Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Song Of Rejoicing
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
What's next?
With our last song posting (Let Us Build The House Of The Lord), we have now exhausted all of the original material recorded during the IHM concert last March. The choir sang several other songs that night that I really wish we could upload here. I particularly liked our rendition of John Foley's How Lovely Is Your Dwelling. But unfortunately, there are legal issues associated with posting said recordings so you'll just have to take my word for it that the choir sounded awesome (and come to the next concert that we put on!)
As far as our original music goes though, Michael and I are continuing to write together, and we have numerous additional pieces, both old and new, that we intend to share via this website. We are in the process of recording demos of some of these songs now, and the first fruits of those labors should be available for posting within the next week or so. We are also looking into the possibility of a more professionally produced recording effort, and we will keep you posted on any developments on that front as well. In the meantime, please keep us in your prayers, and please share this music and website with anyone you think might appreciate it. God bless.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Let Us Build The House Of The Lord
To borrow an image from Fr. Schillinger's homily this past Sunday, we, the living stones of the Church, must bind ourselves to the cornerstone that is Jesus Christ. Then and there will we find the strength to persevere. I was struck by this image on Sunday for not only do the living stones draw strength and integrity from the cornerstone, but in so doing, provide strength for the structure as a whole. We make the Church stronger when we bind ourselves to the cornerstone. This song is a prayer that God will give us the grace to be the living stones of His Church. Fr. Schillinger has introduced this song at Mass as "our song." I can think of no greater compliment. Lyrics after the link.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
the story behind the song: "Carry My Word to Everyone"
If you listen to this piece with this story in mind, I'm sure you'll see why it was so stirring for many of us that during our Lenten concert it was sung by Mary Megan's godmother, Nimalie Stone and by Tricia Audrain, friends of Colleen (Michuda) and Tom Green and their family.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Carry My Word To Everyone
But with that behind us, today, we're uploading Carry My Word To Everyone. This recording also comes from the IHM Lenten concert, but the lyrics' allusions to the mandate given to each us by our Lord at His ascension certainly make this an appropriate song for the Easter season. Tricia Audrain and Nimalie Stone are the featured soloists this time out with Michael on piano, Bob Gillespie on guitar, and Patrick Belden on bass. Lyrics after the jump as always.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
the story behind the song: "My Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts"
My Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
the story behind the song: "My Spirit Lives"
The song, “My Spirit Lives” began as a meditation on our lifelong relationship with Jesus. The verses are in the style of a “call and response.” Throughout our lives we call out to God who hears and responds, calming our fears and strengthening our resolve to remain faithful to living out the promises of our baptism. Perhaps because of the lifelong process that is discipleship, I always envisioned a combined choir of our parish’s children and adult singers singing these phrases of Christ: “I am here,” “I won’t let go,” “come to me,” and “my spirit lives and breathes within you.” Each of the phrases in the verses (some of them lifted from the scriptures or familiar lines from Catholic prayers like the “Hail Mary”) are meant to suggest situations in our common life as disciples of Jesus and his compassionate and reassuring response to all that we experience as we strive to follow him.
Some of you who know me also know that music is my avocation. In my profession I serve as a chaplain for one of the hospices in Atlanta. I spend my days listening to patients or their family members describe what they’re going through and what their life and approaching death (or that of their loved one) means to them. I struggle sometimes to squeeze all of these stories into the rooms of my heart. I bring all of it to prayer seeking to comprehend the enormity of the pain of loss and the depth of feeling that emerges as life ebbs within and around me. I believe that my faith in a God who is loving creator, who is Jesus- obedient son and selfless savior, and who is indwelling Spirit is what finally restores order to the chaos that can accompany death and dying.
Then, the refrain is an attempt to merge into one the ”I AM” statements of Jesus from the Gospel of John which we hear every year during the seven Sundays of the Easter Season. My hope is that those who listen to or sing this song with us will be drawn into a deeper relationship with Christ: the sacrament of God now clearly revealed as the great “I AM.” Known by many names, he is the narrow gate, the loving shepherd whose keen eye finds beloved sheep who are forever getting lost. He is the bread of life, the light of the world, the way and the truth and the life.
My Spirit Lives
Now that we are into the Easter season, we're going to change gears a bit here on the website and feature a few of our songs that are more centered on the resurrection and on our mission as followers of Christ in light of that good news. Today, we've uploaded our original song, My Spirit Lives. (Click the blue Streampad bar at the bottom of your browser window to open the music player.) I'll let Michael give this song its proper introduction, but I would like to highlight that this song features our choir director, Jeff Bush, as the soloist and that this arrangement was written by Mark Scozzafave (he's also handling the piano duties on this recording and his original composition, A Wondrous Love, is featured in our playlist as well). We hope you enjoy the piece, and we hope you are having a blessed Easter season. Lyrics after the jump.
