The John-Henry Westen Show - May 31, 2023


The Sound of Salvation ｜ Music Ministry in Prisons with Eric Genuis


Episode Stats

Length

45 minutes

Words per Minute

180.92352

Word Count

8,279

Sentence Count

625

Misogynist Sentences

4

Hate Speech Sentences

4


Summary

Eric Jenis is a musician, composer, songwriter, and singer-songwriter. He has performed at more than 1,000 concerts in prisons across the United States, and has a heart for the poor. In this episode, Eric talks about his faith, his music, and how he uses his talents to bring hope to prisoners in prison.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 I take world-class soloists, so the best of the best. So I take violins and cellists and singers
00:00:05.500 that can solo anywhere in the world, and I go into the darkest places in the world.
00:00:18.540 Hey, my friends. I am so pleased to bring you to someone who is actually an old friend of mine.
00:00:25.520 This is one of those guys who I knew shortly after my conversion, reversion to the faith,
00:00:33.640 and incredible guy who was a musician. I was a great musician, but when I met him first,
00:00:43.400 he was a single guy, by the way, he was just into music and doing music for the Lord
00:00:51.140 in a way that was stunning. His songs were so inspiring that they were prayers in and of
00:00:56.860 themselves. You could pray with them. He went on into doing all sorts of great and amazing things.
00:01:04.020 He played with full orchestras, his own compositions all over the world. Stunning stuff. He was
00:01:10.820 involved with EWTN. He was originally Canadian, by the way, but he's been in the States many,
00:01:15.940 many years now. But you know, one of the works that he has done is truly moving, and that's something I
00:01:25.020 want to share with you. It is his work in prisons with prisoners, bringing them hope, bringing them
00:01:32.500 amazing concerts in jail, and it's done stunning things. He's never shined to evangelize with the
00:01:40.040 faith, and he brings it into all his music. It all comes out of a very deep life of faith,
00:01:49.380 one which, as is in the case of most people of great faith, that's born in a great crucible of
00:01:56.900 suffering. Stay tuned for this interview with Eric Jenis.
00:02:01.460 Hello, friends. To celebrate the momentous overturning of Roe v. Wade, we at LifeSite have
00:02:09.060 minted just under 10,000 of these brand new limited edition pro-life silver rounds. Now,
00:02:13.800 each round is stamped with the image of the Supreme Court of the United States, featuring the date that
00:02:19.240 the High Court delivered this historic victory. And on the front of our pure silver rounds, LifeSite's
00:02:23.940 logo surrounded by a brilliant sunburst and draped with olive branches. They, of course, commemorate our
00:02:28.660 25-year anniversary of LifeSite News. We began in 1997 in September. So, September of 2022 was 25
00:02:35.500 years. These one-ounce silver rounds are available from our partners at stjosephspartners.com,
00:02:41.360 where you can fulfill all of your silver and gold needs in this perilous time. May God bless you.
00:02:48.660 Eric, welcome to the program.
00:02:51.040 Thank you. So great to be here, and so great to see you again.
00:02:54.140 Let's begin as we always do at the sign of the cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
00:03:00.980 and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
00:03:05.260 Eric, what a joy. It is a great, great privilege for me to be with you again. I haven't seen you in
00:03:11.760 years. Well, seen you, seen you. I watch you, and I've seen your great work, but it's so great to
00:03:17.880 talk to you again. Would you mind starting off with giving everyone a little background on your life?
00:03:25.080 You're doing incredible work, but the story of your faith and of your family, I think, is really
00:03:33.320 the crucial from where all that comes from, if you wouldn't mind sharing with us.
00:03:35.960 Sure. So, I started, you know, I was studying piano, even as a child. And I, you know, I used to,
00:03:44.860 I got, I went and did, you know, performance on the piano, and all that was wonderful. And I studied
00:03:50.620 a great deal of classical music, but I always had a love and a passion for composing my own.
00:03:55.520 And when I got my final exam, and my piano studies were done, I've never played anybody else's music
00:04:02.420 again. I've only, you know, practiced, rehearsed, and composed, and worked on, and performed my own
00:04:08.740 music. Got married at 27 years old. We have four beautiful children. One of my children passed away.
00:04:16.300 We have three. We've had a number of pregnancies that ended up, you know, the child being born,
00:04:22.340 living for a few hours, and passing away. So, I'm waiting for, we have a whole, whole army waiting
00:04:27.900 for us up in heaven. But I, John Henry, with the, with the concept of my work, I promised the Lord
00:04:35.500 as a young man that I would never say no. If somebody wanted an Eric Janus concert, I would
00:04:41.780 move mountains to go and, and to perform. And one of the things I found was I, I take world-class
00:04:48.800 soloists, so the best of the best. So, I take violinists and cellists and singers that can solo
00:04:54.020 anywhere in the world. And I go into the darkest places in the world. So, I played over a thousand
00:05:00.620 shows in prisons. My one thousandth show was in Death Row in Texas. And it was really quite an
00:05:07.540 interesting show. I'll just give you a little bit of the background of that show. It was sort of like
00:05:11.140 a V. So, it's a V, and you're performing right at the corner of the V. And that V is broken up into
00:05:17.480 three sections. Section one, they have dates. You know, believe it or not, these guys on Death Row,
00:05:21.480 John Henry, they don't, they don't dread the day they're going to die. They dread the day they could
00:05:27.600 be in there for decades. And most of them are. They dread the day that they get a call from their
00:05:34.600 lawyer for them to say, the state is now preparing your date of execution. That's the day they dread.
00:05:40.580 Isn't that amazing? So, they live day after day, just dreading this phone call. So, we played this
00:05:48.560 concert. I've done, you know, a number of concerts on Death Row recently since COVID-2. Then I'm going
00:05:53.040 back and doing a third in October. Going back next week to play up in Pelican Bay, which is a super
00:05:58.780 maximum security prison up in California. But playing back to this V, one section has dates,
