An evening of worship and song, including Eucharistic Adoration, is planned for Friday, May 9
By Elizabeth Landry, staff writer
Mark your calendars! Matt Maher, major-label Catholic singer, musician and songwriter, will perform a live concert at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Binghamton on Friday, May 9.
Maher is a nine-time-GRAMMY nominee, three-time-GMA Dove Award winner and has written and recorded a long list of hits, including the chart-toppers “Lord, I Need You,” “Because He Lives (Amen),” and “Alive & Breathing.” He has performed at many major Catholic and evangelical events since 2004, such as multiple World Youth Day festivals, as well as headlining his own tours. This year, a stop in the Southern Tier is on that tour schedule.
The event is one borne out of much collaboration and synthesis of ideas within the Southern region of the diocese. Kathleen Hamilton, director of Faith Formation at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Endicott and junior high youth minister at both Our Lady of Good Counsel and Our Lady of Sorrows in Vestal, said she and Tori Reynolds, the senior high youth minister, came up with the idea during a brainstorming session one evening last July. After receiving initial support from Father Richard Prior, pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel and Our Lady of Sorrows, other faith formation leaders around the region got onboard as well, and everyone worked together to make it happen, Hamilton explained.
“I think it’s been on everyone’s mind, to bring the faith community together in the Southern Tier, and just have a beautiful night with praise and worship, music and Adoration,” she said. Bishop Douglas J. Lucia will be presiding over Eucharistic Adoration about midway through the concert, and local seminarian Cornelius Deep will be emceeing the event.
Originally intended to engage youth and young families in the diocese, the concert is open to all ages, and Hamilton emphasized that Maher’s music is enjoyable for everyone.
The concert has two main sponsors: the Roman Catholic Churches of the Southern Tier of the Diocese of Syracuse, and Southern Tier Collision CARSTAR. Fr. Prior emphasized that keeping admission costs for the concert accessible to everyone in the region was a key priority.
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“Monsignor Putano was a big, big part of this, with Father [James] Serowik and some of the other pastors here in the Southern Tier, and he was very adamant about making sure we can keep the ticket prices low. A number of parishes in the [region] have contributed toward the concert so we can make it affordable for everybody,” Father said.
Also on the planning committee is Andrea Schaffer, associate director of Child & Family Catechesis for the diocese. Hamilton noted how everyone planning the event has been willing to do their part to make it a success.
“Every time I need a little committee, I find someone, and they’re just putting that committee together to help service that night,” she said. “It’s been a very collaborative effort of bringing an event together for our Catholic faith.”
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the concert will begin at 7 p.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1 Aquinas St., in Binghamton. All tickets are general admission, must be purchased in advance and are available on a first-come-first-served basis. Tickets cost $10.
For more information and to purchase tickets, scan the QR code or visit events.eventgroove.com/event/Matt-Maher-106102.
