May the peace of Christ and the love of Mary be with you all. The recent John Paul II Film Festival news is that we are currently securing all of our venues and preparing our licensing for our feature length films that will be screened at the festival. We are closing only our second month of progress and even though we have accomplished many tasks, there still lies Calvary in our path. The festival is still being nurtured. It is not yet able to stand on its own and produce fruit for us all. We must take care of it through charity, humility, and prayer. Prayer is the key ingredient to our incredible weekend. We are running this festival in direct relation to All Saints Day. The Saints wouldn’t have been canonized if it were not for some form of prayer functioning in their lives. Whether it was internal, external, or contemplative prayer, the saints reminded us that prayer is the direct line of communication with God. So I ask all of you to say a prayer for the festival this week and pray for the miracle of God’s glory to work in your own lives. It is only through constant communication with Him that He is able to grace us with His full glory. “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.” -Pope John Paul II
(The following is from an e-mail sent out on March 9th, 2009)
To our amazing brothers and sisters in Christ:
We cannot begin to thank you enough for coming forward with your talents, love, and prayers to answer God’s call to evangelize! Seeing your enthusiasm was God’s way of telling us that the risks we’re taking by putting together such a mammoth-sized project will not be in vain!
As we mentioned during mass this past Saturday and Sunday, this festival is ours: it is a representation of our faith, as well as the answer to all the attacks our Church has received in the last few years, We want to encourage you to not only get involved, but to also pray for our movement. It is well known that the path of God is never an easy one. The road will be filled with obstacles that the festival will have to rise above of. So we ask that you keep the festival’s success in your prayers as much as possible. As it is, we are proud to have some big names wanting to submit films into our humble little festival. What big names? Trust me, we’ll let you know by the end of April, once all the films have been submitted.
In order to get the ball rolling, we’re going to need your help and support. Thanks to you, we now have a web designer from our church ready to help us get the website up (go to her site, www.vlmstudios.com — she’s also a photographer and her work is absolutely beautiful), and as soon as the site is up and running, you’ll all be able to check out how to get involved as well as the events that will lead to the festival. You will also be able to donate to the festival through the site.
For now, the greatest gift you could ever give us, as mentioned before, are your prayers. Without them, this project would NEVER stand a chance. We invite you to go to adoration and lift the festival up in prayer before the Most Blessed Sacrament. Our Lady of Lourdes is so blessed to have adoration 24/7… let’s be sure we’re taking advantage of such a gift.
On behalf of Frank, Ralph, and myself, we thank you and thank GOD for such an amazing community! You are all answers to OUR prayers. We’ve been waiting patiently for each and everyone of you, and now that we’re connected, The New Evangelization can begin. You are all in our prayers!
Your Sister In Christ,
Laura Alvarado
How excited are we??
First off, on behalf of the JP2 Film Festival, I would personally like to welcome you to our blog. Here you can get updated news as to all the goings-on of the festival. Make sure you check out the “about us” page to get a little more familiarized with who we are and, well, what we’re about.
Now, I gotta say, I don’t think any of us have done much blogging in the past, BUT this is all a learning experience, and all for the Glory of God, so we’ll be learning soon enough.
To keep you all up-to-date, we are currently in the process of becoming a non-for-profit organization. Our website is currently under construction, but you’ll soon be able to visit us at www.jp2filmfestival.com! We are currently looking for venues and sponsors, so if you think you can give us a hand or point us in the right direction, leave us a comment, will ya? =) We are currently looking into Miami-Dade College, FIU, and UM to use their theaters to screen these amazing films.
We are also getting film submissions from some incredibly gifted filmmakers who have embraced their God-Given Gifts to return to the Father the praise that He deserves. I know, I know, we should probably start letting you know who’s gonna be featured in the festival, but all in good time. For those that know me well, you know that I can’t keep surprises, so I’ll be letting you know as soon as Frank and Ralph allow me to get the cat out of the bag.
Okay, so the basics:
Remember that the festival is happening here in Miami, FL and is taking place the weekend of OCTOBER 3oth- NOVEMBER 1st. We will be needing many volunteers, so if you’re interested, drop us a line or e-mail us (check out the link for volunteers under “contact us” on the right hand menu). High-Schoolers: know that you’ll be getting community service for your volunteering hours!! We also encourage you to make your own short films (2-10 minutes in length) and submit them to the festival (but more info on that later)!
If you would like to sponsor the festival, contact us and let us know. We will also have a PayPal link, too, so we’ll let you know when that goes up. Trust me, every penny donated will be a HUGE help– this festival thing is a MAMMOTH!!
Okay, that’s enough from me for one night. I hope you are all blessed and we are so happy to be in contact with each of you. PLEASE keep us and our work in your prayers– that is the greatest gift you can offer!
If you have anything you think you could contribute to the festival, if you have questions, comments, ideas, or if you just wanna say “hey!” feel free to contact us.
We thank God for your interest, your love, your PRAYERS, and your support. As we’ve mentioned many times, this is OUR festival–yours and mine. With out you, we are nothing and God’s work comes to a halt. We must work together to allow John Paul II’s idea for a “New Evangelization” to take hold, grow, reach out, and spread through out our community. The evangelization starts here and it’s gonna take a lot of work and faith, but together, we can spread God’s word like a wild fire!!
Love you and we’re praying for each of you!
Have a beautiful week!
Your sister in Christ,
Laura