00:06:04.680 another section are waiting for dates, and another section are fighting their convictions. And I put
00:06:10.640 speakers in all three sections, and they're not allowed out of their cells. So, I'm running like a
00:06:15.400 madman from one section to the next. And I'm speaking to them, and I'm talking and, you know,
00:06:21.340 giving the background of each piece as though, you know, I can see them, but I can't. Even when I'm
00:06:28.540 right in front of their cell, big cement wall is just a slit for them to look through. So, we finish,
00:06:35.220 they scream. They are very gracious, and I mean scream in a positive way. They're very grateful,
00:06:42.740 John Henry. And I'm using them because they are an extreme example of, you know, the scene,
00:06:49.480 the famous scene everybody knows from, you know, Shawshank Redemption, John Henry. I live every show,
00:06:54.680 every show in these prisons. So, we perform, and then I went from cell to cell. What do I see in
00:07:00.480 Men on Death Row? I see them in tears, because when I'm going from cell to cell after the show,
00:07:05.600 I'm looking through the slit to see them, and they're looking through the slit to see me.
00:07:09.580 So, it's like we're face to fit. And they're living in a cell, 8 by 10 maybe.
00:07:16.520 And, you know, most of them don't because of staffing issues. They don't get their hour out.
00:07:20.420 So, they're in those cells, no windows. And what are they doing up there? They're doing book studies.
00:07:26.540 They're doing, you know, they're studying Plato. And they all say this thing. I did my crime 20,
00:07:32.920 30 years ago. I was either high or in the middle of an addiction. And my judgment was completely off.
00:07:40.900 John Henry, that is the real pandemic. You want to talk pandemic? The drugs that these kids have
00:07:46.120 exposure to is so bad. And it destroys how they think, and it destroys their judgment. And then
00:07:52.500 they do things they would never identify with, or never relate to. So, here up in Death Row,
00:07:56.960 you have 40, 50-year-old men who have done horrible things. And they are so remorseful.
00:08:03.520 You know, I see this over and over again. It just breaks my heart. Because I think, you know,
00:08:07.780 that's the problem. The problem is, if we weren't living in such a culture with the availability of
00:08:13.380 these drugs was right there to children. And we didn't promote it as it being cool. Or we didn't
00:08:18.140 sort of, you know, sing about it and make TV shows about it that make it look kind of fun. And
00:08:24.120 how cool it is to get high and all that. There's nothing cool about it. Nothing, nothing cool or
00:08:30.020 worthwhile about it. Nothing good comes from it. Nothing. You know, when people talk about it like
00:08:35.480 it's fun or funny or what they're doing this weekend, I think, come with me. Spend one day with
00:08:39.680 me in these prisons. And it'll cure you of any desire to be cool in that aspect. But these are men,
00:08:45.460 John Henry, they have souls like you and I. Before God, there is no difference in dignity. You know,
00:08:51.800 I get a lot of mail that's unpleasant saying, you know, how dare you go in and play for them. And
00:08:56.460 I get sometimes, you know, you know, mail that'll say things like, you know, I hope the family of
00:09:01.920 the victims find you, you know, things like that. And, and yeah, you know, but I mean, people are
00:09:07.660 hurt by crime. And, you know, I don't respond to them. But my thought is, okay, if you're hurt by crime,
00:09:12.600 I get it. We all are to a certain degree at certain level. So let's do something about it. Go and tutor
00:09:17.860 a child in the inner city school that has no father, that has a mother that's a, you know, sort
00:09:22.960 of leaves them or, or, or, you know, struggling with addiction. So the children are, are, are, you
00:09:29.520 know, kind of ostracized, or they're just kind of neglected. Go and help, you know, go and be part of
00:09:36.980 the solution. We're all part of the solution, John Henry, great things happen. But there is such a need.
00:09:42.100 So I've thrown my life at taking world class soloists and going into rehab centers and inner
00:09:48.080 city schools, and prisons throughout the world, mostly in the United States since COVID, but
00:09:53.400 throughout the world, and tried to elevate their humanity and sort of, you know, remind
00:09:59.680 them of who they are as people with profound dignity, that we all have that we can't lose.
00:10:05.300 And that's that comes from one area. And that is the fact that we're all made in the image
00:10:09.060 of God, which is a very complex reality. But it's worth diving into that, that complexity
00:10:15.120 for life, right? It's worth sort of thinking about that and coming to the realization of
00:10:20.780 that, and really trying to uncover that. And how do you uncover that? Prayer and sacraments,
00:10:26.060 it's the only way.
00:10:27.680 Absolutely. Okay, set up this clip for us. This is you in a prison, having performed, we're
00:10:34.440 going to show a little bit of that, but also the reaction of prisoners to it. Tell us about
00:10:40.020 this before we play it.
00:10:41.120 Every time I play in prison, John Henry, one of the beautiful things I do is I go to the
00:10:44.960 back after the show when there's time. There's not always time because the prison needs me
00:10:48.940 out, or they're going to do the count, or they're going to lock it down or something.
00:10:53.460 But whenever there's time, I go to the back and I greet the men, or the men come to the
00:10:57.080 front and greet me. And for that two minutes, you know, they're not greeting me. They're
00:11:04.100 sort of trying to uncover the experience that they've had and the experience that I'm so
00:11:09.440 honored and grateful to have been part of by bringing these great soloists and performing
00:11:14.480 for them. So they often come, John Henry, full of emotion, full of tears. You know, going
00:11:21.100 up on death row, this guy, you know, Romero Gonzalez, he was scheduled to die the day before we
00:11:26.620 went in, then he got a last minute stay. So they drove him back to death row. And he's
00:11:32.900 there weeping on the other side of this wall. And he's saying things like I was supposed to
00:11:37.600 die yesterday, I would have missed this. And, you know, I said, this is the highlight of
00:11:42.700 my life. I'll never forget him for saying that. And I just think, oh, I'm so grateful
00:11:47.660 and so humbled, you know, to be able to be given this great gift by God to go in and to