Friday, April 22, 2011
By His Wounds
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
A Wondrous Love
Monday, April 18, 2011
the story behind the song: "Prayer in Gethsemane"
I’d like to offer some background behind the lyrics for “Prayer in Gethsemane.” I guess it’s been nearly 25 years ago that I read a couple of books by Ann Johnson, Miryam of Nazareth and Miryam of Judah in which she uses her vast knowledge of Jewish life and customs as well as evidence from the New Testament to offer a glimpse into the prayer life of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I remember being very taken by the author’s fictional details that were, I believe, intended to bring us inside the mind and heart of one of the closest people to our Lord during the most important days of her life: her son’s birth and his death. It captured my imagination to think about all there is that we don’t know about the prayer life of Jesus. Did Mary who “treasured these things and stored them in her heart” keep the gifts of the Magi and at what point might she have brought them forth to share with her son? And then, how did Jesus come to know who he was and how did he pray to his Father in all of those days, months, and years until he would fully comprehend what his mission would cost him. And was it a gradual process that led him to surrender to the will of his Father?
Then, I remember praying with psalm 22, which starts with those familiar words that our Savior referenced while hanging on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me.” Back in the early 1980’s while still in college, I attended a retreat with a Jesuit scripture columnist, Fr. Francis Cleary, SJ. I recall him suggesting a different, nuanced meaning for what Jesus might have been trying to tell his mother and those standing near the cross: “remember psalm 22.” What if his calling out those ancient words that he would have memorized as a boy was less about questioning God’s presence and more about trying to remind us of the end of that psalm. Because at verse 30 come the words, “to (the Lord) alone shall bow down all who sleep in the earth; Before him shall bend all who go down into the dust. And to him my soul shall live.” NAB
As his life passes before his eyes and he is living out in the most literal way possible, the images of this psalm, his final prayer is a belief in God’s power that will conquer death and bring him to life once more.
So, I invite you to consider that on the last night of his life, there in that lonely garden of Gethsemane, while his friends have all dropped off to sleep, their bellies full of the Passover lamb, Jesus may have knelt there praying Psalm 22. He long ago realized that he WAS the Passover lamb for that year and all years to come. As his “blood cried out” to his Father and he struggled to conquer the weakness of his human flesh, the invincibly strong spirit of Jesus placed his trust in his Father’s “greatest love” that would raise him to life.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Prayer In Gethsemane
Friday, April 15, 2011
Holy Week approaches
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Much Love For The Choir
Finally, we'd very much like to thank Jeff Bush, IHM's Director of Liturgy (and choir director), for his help that night and for his continued support of this aspect of our music ministry. It's probably not too presumptuous to say that he is our toughest critic and our biggest fan, and we are very grateful for both of those aspects of his encouragement.
And now without further ado, the musicians, singers, and technicians who helped make the IHM Lenten concert possible. Thank you again!
Sopranos
Graham McMurray
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
the story behind the song: "You Didn't Know It Was Me"
Your Kingdom Come
At the concert, we introduced this song by dedicating it to my lovely wife, Lena. My participation in the IHM music ministry, much less this songwriting endeavor, would not be possible without her support over the past several years. To me, her selfless giving and the way she keeps our household running while I’m off making music is a great example of someone storing up treasures in the kingdom to come. Lyrics after the jump.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
You Didn't Know It Was Me
You Didn't Know It Was Me
Verse 1
You know My story, you learned My name.
You chose to turn and follow Me.
Time teaches lessons, heals some of the wounds,
But only in Me will you become free.
Refrain
I formed you in your mother's womb.
I taught you to walk though you never saw My face.
I picked you up when you fell down,
Carried you back as you lost your way,
But you didn't know it was Me.
You didn't know it was Me.
Verse 2
You sang out My name when all was well.
You said here I am and picked up the cross.
But sin entered in; suff'ring emerged,
And why me was your only refrain.
Verse 3
Now life brings change; confusion may reign.
Simple beliefs seem hard to retain.
But weather the storm, carry on through the pain.
In a still, small voice, I'm calling your name.
Bridge
With bonds of love I drew you to Me.
I carved your name into My hands.
Your name is written in My very flesh.
How I long for you to come home to Me.