Six parishes in Lycoming County are joining forces for a special event during Lent and people from north central and northeastern Pennsylvania and beyond are invited to attend.

Saint Boniface Catholic Church, 326 Washington Boulevard, Williamsport, will host Made for More: Visions from the Promised Land on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 beginning at 7:00 p.m.

The event will feature Christopher West, best-selling author, speaker and teacher, along with folk/Americana musician Mike Mangione.

“Where do we come from and where are we going? If we don’t have compelling answers to these questions, we have no orientation in our lives,” West said.

West is known around the world for his teaching of Saint John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body.” He is co-founder of the Theology of the Body Institute. Written by the late Pope John Paul II, the Theology of the Body offers an in-depth biblical exploration of the meaning of our creation as male and female in the divine image.

“We’re taking people on a journey through some particular words of Christ. We start with: ‘They look but do not see.’ So we’ve been trained to look at the world, but not see it; to look at the human body, for instance, but not see it. All of creation has a message, and Jesus says, ‘Come and become one who sees.’ He’s in the business of giving sight to the blind,” West added.

Makenzie Conner, director of youth ministry for Saint Joseph the Worker Parish, says the program will include live music, videos, images and the spoken word.

“It will give you a greater understanding of what we are celebrating as Easter people and what we’re looking for in the resurrection of Christ,” Conner said about the timing of the program, which will be right before Holy Week.

Organizers are hoping for several hundred people to attend.

“My hope and goal personally for this event is that people attend, are open minded about it, gain something from it and then use that later in their everyday life or parish life,” Conner added.

The evening is being hosted by Saint Joseph the Worker Parish in Williamsport and co-hosted by Saint Ann, Saint Boniface/Saint Lawrence and Immaculate Conception/Saint Luke parishes in Williamsport; The Church of the Resurrection Parish in Muncy; and Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Montoursville.

“Every pastor is fully committed and fully involved in the process of bringing Christopher West and Mike Mangione and the Made for More project here to Williamsport,” Conner said. “We wanted to be able to bring an experience, not just a speaker or workshop, but an actual experience!”

The event is open to everyone in the community, not just Catholic parishioners.

“This event is for married, single, celibate, Catholic, non-Catholic, devout, skeptic, youth and experienced,” Mangione said.

When asked to describe the Made for More program, Mangione called it a special and unique opportunity.

“It’s a presentation meant to meet you where you are and bring you to a place of communion. It is the culmination of Christopher’s 25 years in this work, my 15 in music and our friendship. It is a conversation through sight and sound about how God reveals himself through creation and how our desires are meant to draw us closer to Him,” he said.

Made for More: Visions of the Promised Land is a ticketed event. The cost to attend is $25 and tickets may be purchased at corproject.com/Williamsport.

Tickets may also be purchased by contacting any of the sponsoring parishes – or by contacting Makenzie Conner at (570) 323-9456 or emailing youthmin@sjwparish.com.