Maryknoll Sister Yoo Soo Kim dances at an earlier BILAC event. (Photo courtesy of Marianist BILAC)
Marianist BILAC (Big Island Liturgy and Arts Conference) began on the Big Island nearly 40 years ago.
With its roots in the Hawaiian culture and the Catholic Marianist tradition, BILAC is an event committed to providing communitarian-based experiences of prayer, spiritual growth and formation in the liturgical arts.
Its early home was Malia Puka O Kalani Parish in Keaukaha near Hilo. In 2008, it moved to the Kalaepohaku campus of Chaminade University and Saint Louis School under the auspices of the Society of Mary, the Marianists. Both locations celebrate a strong link to Jesus’ mother, Mary, the Gate of Heaven, the one who gave Jesus to the world.
In honor of this special connection to Mary, the theme for this year’s event is “The Spirit of Malia.”
This year’s conference begins at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5 with a free-will offering concert in Mystical Rose Oratory on the Chaminade/Saint Louis campus. In honor of the anniversary, luminaries from past conferences will return to sing the compositions they created specifically for BILAC.
These well-known figures include Bob Hurd, Lori True, Marty Haugen, Kate Cuddy, Father Michael Joncas, Bobby Fisher, David Haas and Tony Alonso. Additional presenters and artists include Joe Camacho, Paulette Ching, Makana Paris, Maelia Loebenstein-Carter, Joe Farias III and more.
The conference continues Friday, Nov. 6, with a keynote talk on biblical justice by Hurd and his wife Pia Moriarty. Workshops will be held that day as well as on Saturday. Topics will range from practical liturgical training in music and ritual to spirituality sessions relating to Mary, sacred gesture as prayer, ministry to youth, women as leaders, Hawaiian spirituality and male discipleship.
In addition, Father Joncas will deliver the Marianist-sponsored Mackey Lecture on Saturday. His topic is “The Spirit of Malia Fifty Years after Vatican II: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going.” If that weren’t enough, Haugen, Haas and Father Joncas will then give a special concert.
The weekend closes Saturday night, Nov. 7, with Eucharist and a fundraising luau.
BILAC brochures will be mailed in August. However, conference information and registration via credit card are already available online at www.marianistbilac.wordpress.com.
Questions? Contact Brother Dennis Schmitz at baldschmitz@aol.com or 808-232-6691.