Being filmed in Jerusalem!

Greetings fellow pilgrims! Happy Feast of the Baptism of the Lord!

I apologize for my overlong silence here at YooperPilgrims! Mike has been doing a great job of putting up regular and interesting posts, while I've been lollygagging! One might ask, what has Ben been up to? Is he lost in spiritual ecstasy, taken up to the Seventh Heaven? Or is he just lost in the Old City of Jerusalem, trying desperately to find the New Gate? Is he trying to read all 37 needless books he's been lugging around, just in case? Has the announcement of a date for ordination filled him with fear and trembling?

Actually, I have sort of an excuse, at least since Epiphany! I'm part of a documentary film project with the Kindling Group, "The Calling." This project will look at Americans preparing for ministry in four faith groups: Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim. After consultation with Cardinal George, the archbishop of Chicago, and Fr. Lyle, the rector at Mundelein, the team received permission to work with seminarians there, pending the approval of their bishops. So, inexplicably, I was among those interviewed, and now I'm part of the group they're following. This all started during the fall quarter.

For you Yoopers out there, you'll be proud to know that the initial group they picked included Greg Michaud, Jim Altman, Mike and myself, along with some other guys. All four of us are from the UP, although they didn't realize that! After some adjustments, only Greg and I are part of the main group now, although they'll probably work with some of the other guys too. Is this Anti-Yooper prejudice? ;)

In any case, they've been following us at school and at home. They even came up to the UP for deer season. Although almost everyone involved is a city-slicker, they did pretty good! John, the cameraman sat up in a treestand with me on Opening Day until neither of us could talk because we were shivering, and then the next morning he was there with the camera when Greg got an 8-point buck!!!

So, they decided to follow us here... and since Epiphany, they've been following Greg and I around with cameras and microphone booms, etc. First we were in Galilee, then down here in Jerusalem. Friday was there last day here. It was a lot of fun, but also exhausting because all the "free time" was taken up with interviews, trying to get into the Holy Sepulchre to film, etc. It was disruptive for the rest of our brother pilgrims, but they were patient and accepting.

On the first day, the Israeli sound guy came up to me and said, "Is that what you're going to wear?" I immediately thought of the embarrassment my mother and sisters would feel when they saw me on screen wearing what I do in spite of their best efforts to raise my fashion consciousness and wardrobe! Then he clarified that he just wanted to know so that he could put the wireless microphone on me. I felt a little better... but, I'm sorry Mom and Becky and Libby, just in case! I'm proud to say that the Stormy Kromer my dad got me, the sweater my mom knit for me, the nice wool sweater Becky and John got for me, and the scarf Libby knit for me were all worn on film.

It's also been interesting being filmed while visiting the holy places. Every pious impulse gets second-guessed: "Am I just praying/bowing my head/gazing at the Crucifix/praying the rosary/etc. because the camera's on?" I do all those things normally, but it still made me feel kind of fake knowing that I was being filmed. Maybe they'll just use the footage of me making funny faces or scratching my nose or looking confused!

So, the hope is that in all of this the film will serve as a vehicle to help people understand vocation, the call God has for each of us to follow Him. Please pray for the project, for the team, and for the "subjects"! The projected air date is in Fall of 2009, so there's plenty of time for intercession!

God Bless,


Ben

P.S. There's a nice article on The Calling project in the UP Catholic:

http://www.dioceseofmarquette.org/upcarticle.asp?upcID=1311


And here's a picture of Danny, the head honcho for the whole project, and Maggie, who is in charge of the Catholic segment ----->