By Lindsay Steele
The Catholic Messenger
Divine Mercy Parish in Burlington/West Burlington is hosting its fifth-annual Faith Festival Aug. 17 and 18 in Crapo Park in Burlington.
Faith fest will kick off Aug. 17 with a concert by Tony Melendez, a Nicaraguan-American guitar player, composer, singer, songwriter and author who was born without arms. He has performed around the world and will share his story of faith in words and song in the Crapo Park bandshell at 6:30 p.m.
On Aug. 18, the first event will be rosary prayer at the band shell at 3 p.m. Mass will begin at 4 p.m., followed by a potluck picnic with table service provided. Father Dan Dorau, the parish’s parochial vicar, will share his faith story during his homily. Additionally, a family swim will take place from 6-8 p.m. in the Dankwardt Pool. Admission is free to all events, including the pool party.
For the first time, guests will be able to wear official Faith Fest shirts. To get youths involved with the planning and promotion of Faith Fest, a contest was held this past spring at Notre Dame Catholic Schools in Burlington. Junior high students submitted drawings of what united faith looks like to them. High school students submitted a line of Scripture meaningful to them, said Heather Tieman, the parish’s director of Faith Formation and Evangelization. The Faith Fest committee selected three T-shirts from the entries, each with a different design on the front and a corresponding Scripture message on the back. These three T-shirts were created and sold; the one that sold the most was selected as the official Faith Fest T-shirt.
Anna Engberg, who will enter seventh grade in the fall, created the winning drawing, which features a blue, heart-shaped jigsaw puzzle design with the words “United in Faith!” printed in the center in magenta. Small pink hearts surround the heart on the red T-shirts. “I thought about my design for a long time and finally thought about puzzle pieces. I like that they were connected; like how we are connected in faith. When I found out I won I was surprised because there were a lot of good designs,” she said.
Kennedy Hopper, who graduated from Notre Dame in the spring, chose the winning Scripture message: “Love covers over a multitude of sins” from 1 Peter: 4. “I chose this Scripture because all people make mistakes and mistakes don’t define who we are as people. No matter how many mistakes we’ve made, God still shows us love and doesn’t throw us away.”
T-shirts can be ordered at the parish or at https://tinyurl.com/yd94pwg8.