00:11:51.940 share this. So the men, they hug, they shake my hand, they weep, they say strong things,
00:11:58.800 but they're not talking to Eric. Eric is flawed. Eric is broken like everybody else. They're
00:12:04.860 trying to have an encounter. They're trying to come to some sort of meaning to what they
00:12:10.140 just experienced, John Henry. And that for that, I'll be an outlet all day long. And I
00:12:15.140 just stand at the back. And they want to, they want to hug. I'll give them the warmest
00:12:19.740 hug I've got in me. So these are men. These are men who, who are, you know, filled with
00:12:26.720 remorse. But you know, John Henry, when you think about it, and this is one of the first
00:12:31.760 things I say when I walk in, I can read about what you did on Google, unless I'm willing to
00:12:37.480 stand up on this table, and announce all the things I've done wrong, then I have no right
00:12:42.940 to judge. And therefore, there is no judgment in this room. It's just going to be two hours
00:12:47.700 of just sheer glory. And then off we go, then we perform. So, you know, at the end, when
00:12:52.940 we hug, it's just man to man, friend to friend, brother to brother, and just, you know, pouring
00:12:58.140 it all out there. And that's what you're going to see.
00:13:00.460 I was once performing in a prison. And this one guy who was in a gang his whole life said,
00:13:04.720 you know, I've been in here almost my whole life. And he said, this concert almost made it
00:13:08.840 worth it.
00:13:12.940 Because these prisons are void of any beauty.
00:13:29.300 These people are starving for beauty, but they have no experience of beauty whatsoever.
00:13:33.980 Sid, I just want to thank you for gracing us with your presence.
00:13:36.060 Oh, thank you, my friend.
00:13:36.960 And this is really, it was really uplifting for me. You spoke about beauty and the uplifting
00:13:44.080 of the humanity condition. And that starts with love.
00:13:47.340 Yeah.
00:13:48.020 You know, and that's what I felt with your music, love.
00:13:51.180 Awesome.
00:13:51.700 So thank you.
00:13:52.360 Oh, thank you, sir.
00:13:53.260 Hey, thanks, buddy. See you again.
00:14:04.520 Thanks for coming out.
00:14:05.160 Thank you, sir.
00:14:06.380 You bet.
00:14:06.920 You're awesome.
00:14:07.540 All right, thanks.
00:14:08.060 Yeah, bye.
00:14:08.940 Thank you so much.
00:14:09.840 Thank you.
00:14:10.500 Take care, sir.
00:14:12.640 Thank you.
00:14:13.400 Thank you.
00:14:13.880 That's truly beautiful.
00:14:16.780 If you wouldn't mind, Eric, I know there's a lot of people who were interested in what
00:14:23.640 you said at first.
00:14:24.620 You and your beautiful wife have experienced lots of loss in a way that, you know, you want
00:14:33.860 to say nobody should, of children conceived and lost in the womb, and then some born and
00:14:39.720 died whom you were able to give baptism to.
00:14:43.020 And I know they're up in heaven right now, sort of, I always like to think of it, they're
00:14:47.940 pulling on the rope and you guys are hanging on.
00:14:49.740 Like, you do have a little army waiting for you there and rooting for you up there.
00:14:57.320 But if you wouldn't mind going into that a little bit, just so that people understand
00:15:01.380 the suffering that you've endured and what you've done with that suffering that's inspired
00:15:08.760 you so much and made you such a man of faith.
00:15:11.280 So, you know, when you read about all the lives of the saints and when you read different
00:15:15.560 writings of the saints and, you know, Sister Lucia and, you know, from Fatima, they talk
00:15:20.080 about suffering in a really profound way.
00:15:22.460 And the one thing is that I can read about it.
00:15:25.680 But then when you experience some very intense suffering in your own personal life, you can
00:15:30.860 read it again.
00:15:31.440 And it's like, I had no idea what it was saying until now, you know, I met mother
00:15:36.640 Angelica, you know, decades ago.
00:15:38.460 And she once said to me, oh, you're going to go through a great deal of suffering.
00:15:41.300 And I thought, okay, I just sort of, you know, thought, yeah, I didn't think much of
00:15:47.940 it at the time.
00:15:50.460 John Henry, two years ago, so sorry, background to this.
00:15:54.740 So my wife and I have lost a few children.
00:15:56.780 My wife's given birth.
00:15:58.100 The child's lived for a couple hours and then the child has passed away.
00:16:03.160 And that's happened on a couple of occasions.
00:16:05.180 We've lost many children, you know, miscarried many.
00:16:09.260 But our eldest son, Gabriel, was, he has always suffered with this, what they call Asperger's,
00:16:20.240 it's a form of autism.
00:16:22.280 And how does it manifest itself in Gabriel's life?
00:16:25.040 Well, Gabriel was very smart.
00:16:27.180 Gabriel was very good looking.
00:16:29.120 And what happened was a lot of, he would find that, you know, he was well and, you know,
00:16:35.080 he would meet people and want friends and want people's, you know, admiration and love
00:16:39.460 and attention and so on, just like everybody else.
00:16:42.600 But Gabriel was a bit socially different.
00:16:44.860 So, you know, he would just, you know, just, he had Asperger's and it would massive, you know,
00:16:50.000 sort of, it would manifest itself just with a bit of social quirkiness.
00:16:54.080 And people would meet him and then sort of keep a bit of a distance from him.
00:16:58.860 And he felt that distance.
00:17:01.220 And it made him feel horribly lonely, horribly unworthy.
00:17:05.460 And just the other sort of attributes that came with autism and Asperger's as well.
00:17:15.920 And Gabriel took his life two years ago.
00:17:17.560 You know, the pain was overwhelming.
00:17:19.740 The pain was unbearable.
00:17:22.440 And it was many times very unbearable.
00:17:24.820 So to us as parents, it was very, very difficult.
00:17:28.040 It was very sad.
00:17:29.240 It was tragic.
00:17:30.420 It was the sense of loss.
00:17:32.540 You could hardly breathe.
00:17:34.080 You'd almost have to tell yourself, keep breathing, keep breathing at that loss.
00:17:39.060 But it wasn't surprising because the boy had suffered so much.
00:17:43.560 And he always questioned, you know, he said,
00:17:45.180 God, does God abandon me the way people abandon me?
00:17:47.880 Does God reject the way people reject me?
00:17:50.180 So he found it very difficult to sort of feel that he had any sort of,
00:17:54.620 anything about him that was lovable.
