Father Stan Fortuna found a way to put together his life’s two callings, music and the priesthood, in ways that help him reach out to young people. Fortuna, an accomplished bassist who plays and records with a professional jazz trio called Scola Tristano, also pursues a solo career—as a rap artist.

He first heard rap when he was a seminarian working in Spanish Harlem. He told National Catholic Reporter, “I thought, ‘Holy smokes, these guys are phenomenal.’ I was deeply moved by the spontaneity of it.” Father Stan calls his rap and other compositions “the message of the Gospel wrapped up in music.” In 1987 he established a company, Francesco Productions, the profits of which support his ministry, including the South Bronx Youth Cultural Centre. Through concerts, CDs, DVDs, talks, books, and sermons, he gets a message of faith out to young people.

His community, New York City’s Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, have given him their support. “Thank God for my community,” Fortuna says. “They said, ‘God gave you this gift. Use it.’ I thought I was done playing music when I became a priest.” Fortuna also traces his inspiration to Pope John Paul II and the late pontiff’s concern for youth and culture.

Visit Francesco Productions at www.francescoproductions.com and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal at www.franciscanfriars.com.

After the death from cancer at age 57 of their beloved abbot Francis Kline last August, the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina looked to a member of their community who had been with them since 1959 but ordained a priest for only three years.

Father Stanley Gumula, originally from Philadelphia, had been in charge of the monastery’s provisions—a position known as the cellarer—since 1984. A few years ago his brothers at Mepkin called on him to pursue the priesthood, and he was ordained in June of 2003.

Speaking of the death of Father Kline and the community’s reaction, Father Stan said, “As in times past, the brothers have responded, regrouped and are ready and eager to move forward together. Our desire and hope is to continue to show the compassionate face of Christ in the Lowcountry and that reconciliation between divergent voices and groups and between human communities and our natural surroundings and ecosystems is always possible. Mepkin is above all a place of prayer where God and his people can become one.”

Visit Mepkin Abbey at www.mepkinabbey.org.