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Vol #2 CD
"Jesus in My Heart "
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From Tears to Eternal Hope and Joyful Witness:

An Interview with Gerald and Denise of Cat. Chat

by Bobbi

 

Interview done in June 2007.

For several months now, whenever Bella was playing in her room I could hear her singing along to her new CD Cat. Chat: The Catholic Audio Show for Kids. I was impressed as I listened to her sing about having Jesus in her heart, about the Eucharist and about Our Lady. I was pleased to see her learning about her Catholic faith in a fun and engaging way. Wanting to know more about Cat Chat, I contacted the brains behind the project, Gerald and Denise Montpetit. I was touched by their story and witness. Check it out.

 

RoL: How did Cat. Chat come about?

CC: From the first few years of our marriage, it had been a prayer on our hearts to be able to do ministry together as a couple and as a family.  With my experience in sound recording and songwriting and my wife's experience as a religious education teacher, we were more than eager to share the gifts and talents the Lord had given us.

After much prayer and discernment, the Holy Spirit started revealing to us His plan for this ministry. It was not until about eight years into our marriage that my wife Denise and I felt called to create a quality Catholic CD series that has great catechetics and captivating songs all in one. We decided to call it Cat. Chat: The Catholic Audio Show for Kids.
         
During this whole discernment process, a difficult, yet touching experience helped unfold the finer details of what Cat.Chat was to become, including who the main characters of this audio show would be. In 1999, when our niece Tristan Humphries (the voice of Hannah on each CD) was only four years old, her mother Louise (my sister) passed away from cancer at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Tristan's real life experience was echoed in the Cat.Chat Vol#1 script; she actually “visited her mom in that really big hospital…kissed her… and hugged her really hard” the day her mom died.
         
Tristan, her brother Keenan and their father Mark have experienced first hand the hardships, the pain and the sorrow of losing a wife and mother. They truly lived some of what the main characters - Papa, Josh and Hannah - experienced in this audio show. Their life story, echoed through the various Cat.Chat CDs, inspires and encourages us to keep the end in mind; which is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

RoL: Who is involved with the production of Cat. Chat?

CC: Each CD has approximately 40-50 people involved in its' productions. The main singers for the CD series are Janelle, a rapidly growing Nashville Catholic recording artist, Christine Paranych, a local Catholic singer, songwriter and illustrator for Cat.Chat, as well as myself and several talented kids who sing some of the songs.  There are also two different kids' choirs who record on the albums- one choir consists of about 20 kids, ages 6 to 9; the other consists of about 20 kids, ages 10 to 15.  We blend these together to make one beautiful and angelic sounding choir.  We have been blessed to have access to a professional recording studio where all of the music is recorded.  With input from different professionals in the music industry, we strive to have the best possible sound quality on each CD. We also have close friends who do all of the illustrations and graphic design for each of the CDs and books.

RoL: Are there any projects for the future?

CC: We are currently planning a DVD of our Live concert presentation. It will be over an hour of ministry featuring favorite Cat.Chat songs, sung by me, the Cat.Chat Man, captivating stories, cool juggling, wild unicycling and of course fun with Moses the Cat our mascot.

RoL: Who does the live concerts? Are they available in the states?

CC: Our whole family is involved in each concert. Our 10 year old daughter does a couple of dances and helps with Moses backstage, Dominic our 8 year old is our drummer, Jerome our 6 year old plays spoons and the bongos and Luc our 3 year old comes up a couple of times as part of the show. Denise, my wife, runs the tracks  the sound for each concert as well. Moses the Cat and I have a great time interacting with the kids and families during each performance.

As far as the US goes, we will be at the Eucharistic Congress in Atlanta in June and we are planning a Northern US tour in Sept/Oct of 07. We are very excited to bring our concerts into the US since we have a lot of Cat.Chat fans there who are so excited about Cat.Chat  are especially looking forward to meeting Moses and see the concert. (See www.catchat.ca/concerts for details.)

RoL: Tell us about your Vacation Bible School (VBS).

CC: Our VBS was released this Spring and we have been so blessed to hear the responses so far. With the new Cat.Chat VBS, kids can spend a whole week learning about how MARY LEADS ME CLOSER TO JESUS and the importance of making JESUS KING OF OUR LIVES -- through teachings, music, games, crafts & snacks! The program is based on the teachings found in Cat.Chat: The Catholic Audio Show for Kids Volume #1: "Mary Leads Me Closer to Jesus". It is designed for groups of any size with participants ages 4-12, and is great for parishes, home-school groups, summer programs, classrooms or even in-home use! Denise and her team put a tremendous amount of work into creating this program but I believe it was well worth it.

RoL: After listening to one of the CD’s, it is obvious that you have a love of the faith and want to share it. Were you always so alive in your faith?