00:17:58.840 And this is where I just think, you know, it's sort of, you know,
00:18:04.720 I didn't talk about Gabriel, you know, after the event happened very much
00:18:10.700 because I didn't want the show to become distracting.
00:18:12.840 I wanted people to be uplifted and edified.
00:18:16.120 But John Henry, people started finding out.
00:18:18.000 And then people would tell me, like, come up to me after the show and say,
00:18:21.400 you know, my mother, my father, my dad, my, or sorry, my brother, my sister,
00:18:24.820 my children, my, my aunt, my uncle, my grandfather, they had done similar act.
00:18:29.840 And so I started realizing this is a lot more common and a lot more in the shadows.
00:18:34.760 People would hide it.
00:18:35.720 They wouldn't talk about it.
00:18:37.320 There's a certain shame.
00:18:38.520 There's a certain sense of I have failed.
00:18:40.460 So I thought, okay, you know what?
00:18:43.000 I have to allow my life to be on, you know, just on, on my sleeve.
00:18:48.720 You know, I'm not up at the front holding a microphone or playing the piano because I'm
00:18:52.560 perfect, nor am I doing that because I'm John Henry.
00:18:55.260 I go to daily mass, you know, there may be the odd time.
00:18:57.880 I'm not able to go because of time or something, but for the most part, I go to daily mass,
00:19:02.360 not because I'm holy, but because I need God.
00:19:06.700 I need God.
00:19:07.640 I go to adoration because I need God.
00:19:10.080 And so, you know, when I look at this and I think, you know, that, that, that Eucharist,
00:19:16.020 you know, being in front of our Lord in the Eucharist through adoration, our Lord is the
00:19:20.140 source of healing.
00:19:21.160 He's the source of joy.
00:19:22.640 He's the source of meaning.
00:19:24.140 He's the source of purpose.
00:19:25.960 You know, he's the source of definition.
00:19:27.880 He's the source of identity.
00:19:29.440 So if you're looking for any of those things in your life and you're sort of frazzled and
00:19:36.340 you're lost and you feel like, what is the point of all this?
00:19:40.080 And I don't know if I can endure.
00:19:42.020 He's the source of all that.
00:19:43.920 And so I sometimes just go before him and I just stare at the tabernacle or if it's,
00:19:50.180 you know, if adoration is exposed, I just stare at him and I just say, Lord, I know you're
00:19:55.480 there.
00:19:56.140 I'm here and I'm very distracted.
00:19:59.440 But I'm giving you all I've got right now.
00:20:02.340 And I just stare at him, John Henry.
00:20:04.920 And why?
00:20:05.600 Because he's God.
00:20:07.340 And so why keep going or why do this work?
00:20:10.520 John Henry, we're on this planet for a short time and then we die.
00:20:14.500 I've never charged for a concert, even though I tour with the best musicians in the country.
00:20:20.140 I want to be able to die and stand before God.
00:20:24.180 And I don't care about my legacy.
00:20:25.500 I don't care who, you know, naming lights and all that stuff.
00:20:28.360 When I'm dead and gone, nobody's going to care.
00:20:31.120 I just want to be able to look at God for that split second and say, you gave me a great
00:20:39.140 gift.
00:20:40.420 And I want to be able to look at God and say, I didn't always get it right.
00:20:44.600 But I tried to be as generous as possible with those who are broken.
00:20:51.080 John Henry, I play in a lot of, you know, high-end events.
00:20:53.920 And I look at, you know, a lot of people.
00:20:56.160 There's a lot of people in this world that are very easy to love.
00:20:59.340 They're good looking.
00:21:00.080 They're successful.
00:21:00.880 They're actors.
00:21:01.660 They're professional athletes.
00:21:03.740 They're celebrities.
00:21:05.460 They've got all this charisma.
00:21:06.980 They're successful.
00:21:07.660 They're smart.
00:21:08.180 They have vision.
00:21:08.860 There's a lot of people that are easy to love.
00:21:11.280 And then there's a lot of people that are very difficult to love.
00:21:14.980 I have a beautiful girl with Down syndrome that a lot of people may not quite understand.
00:21:20.560 She can't really put a sentence together, but she is as dignified as you or I.
00:21:26.360 And, you know, what about the, you know, when you go to these homeless shelters and, you
00:21:31.940 know, oh, well, they've made their decision.
00:21:33.720 I think when you look at their life, John Henry, and, you know, people say about my prison
00:21:36.960 work, oh, well, they made their decision.
00:21:38.520 Now they can pay for it.
00:21:39.700 And I think all things are not as equal as you are trying to make yourself believe they
00:21:45.440 are.
00:21:45.980 When you look at the background, a lot of these men and women, John Henry, they are unrecognizably
00:21:51.500 human.
00:21:52.060 Like, it's just, how do you even survive the background?
00:21:55.980 You know, there's one girl that I will tell you, it's so, so tough.
00:21:59.700 Father was nowhere around and the mother had addiction problems, but the mother also knew
00:22:04.120 that if the child, you know, begged for money, that there would be a lot more success.
00:22:08.620 So at a very young age, she got her child addicted.
00:22:13.500 So the child would have a desperation in requesting for funds.
00:22:17.680 So it sounds horrible to you and I, but when you are on drugs, your judgment is off.
00:22:23.360 So it's not that the mother meant to harm her child.
00:22:25.740 It's just that they're so desperate, right?
00:22:27.780 These are people that are difficult to love.
00:22:30.960 So my thought is we just do what we can.
00:22:34.060 God didn't give me the fight of politics.
00:22:36.040 He didn't give me the fight of, you know, of, you know, the debt of the country or the
00:22:40.820 inflation of the nation or anything like that.
00:22:43.760 He asked me to go.
00:22:44.720 He didn't even give me the fight to go and heal the people in prison.
00:22:48.380 He just said, go and play for them.
00:22:50.220 That's all.
00:22:50.840 Go and bring them hope to the gifts I gave you.
00:22:53.540 John Henry, that's my goal until my commander-in-chief gives me different orders.
00:22:59.960 My goal is to bring the gifts that I have and to play for all those that are broken.
00:23:05.540 But I do have another goal, and that is to really connect with the world and sort of give
00:23:11.100 them the vision of beauty.
00:23:12.300 John Henry right now at such a young age, our children are being inundated with music
00:23:18.400 that, you know, maybe is like the most famous piece last year had such vulgar content.
00:23:24.580 I won't even say the title.
