Apr
17
2020
By Anonymous (not verified)
Walking the dog every morning for many months, Mike Sacilowski of Cheektowaga, New York, had his mind on St. Joseph. During those walks, he memorized a 6,000-word script about the life of St. Joseph. He wrote it himself over a span of six months, using various resources including Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father, by Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC.
"I put my heart and soul into [the script]," he said. "I hope to present it and get it out there ... This is one of the greatest things that I've ever done. I'm really happy with it."
The name of Mike's presentation is "God's Son, My Son." It features himself playing St. Joseph, and it can be found on YouTube. He originally planned on presenting at churches in the area, but the pandemic gave him incentive to make his presentation into a video. "I'm not a trained actor. I'm no Jim Caviezel, but I did my best."
Mike has been giving presentations about saints for the past five years. It began as an assignment in a class on spirituality when he was working on his master's degree in theology. "We were encouraged to dress up as a saint and present their spirituality. That's where it all started." In his first presentation, he portrayed St. Benedict. Then when he took a job as a director of religious education, he was inspired to create another one.
"I was at our [Catholic] school and noticed St. Patrick's Day decorations, which included leprechauns and pots of gold. I thought 'What about St. Patrick?' That was my impetus to start [doing more presentations on saints]. People were losing sight of the true meaning of feast days. I found that giving presentations is a good way to spread the faith in an entertaining way.
"It's so hard in today's society to express our love for God to people. We tend to shy away from that. If I went around and said to people, 'I love Jesus and God,' people might not respond as well. But with presentations like mine, people are drawn in a little more because it's St. Joseph saying everything, so that awkwardness is eliminated."
Mike read Consecration to St. Joseph as soon as it came out in early 2020. Before then, Mike admits he had never had much of a devotion to the earthly father of Jesus.
"But now that I've spent the last year asking for his intercession, I feel he's really interceded. So many things have fallen into place in the last year, and I attribute it to St. Joseph." Then in late 2020, Pope Francis declared a "Year of St. Joseph." "Everything seemed to be coming together," Mike said.
Mike's family helped him create and produce the video. A few of his family members provided voiceover talent. Usually when Mike gives presentations, he's aided by a PowerPoint presentation, which prompts him about what to say next. This time, he didn't use PowerPoint, so he had to rely more on his own memory. "It took a lot of time to memorize it. I hope to present it and get it out there more."
When he finished the video, Mike sent it to Fr. Donald. "He took the time to watch it from beginning to end. I was so impressed with that. He said it was 'theologically sound.' ... One of the things that he said that made most sense to me was, he hopes it brings people 'closer to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.' And that's really what it's all about."
"I put my heart and soul into [the script]," he said. "I hope to present it and get it out there ... This is one of the greatest things that I've ever done. I'm really happy with it."
The name of Mike's presentation is "God's Son, My Son." It features himself playing St. Joseph, and it can be found on YouTube. He originally planned on presenting at churches in the area, but the pandemic gave him incentive to make his presentation into a video. "I'm not a trained actor. I'm no Jim Caviezel, but I did my best."
Mike has been giving presentations about saints for the past five years. It began as an assignment in a class on spirituality when he was working on his master's degree in theology. "We were encouraged to dress up as a saint and present their spirituality. That's where it all started." In his first presentation, he portrayed St. Benedict. Then when he took a job as a director of religious education, he was inspired to create another one.
"I was at our [Catholic] school and noticed St. Patrick's Day decorations, which included leprechauns and pots of gold. I thought 'What about St. Patrick?' That was my impetus to start [doing more presentations on saints]. People were losing sight of the true meaning of feast days. I found that giving presentations is a good way to spread the faith in an entertaining way.
"It's so hard in today's society to express our love for God to people. We tend to shy away from that. If I went around and said to people, 'I love Jesus and God,' people might not respond as well. But with presentations like mine, people are drawn in a little more because it's St. Joseph saying everything, so that awkwardness is eliminated."
Mike read Consecration to St. Joseph as soon as it came out in early 2020. Before then, Mike admits he had never had much of a devotion to the earthly father of Jesus.
"But now that I've spent the last year asking for his intercession, I feel he's really interceded. So many things have fallen into place in the last year, and I attribute it to St. Joseph." Then in late 2020, Pope Francis declared a "Year of St. Joseph." "Everything seemed to be coming together," Mike said.
Mike's family helped him create and produce the video. A few of his family members provided voiceover talent. Usually when Mike gives presentations, he's aided by a PowerPoint presentation, which prompts him about what to say next. This time, he didn't use PowerPoint, so he had to rely more on his own memory. "It took a lot of time to memorize it. I hope to present it and get it out there more."
When he finished the video, Mike sent it to Fr. Donald. "He took the time to watch it from beginning to end. I was so impressed with that. He said it was 'theologically sound.' ... One of the things that he said that made most sense to me was, he hopes it brings people 'closer to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.' And that's really what it's all about."
