Chapter Update: "Lyrics of Faith" Mini-Retreat in Dearborn Heights
by Jennifer Placinta, Sts. Peter & Paul A.R.O.Y. Secretary

Had anyone been looking for the A.R.O.Y. teens of the Dearborn Heights area on Saturday, April 12th between the hours of 2 and 6 in the afternoon, they would have found us listening to the spiritual guidance of Fr. Dusan Koprivica in classroom #1 at Sts. Peter & Paul Romanian Orthodox Church.  Also joining us were members of nearby Cathedral Junior A.R.O.Y. and a couple new friends from our neighbor church, St. Paul Macedonian-Bulgarian Cathedral, bringing our total to more than 20 participants.

We started out the day by understanding the meaning of spiritual lyrics in various versions of “Church music.”  While blindfolded, we listened to different kinds of music from the four corners of the room and had to go toward the one that we most identified with the emotion or experience Fr. Dusan called-out at the time.  There were no right or wrong choices, but it was the reasons that mattered.  Each one of us chose the song that touched our souls a certain way.  Some were even moved by the Slavonic music, even though we had no idea what they were saying.  Some chose Christian Rock; and others still, chose Queen.  The songs changed several times, but, oddly enough, there was always one corner of the room that never played any music.  We stayed away from it thinking it was a trick corner, but it actually turned out to be a very important area.  Don’t most people pray quietly without a sound?  Yet, none of us chose this corner because we were too focused on finding a song choice that we wanted to listen to, not what the Lord would have wanted us to listen to during prayer.

This brought up the discussion of what God deems “good” music to listen to, and what “bad” music to stay away from.  This topic was a tough one to speak about because everyone in the room liked different genres of music.  Some liked techno, others classical, and even some heavy metal.  So how do we tell what the “good” is from the “bad”?  WE don’t, but God does.  He knows well enough what each and every individual is like and doesn’t base His decision on the type of music we listen to, but how we interpret the lyrics’ meanings.  This hour long discussion saw some controversial questions and, in the end, brought us closer to God and each other.  We then broke into groups and attempted to compose out own songs which we then performed for the entire group.

After talking for so long, we all went into the church for Great Vespers served by Fr. Horaţiu Balanean, our assistant priest, as Fr. Romey Rosco, our parish priest heard confessions.  Awaiting us in the hall was pizza and a game of “Stump the Priest.”  Fr. Dusan answered many of our questions, ranging from “Where did Cane and Abel’s wives come from?” to “Are monsters real?” (the latter coming from a very curious 5-year-old, Kristian).  In the end, it was only Kristian’s final question of “Where does the Easter Bunny live?” that actually stumped Fr. Dusan.

As our day was brought to an end, we thanked Fr. Dusan for joining us and helping our hearts and minds grow closer to God through Lyrics of Faith: Finding God in Music.

CLICK HERE for a photo gallery of the event on the parish's website.