00:23:26.100 And it's not that that language scares me.
00:23:28.500 I play death row.
00:23:29.720 I've heard it once or twice, you know, but it is belittling.
00:23:35.300 And to our third graders, it's not funny.
00:23:37.780 It's formation.
00:23:38.780 And they're getting those messages over and over and over again.
00:23:41.680 So the video games are playing that are, you know, filled with pornography and filled
00:23:45.660 with violence and filled and that sort of masterful combination of the two that really
00:23:51.040 sort of gets them hooked.
00:23:54.040 That's their formation.
00:23:55.880 That's the learning how to look at life.
00:23:57.960 They're learning how to look at themselves.
00:23:59.520 They're learning how to look at women.
00:24:00.840 They're learning how to look at their future.
00:24:02.600 The awe and wonder of a boy playing with Lego.
00:24:05.400 It's like, oh, look, this piece is the universe is snuffed out of their eyes.
00:24:09.320 And that cynicism and pessimism that maybe is presented to them at such a young age takes
00:24:15.000 over.
00:24:15.740 That's what I'm trying to fight.
00:24:17.080 I'm not going to sit back and complain.
00:24:18.700 I'm going into their schools.
00:24:19.920 I'm playing as much as possible.
00:24:21.800 And I'm bringing them excitement.
00:24:23.880 The greatest thing in the world is when, and I get many of these letters, you know,
00:24:28.040 letters from a, you know, a youth prison or a 15 year old boy in a school saying,
00:24:32.960 I'm throwing out my playlist.
00:24:34.760 Thank you.
00:24:35.240 I mean, there's nothing better than that.
00:24:36.980 I once played in a youth prison, John Henry, for these kids that were all convicted as
00:24:41.560 adults.
00:24:42.120 These are 15 year old kids that are going down for 30 years.
00:24:45.820 What does a 15 year old kid know about 30 years?
00:24:50.700 And this, the gang leader stood up and he started weeping at the end of the show, weeping in
00:24:56.020 front of 300 top, top criminals.
00:24:59.160 And he said, you know, that violence, the most beautiful thing I've ever heard.
00:25:03.900 Why have I never heard it before?
00:25:06.060 Okay, John Henry, we're the adults.
00:25:07.980 We have the internet.
00:25:09.520 Unlike any other time in history, our young people have access to the world library of
00:25:15.000 music at their fingertips.
00:25:17.540 They know everything about every style of music.
00:25:20.700 Why do they know nothing about music that uplifts them?
00:25:24.720 So John Henry, my goal is to go throughout the world and to connect with people on a deep
00:25:31.940 level.
00:25:32.860 And, you know, through talking about music, through talking about beauty, through talking
00:25:37.640 about the death and the suicide of my own son, I'll connect on any level that people need
00:25:44.100 to connect on.
00:25:44.880 And I'm so excited and so thrilled to do it.
00:25:48.900 And, you know, when I die and stand before God, I just want to say, I tried.
00:25:53.100 I just, I tried to be as generous as possible.
00:25:56.840 That's the goal.
00:25:58.540 Beautiful.
00:25:59.520 So people know, you can go to LifeFunder slash Eric Jenis and there be able to support Eric's
00:26:06.880 work to be able to get him into these places with these world-class musicians.
00:26:12.220 Um, and you'll be able to be part of that, part of his ministry, which is truly a ministry
00:26:17.900 blessed by God.
00:26:18.960 And he's been called to do in a very, very real way.
00:26:21.940 And he's been, he's given over to that calling.
00:26:25.040 Eric, I want to talk to you a little bit more though about this aspect of beauty and the music
00:26:31.180 that most of our young people are listening to nowadays.
00:26:35.140 Because this is a topic you've touched on so far, but I think there's a lot to it.
00:26:41.440 Um, I think most parents have no clue what their kids are listening to and what is that
00:26:50.080 generally, generally speaking, what's the most popular form of music for young people
00:26:54.400 and what messages are they receiving?
00:26:56.620 I mean, that's a, that's a great question, right?
00:26:58.840 So, you know, true story.
00:27:00.580 This father comes up to me after a show and he says, um, you know, I was walking by my daughter's
00:27:06.880 room and I heard sort of this really aggressive music with really sort of vulgar language.
00:27:13.280 So I knocked on her door and I said, honey, I'm concerned about what you're listening to.
00:27:16.940 She said, no, no, no.
00:27:18.240 It doesn't affect me.
00:27:19.700 And he said that the music is really aggressive and staunchy and it's, you know, it's agitating.
00:27:26.360 She said, oh, I don't even notice.
00:27:28.520 I just like the melody.
00:27:29.580 And he said, the lyrics are horrible.
00:27:31.840 Like they, they put down women, they put down you, they put down society.
00:27:35.500 There's nothing uplifting or hopeful or inspiring whatsoever.
00:27:38.840 She says, I don't even notice the lyrics.
00:27:40.760 I know I sing them.
00:27:42.100 And so, but they don't affect me.
00:27:44.220 And so he walked away sort of buying this idea that they don't affect her.
00:27:49.480 And I truly believe she felt that it doesn't affect her.
00:27:52.720 And when I look at this, I think, John Henry, we're, we're, we're losing it.
00:27:58.900 Like we're like, when you think about, you know, even Confucius thousands of years ago
00:28:06.860 said, if you want to know the morality of a nation, let me hear the music.
00:28:11.540 John Henry, either he's crazy or we're crazy, but how does that work?
00:28:16.520 You know, he said, let me hear the music.
00:28:19.080 I thought music was just background to my video games or background to dinner.
00:28:23.660 He did not think so.
00:28:25.520 He thought music was so influential that it affects everything about who we are and how
00:28:30.740 we look at life.
00:28:31.920 Plato, he said, he said, you know, if you want to govern a nation, you don't need the laws.
00:28:36.640 You need the music.
00:28:38.240 And so when I think about that, I think, okay, unlike any other time in history, our young
00:28:43.500 have full exposure to all music now.
00:28:45.860 So should that be in any way taught?
00:28:49.580 Like, what is the effect of music?
00:28:51.360 How did the greatest thinkers in history look at music?
00:28:54.160 You know, what did the greatest saints say about beauty and about inspiration?
00:28:58.580 And is there music, especially because when you think about it, our young do little else
00:29:03.860 more than they listen to music.
