the Church, they’re important now and we need them to see that we believe in them now and that we need them now,” he urged.
While the congress is still discerning music for the closing Mass, Moore said that they will include great hymns of old as well as more modern praise songs that are fitting for the sacred liturgy.
“It’s going to be [an] honoring of our heritage and our tradition, but it’s going to open the windows to let the fresh air in,” he described before promising, “You’re going to hear that which is the song of the Western Church, and it’s all going to be oriented to the primacy of praise of Jesus Christ in the Mass.”
