by Marc and Julie Anderson
mjanderson@theleaven.org
BLUE RAPIDS — The reset button.
That’s how Daniel Oberreuter referred to the sacrament of reconciliation during what was billed as a mission concert held Sept. 29 at Valley Heights Elementary School in Blue Rapids.
Titled “Come Holy My Son,” the evening featured more than an hour’s worth of Oberreuter’s original songs. He is the founder of The Thirsting, one of the few touring Catholic rock bands in the country. Three parishes — Annunciation in Frankfort; St. Monica-St. Elizabeth in Blue Rapids; and St. Columbkille, Blaine — hosted the evening.
In between songs, Oberreuter shared with the audience of 200 the stories behind the songs, as well as some of his life experience as a Catholic husband and father of four sons. He also spoke about the saints, the importance of spending time in prayer and the importance of the sacrament of reconciliation.
During a particularly rough patch in his marriage, Oberreuter said, he was looking for a reset button. He finally realized it could be found in confession.
But he had advice for the unmarried, too.
Oberreuter recounted how once, prior to meeting his wife, he met a single woman while out dancing. She seemed sad. When he questioned her, she mentioned she had just broken up with her boyfriend because she knew God was calling her to do something different.
Taken in by her sincerity, he later wrote a song about it, one that he shared with the young woman. It tells the story of two people breaking up, but ultimately about discovering God’s plan for your life.
“No matter how old you are, Jesus still has a plan for you,” Oberreuter told the audience. “How do we know God’s will for us? . . . We have to spend time in silence with Jesus. . . . He has the answer to all of your problems — the solution.”
He also shared how important the rosary has been in his life since his late teens.
“I want to encourage you all to pray the rosary,” he said, explaining that when he was 16 years old, he made his first confession. His penance was to pray the rosary every day, a practice he’s continued ever since.
“Through the rosary, I came to know Jesus,” Oberreuter said. “My family would be upstairs watching ‘Seinfeld,’ and I’d be downstairs praying the rosary.”
But sometimes if he’s having a particularly tough day, he said, he just prays a very short prayer.
“Sometimes I just say, ‘Jesus, I belong to you. Jesus, I trust in you.’ And I just pray his name,” Oberreuter said. “It’s the most powerful name in the universe.”
Following the concert, Father Anthony Chendumalli, pastor of St. Monica-St. Elizabeth, Annunciation and St. Columbkille, led everyone in eucharistic adoration and Benediction.
The evening was the idea of Janice Rowe, a member of St. Monica-St. Elizabeth Parish.
In 2019, Rowe, along with representatives from the other parishes, participated in the archdiocesan convocation. The parish representatives have continued to lead evangelization efforts, but Rowe wasn’t satisfied.
“I kept thinking we have to do more to evangelize. We have to do more to let everybody know about Jesus and not just the Catholics — everyone,” she said.
When she heard of The Thirsting, she started listening to the group, buying a few CDs online and eventually connecting with Oberreuter via email about the possibility of him doing a mission concert for the parishes.
After months of planning, Rowe said she could hardly believe the big day had finally arrived. She was particularly pleased by the robust attendance, and the fact that a lot of teenagers were in the crowd.
Eighth graders Kallie Farrell and Claire Bergess, both from Annunciation Parish, said they both enjoyed the evening very much, with Farrell adding that her favorite part was eucharistic adoration.
“I felt really close to God,” she said.
“I think my favorite part,” said Bergess, “was all of the little stories about why he wrote the songs. It was very meaningful to be able to understand the songs.”
Father Chendumalli said he was gratified by the turnout. He had hoped for 100, but got 200, and he was pleased that nearly everyone stayed for eucharistic adoration. Since coming back from the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis this past summer, he’s been particularly concerned with bringing the message of the Eucharistic Revival to his people.
“Jesus is present in every corner of our archdiocese, in every corner of our nation,” he said.