00:29:05.240 It's behind every video game they play.
00:29:07.180 It's behind every series they binge.
00:29:08.960 It's behind every movie they watch.
00:29:11.280 This is on all the time.
00:29:13.520 Think about it, John Henry.
00:29:14.400 When you and I were kids, we had to go to the record store to buy music.
00:29:17.720 Now they only have to download it.
00:29:19.580 They have full access to it all the time.
00:29:21.400 They don't have to buy it.
00:29:22.180 They don't have to, you know, sort of be in a room and listen to an album.
00:29:25.300 They can walk around with it.
00:29:26.600 Something that we've never had ever, ever.
00:29:29.420 And now they have full exposure.
00:29:31.700 Well, isn't it time that we therefore ask, what is the impact of this monster, if you will?
00:29:37.480 What is this, this, this big tsunami has hit us, but we're like, yeah, it's just a means
00:29:42.960 for a certain selecting of people to make a lot of money.
00:29:46.300 And then the rest of us are just consumers.
00:29:48.580 And what do we consume?
00:29:50.080 We consume ever, whatever sort of modern society says it's cool.
00:29:55.100 And I'm trying to say, hold on, hold on.
00:29:57.720 The question isn't, is it cool?
00:29:59.780 The question is, well, let's look at the higher question.
00:30:02.900 The question is, is it good for the soul?
00:30:05.580 If it is true that we're made in the image of God, then anything that would in any way,
00:30:09.860 in any way belittle our humanity is bad.
00:30:14.740 So as cool as we may think it is, it's not good for us.
00:30:20.960 It's not good for us eternally.
00:30:23.680 It's not good for our formation.
00:30:25.920 It's not good how we look at life.
00:30:28.040 It sort of belittles the great gift that God gave us.
00:30:31.680 And John Henry, we're all bound by time.
00:30:33.440 Don't even waste one minute with things that would in any way hurt your soul or hurt you
00:30:39.380 as a person or hurt your psychology or belittle women.
00:30:43.860 And so what's out there?
00:30:46.980 There's a lot out there.
00:30:47.980 What's out there on all these series on TV?
00:30:51.760 There's a lot out there that would be little, you know, many aspects of our life.
00:30:56.200 And I know that your viewership is very varied.
00:30:58.200 So let's sort of leave it at that.
00:31:00.000 There's a lot of things that are fundamentally going at the root of who we are as people.
00:31:04.960 My goal is not to complain about it.
00:31:07.600 My goal is to go and play for them.
00:31:09.940 And then like, you know what, John Henry, I went and played in a youth prison.
00:31:12.680 It was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
00:31:16.140 I was standing beside the warden before the show.
00:31:18.840 This guy, this kid comes up to the warden, doesn't know who I am.
00:31:23.600 And because I hadn't started performing yet.
00:31:26.400 And he goes to the warden and says, hey, warden, what did I do so bad that you hate me so much
00:31:30.900 that you're going to make me sit for a two hour violin concert?
00:31:35.420 And I was just chuckling.
00:31:36.820 And I said, yeah, I don't blame you, kid.
00:31:38.060 I don't want to sit through a two hour violin concert either.
00:31:40.660 Except wait till you hear my violinist, you know.
00:31:43.520 The end of the show, this boy comes up, gives me a big hug.
00:31:46.480 And he said, most moving thing I've ever, ever seen or heard.
00:31:51.300 This was just amazing.
00:31:52.700 Who are you?
00:31:53.440 And he wouldn't let go.
00:31:55.120 He would not let go.
00:31:56.760 John Henry and I were thinking, this boy is in prison.
00:31:59.260 This is his first encounter.
00:32:00.480 There's something that has uplifted his humanity.
00:32:02.740 That's a poverty right there.
00:32:04.420 That's one.
00:32:05.540 Two, why is this the first time he's hearing music that uplifts him?
00:32:08.760 He's educated in this beautiful country.
00:32:11.320 Why aren't we teaching him about beauty?
00:32:13.780 They may, a lot of these kids may go home to tough situations.
00:32:16.480 I play to a lot of at-risk kids.
00:32:18.940 Kids who, you know, the concept of having two people who love them and raise them such as parents
00:32:25.280 is a concept.
00:32:26.820 It's not reality whatsoever.
00:32:28.440 However, that's a big part of, you know, my audience.
00:32:33.400 But my thought is, okay, we can't fix that, but we certainly can fix how they see themselves
00:32:40.460 through what we feed them, through their, through, you give them beauty.
00:32:44.360 You take the time.
00:32:45.220 You talk to them about it.
00:32:46.920 It elevates them.
00:32:48.700 You let it do what it's going to do.
00:32:50.640 It's like great medicine for the heart and the soul and the mind and the psychology and
00:32:55.760 the emotional.
00:32:56.400 And so that's my goal, John Henry.
00:32:59.440 I'm trying to go in these places and show them the difference, not just talk about the
00:33:03.600 difference.
00:33:04.080 Like right now, regrettably, you and I are talking.
00:33:06.620 I would much rather have, you know, sort of a concert, you know, you know, and be talking
00:33:12.560 about this while performing because when people are moved by the music, it's a whole, and you
00:33:20.200 know, I'll have celebrities say things like never been so moved in my life.
00:33:23.840 And I'm thinking you could afford anything in the world and, you know, you're so moved
00:33:28.920 and I'm sending back so grateful to God for this gift, but I know it's a great gift.
00:33:33.940 And I know John Henry that God wants me to use it in a way to go after the broken.
00:33:39.320 So I'm using it to go after the broken.
00:33:41.740 That's my Carnegie Hall.
00:33:42.940 Eric, I know a lot of parents are going to be watching, thinking, okay, we want this.
00:33:49.380 How do we do this?
00:33:50.300 Our kids are listening to this stuff.
00:33:51.920 We're going to find out right now.
00:33:53.100 I don't know what they're listening to, but we're going to get behind the headphones, find
00:33:57.700 out what they're listening to.
00:33:58.420 How do we do that?
00:34:00.840 How do we introduce them to good music, which regrettably they might not have heard before?
00:34:05.880 They've gone to mass maybe and listened to some music there that's better than what
00:34:10.080 they listen to, but they think, eh, it's boring.
00:34:12.480 I want the exciting music.
00:34:15.320 What approach would you suggest for parents?
00:34:17.120 That's very valid, isn't it?
00:34:19.380 Isn't that very valid?
