“At the end of the day,” says Fr. Stan Fortuna, C.F.R., “we teach more by example than anything else. And that’s always difficult, because our example is not perfect.” Fr. Stan, beloved as the “Rapping Reverend” from the South Bronx, was addressing parents and teachers on the topic of “Reaching Youth in a Media Culture” May 16 as part of a three-day “Faith and Family” mission at Dante Alighieri Academy in northwest Toronto.
While not a parent himself, Fr. Stan has significant experience connecting with young people damaged by the breakdown of family and society. He honed his brand of tough love as he witnessed the self-destructive behaviour of an African-American goddaughter – who was born crack-addicted – yield to more positive choices. Through his own recording company and youth centre, he is a father figure to numerous local young people missing dads of their own. The constancy of his outreach enables those kids to hear about God the Father.
Fr. Stan’s visit to Dante this year, dubbed “The Return,” took an expanded form from the stand-alone concert he offered there last year. This time, he gave the 1,400 students not only a concert, but a school assembly about the search for authentic love and an instructional Mass guiding them through the Catholic liturgy. He urged the students to become “new, radical, rebellious, revolutionary warriors of reckless love,” giving interwoven examples from Scripture, the lives of the saints and papal documents. Sustaining their attention with his eclectic musical talents and comedic voices, Fr. Stan powerfully challenged the kids to embrace Christian conversion, chastity and the cause of life.
Quite deliberately, he first offered some formation for the educators and caregivers in the students’ lives. Fr. Stan had two pleas for the parents and teachers: that they be deeply rooted in prayer and that they be truly present to the kids. As a former professional jazz musician, he himself doesn’t “like” rap music. Yet, he uses rap – and an astounding variety of other musical genres – to preach the Gospel, has fun doing so and pours out love for young people to bring them to God. It is Fr. Stan’s gift of self that endures even more than the music. To those adults less likely than he to be perceived as “cool,” his advice was, “Then just show up and be uncool … and that’s what’s going to last.”
Fr. Stan chastized secular leaders such as Newt Gingrich, who said that “cyberspace is the land of knowledge and the exploration of that land can be a civilization’s highest calling.” The priest reminded his audience that the highest human vocation is love. He encouraged parents to ensure that their children are more than “wired up” electronically, but are spiritually and emotionally connected as well, so that they are capable of living passionately.
Carla Alaimo, a parent herself and a teacher of French and religion at Dante, appreciated Fr. Stan’s message. After 23 years of teaching, she says, “I’m seeing as the years go on … that faith is becoming less of a priority in the family and the parents need to hear and know that … as Father said, (the youth) are being exposed to lies … and the only place they’re going to find truth is with God and their faith.”