CC: Actually, no.

RoL: What brought you back?

CC: Well, for myself it was a Pentacostal church. I was actually double dipping….Catholic Mass on Sunday morning and then a Pentacostal service in the evening. I was very blessed and thankful that these evangelicals passed on to me a love for Christ and the scriptures. It wasn't until I started getting challenged about my Catholic faith that I began to study and pray about my roots in Catholicism. I started reading and listening to guys like Scoot Hahn and Jeff Cavins and that is where my journey began. I was on fire for Christ and His Church  I eventually passed this zeal onto my fiancée Denise who also caught this passion, but it wasn't until eight years into our marriage that we started doing public ministry together as a couple.

RoL: What was the biggest influence that helped you hold onto and grow in your faith?

CC: We connected ourselves with like-minded friends who we could pray together and also have fun with. Both of our families have also been very supportive and great witnesses of faith and family life to the both of us.

RoL: How do you and your wife foster a love for the faith in your own children?

CC: This is definitely a challenge.

  1. I believe that the biggest impact we can have on our kids is by persevering in our own walk as disciples of Christ. Our kids are a part of all that we do and so they are always watching, learning, imitating and doing what they see us doing. When we fail or mess up we talk to the kids about what we did wrong and if we have offended them we ask for their forgiveness.
  2. Communication. We talk a lot with our kids about everything. They have lots of questions. We try and keep the lines open at all times so that they know they have a listening heart who will always be their for them.
  3. Time.  Although running a ministry, homeschooling and parenting are very taxing, we try and captivate on those "teach-able moments" that arise out of the blue. These I find are the most powerful! Kids are like sponges at this time and it seems like the Holy Spirit orchestrates these 'moments' to teach and inspire the kids about the faith.
  4. Filtering what comes into our home, whether it’s the internet, videos, games, books or toys. It needs to pass by Mom or Dad before being accepted into our home. This is no easy task. As you know, the world is in hi-gear throwing everything under sun to try and rob our kids of their innocents and rob them of their faith.
  5. We do not have and have not had reception to our TV in the last fourteen years. Personally, one of the best decisions we have ever made.

    
RoL: As a couple with young children, how do you balance your work and travel in the apostolate with your first responsibilities as spouses and parents?

CC: This is a real juggling act. It is the office and administration of the ministry that can take a toll on the kids if we let it. This is an area that can easily rob us of our time with the kids. We have to keep this in check at all times. The blessing is that we always travel as a family when we do concerts. Denise and the kids love to travel! It really bonds us as a family.

RoL: What is the most important thing in your life that helps you to live as a man of God in your vocation as a husband and father?

CC: " The classroom of silence," as Mathew Kelly puts it. Prayer is the foundation of all that I do, but more importantly, prayer is what calls me, challenges me and strengthens me to be the man, husband, father and friend I am called to be. Silence leads me into the presence of God who then guides me with love and convicts me of my need for Him.  The sacraments are also key to maintaining a strong spiritual life. When my prayer life is down so is my spirit. Without prayer I am weak and less effective as a husband and  father. I am still learning and practicing this wonderful mystery and trying like St. Paul says, “to pray without ceasing." To always be repeating in my heart throughout my busy days the mantra 'Jesus, I trust in you!'.

RoL: Being from the states, I hear about many great Catholic apostolates and artists from Canada, yet I also read about troubling government decisions. How do you view the state of the Catholic Church in Canada?

CC: The Church in Canada is sleeping but slowly awakening to the challenges we face.
Our politicians have recently made some bad decisions in regards to family, faith and morals and it has impacted the state of the Church and the country as a whole in a very negative way. This has however, gotten us off our comfortable seats and forced us as Christians to challenge the state and let them know that Christianity is still a very large part of our Canadian heritage and that strong families, as well as an increase in important decisions based on faith and morals, is what will save our nation.

RoL: If you could get across one main point to fellow Catholics, what would it be?

CC: Let Jesus permeate every part of your being. Continue to ask our beloved Mother to intercede for you that you may have the same abandonment to God that she had. Holding his arms out in the form of the Cross, Fr. Miquel Pro shouted out, “Viva Christo Rey, “Long live Christ The King,” a moment before a firing squad killed him in Mexico City on November 23, 1927. May Christ the King inspire and give you the zeal and wisdom needed to live life to the fullest!

RoL: Thanks so much, Gerald and Denise. We appreciate your time and answers. May God continue to bless your work and ministry!

CC: Thank you so much for the opportunity to share with you a little about our journey with Christ as a family. May the Lord bless your apostolate as well.

Gerald and Denise Montpetit live in Canada with their four children. Visit their website at http://www.catchat.ca.