00:34:20.340 Isn't that interesting?
00:34:21.380 They identify with music.
00:34:22.580 John Henry, you can go up to a kid and insult how he dresses.
00:34:25.080 He's not going to care.
00:34:26.320 Insult how he looks.
00:34:27.100 He's not going to care.
00:34:28.360 Insult his music.
00:34:29.680 You have a fight on your hands.
00:34:31.600 You know, there is something about music that resonates with them on a very deep level.
00:34:37.200 Why?
00:34:37.540 Because when they listen to what they're listening to, it shakes them.
00:34:41.100 Like there's something about it that gets into their bones.
00:34:43.820 They love the lyrics, even though the lyrics may be horrible.
00:34:46.740 They just, it just finds something in them that identifies with it.
00:34:50.940 It may, it may sort of stir the energy in them.
00:34:53.900 It may, you know, I know, you know, a lot of these
00:34:56.740 great private schools where they teach Gregorian chant and they teach sacred polyphony.
00:35:01.900 And, and, and then the kids will go from that and sing in that and sound beautiful and look
00:35:06.240 like angels to going with friends an hour later and listening to the most horrific stuff
00:35:13.960 you'll ever hear.
00:35:15.220 And how do I know?
00:35:16.100 Because they write to me.
00:35:17.400 I'll go and play in their schools and they write to me and they share with me this kind
00:35:22.840 of thing.
00:35:23.680 We're able to make a disconnect from what we sort of know is true, but what stirs us.
00:35:29.480 So my thought is, you know, don't ever be as parents.
00:35:34.380 Don't ever go and be shocked at what your kids are listening to.
00:35:37.300 And if you think your kids aren't listening to them, to this stuff, you may protect them
00:35:41.740 at home, but sadly the internet's out there.
00:35:46.400 And if they're ever with friends that you think they may not be listening to this, they're
00:35:51.600 often introduced things in ways that, you know, we don't always have full protection
00:35:56.740 over.
00:35:57.100 Right.
00:35:57.280 So I would say, don't ever show them that you're shocked.
00:36:00.360 Oh, I can't believe you're listening to this.
00:36:02.480 No.
00:36:03.340 My simple question is, okay, so let me hear whatever you're listening to.
00:36:08.140 Okay.
00:36:08.360 They play it.
00:36:09.140 And I don't sit there and say, oh, isn't that disgusting?
00:36:11.760 Because you're insulting them, right?
00:36:14.980 They're sharing something about them.
00:36:17.380 Okay.
00:36:17.680 This moves me, dad.
00:36:19.180 This moves me, mom.
00:36:21.220 Let me share it with you.
00:36:22.660 Well, the second you put it down, you're insulting them.
00:36:25.440 So my thought is, it's just respond with calm and just, oh, that's interesting.
00:36:31.200 What is it about that music that moves you or how does it move you?
00:36:35.140 You know, oh, well, there's an energy to it and I feel enlivened.
00:36:38.200 And I thought, okay, well, let's see.
00:36:40.480 Is there any other form of music where that energy would draw in, but maybe a higher form
00:36:46.020 of music?
00:36:46.900 See, John Henry, that's the beauty.
00:36:48.360 When you think about that kid in that youth prison, why am I sitting through a violin
00:36:51.640 show?
00:36:52.240 I thought, okay, kid, hold on to your hat.
00:36:54.580 We're going for a ride here.
00:36:56.220 You know, so I told him before the show, fasten your seatbelts because you're going to hear
00:36:59.160 that violin played faster than you've ever heard anything played in your life, you know?
00:37:03.980 And so we get up there and it's, we played and the kid was taken like from the first note,
00:37:11.140 John Henry.
00:37:11.960 It was so beautiful to see.
00:37:13.240 So my thought is, you know, there's a couple of aspects.
00:37:22.720 This music or this movie series is touching something in them.
00:37:26.520 Oh, but my daughter loves, you know, this kind of music because it evokes the romance of
00:37:32.320 life in her.
00:37:34.200 Okay.
00:37:34.440 Well, there's something missing in her that she needs all this romance and she's thinking
00:37:39.660 about this romance and all this stuff, which isn't good, right, John Henry?
00:37:43.960 Because then their imagination goes wild with all this, you know, romantic feeling music.
00:37:49.020 And I think that that sentimentality in music can be a problem, you know, just as much as
00:37:55.520 sort of hardcore rap or hardcore screamo metal.
00:37:58.740 I think all levels of music, you know, there can be aspects that are concerning in many.
00:38:05.860 So I address them right there in concert.
00:38:08.520 But in order for me to get away with being so hardcore about not insulting their music,
00:38:14.540 but questioning what they're listening to, I've got to move them first with my violin
00:38:18.780 and cello and the piano.
00:38:20.360 If I don't move them, then I'm just someone talking, right?
00:38:24.320 So, John Henry, that's a big part of the show, to go out there in concert, no matter what
00:38:29.480 the audience could be, the toughest kids, could be the most sophisticated school, and
00:38:35.740 go in and move them.
00:38:37.500 If they're moved, then you have an audience, and then you can talk to them.
00:38:42.060 And I always tell them, don't believe me, don't listen to me.
00:38:45.300 But if you're going to disagree with me, know why you're disagreeing with me.
00:38:48.220 And if you want to pretend that this music has no effect on you, you now know it's a
00:38:54.780 lie.
00:38:55.160 Because if they're moved by mine, then equally they could come to the conclusion they're
00:38:59.740 moved by the other music, maybe in ways that aren't so positive, John Henry.
00:39:05.080 And so that's the goal.
00:39:06.660 The disadvantage of all this is I don't think you can intellectually go in and have that
00:39:12.920 discussion.
00:39:13.440 They have to, they're looking to, they're starting in here, and you've got to move them
00:39:19.060 in here.
00:39:19.600 And how do you do that?
00:39:20.620 Through live music.
00:39:22.060 And that's why, John Henry, I always think, you know, people say, oh, Eric, can you record
00:39:25.180 a show?
00:39:26.200 There's something really sterile about recording a show, John Henry.
00:39:29.280 It's got to be live.
00:39:30.660 So if people want, I'm happy to go and play where people are, you know, but that's the goal,
00:39:38.000 just for me to go out and play live until I have no more air in my lungs, you know.
00:39:42.040 Eric, it's been great talking to you.
00:39:44.760 You know, our culture today tries to erase people with disabilities.
00:39:52.020 You know, Down syndrome, they tell us in the UK, is almost eliminated.
00:39:58.360 And they're going in and killing these children, and that's how they eliminate them.
00:40:02.260 Yeah.
00:40:02.980 Would you mind introducing us to your daughter and telling us farewell that way?
00:40:08.180 This is my daughter, Anastasia.
00:40:11.400 Anastasia, how old are you?
00:40:12.720 Nineteen.
00:40:13.220 Nineteen years of sheer trouble, John Henry, right here, boy.
00:40:16.560 She's not as nice as she looks, are you?
00:40:19.640 Okay.
00:40:20.360 She's awesome.
00:40:21.740 John Henry, isn't it interesting?
00:40:23.400 You have different countries like England saying that, different countries in the Netherlands
00:40:27.240 talking about things like that.
00:40:28.860 Oh, we want to be rid of this.
00:40:30.180 I'm thinking, rid of what?
00:40:31.240 It's not a disease.
00:40:32.800 Get rid of cancer all day long.
00:40:34.640 Why are you talking about this?
00:40:37.240 And then they even use language, right?
00:40:39.280 So the thing is, if you believe in that, I mean, that's called profiling, right?
00:40:44.240 So we have decided the smart people wearing white, you know, lab coats have decided that
00:40:49.040 there's a whole other group of people that should not live.
00:40:51.480 And I'm thinking, what right, why do they have any right to live than you?
00:40:59.120 And secondly, if you do agree with that, at least use the language, it's heinous, it's
00:41:03.920 murder.
00:41:05.260 And it's, it's to say we have profound dignity, but them, they should die.
00:41:11.500 How does that add up at all?
00:41:13.860 How do you come to those conclusions?
00:41:15.420 But at least it's, it would be honest, right?
00:41:18.560 But then when you say things like, oh no, it would be merciful on the families because
00:41:22.680 it's, you know, it's tough on the families, you know, to raise these children.
00:41:27.140 John Henry, a good part of my life is to hang out with Anastasia to make sure she's safe
00:41:31.760 and all that.
00:41:32.260 I go on tour and I come home and it's me and her on the trampoline and me and her doing
00:41:37.440 different things.
00:41:38.060 I gladly give up any part of my life for my beautiful daughter.
00:41:41.720 And you know what?
00:41:42.440 It's a gift to me.
00:41:44.200 It's a gift to me.
00:41:46.400 Maybe a gift to her.
00:41:47.740 It's a gift to me.
00:41:48.900 I can't think of a better way to spend my life than to serving her.
00:41:54.440 So John Henry, you know what?
00:41:56.840 Again, you know, we can sit there and scream about, you know, how unjust this is or to recognize
00:42:02.780 she is a gift to our family.
00:42:05.520 All my daughter does is love.
00:42:08.260 And you know, my thought is, is that what we have to do is really come to recognize that
00:42:14.340 we're all made in God's image.
00:42:16.740 God has a plan and he never promised me the plan.
00:42:20.520 He didn't say, Eric, let me explain this to you.
00:42:23.640 He didn't promise me an explanation.
00:42:26.400 So just pray, receive the sacraments and look at everything he gives you, even the suffering.
00:42:35.520 As a gift, because that's what draws you closer to him.
00:42:39.840 He's now using this tool, whatever this or that tool is, and your perception of that tool
00:42:46.020 may be completely different than the reality.
00:42:49.580 So our Lord may be saying, here's a gift that looks like pain.
00:42:53.180 I recognize it hurts, but it's going to draw you closer to me.
00:42:57.120 If I sit there and complain about it, what am I doing?
00:43:00.340 So my thought is, this is tough one, Lord.
00:43:03.780 I don't get it.
00:43:05.520 But thanks be to God.
00:43:07.220 So I look at my son, my son, Gabriel, tough, tough situation.
00:43:12.480 But you know what?
00:43:14.220 Our Lord loved my son.
00:43:16.820 It's all I got, John Henry.
00:43:18.520 But that's a lot.
00:43:20.660 That's a lot.
00:43:22.360 And so our Lord, you know, our Lord loved Gabriel.
00:43:26.420 And our Lord knew how much Gabriel suffered.
00:43:28.940 And our Lord knew Gabriel was, you know, sort of thinking on in different terms.
00:43:33.880 But our Lord loved him.
00:43:36.680 And when God loves, he loves perfectly.
00:43:38.840 I take great consolation in that.
00:43:42.240 And then, you know what?
00:43:43.160 I keep going.
00:43:44.280 I keep going.
00:43:45.120 I keep going with my beautiful family and with my work to do all I can to bring my gifts.
00:43:50.860 Because sooner rather than later, you know, I'm going to be, I'm going to die and stand before God too, you know?
00:43:58.480 And I'm counting on her prayers.
00:44:00.720 Isn't that right?
00:44:03.740 Eric, it is so awesome to have been with you.
00:44:06.280 Tell us before you leave, where can people find out about you?
00:44:09.060 We know you can already go to lifefunder.com and support Eric's work there.
00:44:12.880 Where can they find out more about you?
00:44:14.240 Where can they see your website?
00:44:15.880 They can go to ericjenis.com.
00:44:17.740 If people, John Henry, when people say, oh, how can we support your work?
00:44:22.340 Book a concert in your area is the greatest way.
00:44:25.660 I'll come and play for your people.
00:44:28.480 That is the best way to support the work.
00:44:31.200 Because then you can see, I think you'll be seeing something, you know, that may be new, that may be exciting for all ages and all level of sophistication.
00:44:39.680 But ericjenis.com.
00:44:41.720 It's E-R-I-C-G-E-N-U-I-S.com.
00:44:45.680 And I'm very accessible.
00:44:47.960 My number's there.
00:44:49.380 Email is there, ericjenis.gmail.com.
00:44:52.740 And yeah, that's the best way.
00:44:55.420 Beautiful.
00:44:56.040 So great to see you again.
00:44:58.320 Amen, my friend.
00:44:59.540 Thank you.
00:45:00.660 Thank you.
00:45:01.460 Thank you.
00:45:01.940 And thank you for giving us the privileges of supporting what you're doing.
00:45:06.720 Thank you, John Henry.
00:45:07.900 Such an honor.
00:45:09.800 God bless me, my friend.
00:45:10.500 If my music can ever serve LifeSite News, you'll let me know.
00:45:15.260 I do a benefit for you guys.
00:45:17.820 Amen to that.
00:45:19.540 And God bless all of you.
00:45:21.860 And we'll see you next time.
00:45:22.780 Hi, everyone.
00:45:34.740 This is John Henry Weston.
00:45:35.860 We hope you enjoyed this program.
00:45:37.380 To see more like it, be sure to hit the subscribe button below to get all the latest content from LifeSite News.
00:45:42.820 Check the links in the description to read more and connect.