Concert Talk Program Notes

Matthew 13 speaks to me, as does Wisdom 12. And, of course, Pope Leo XVI reminds us to be kind and gentle, “Pope Leo told them that Christians must be kind, gentle, compassionate, selfless ‘and seek the good of others, knowing that in every brother and sister who suffers it is the Lord himself’”(Church of San Agustí in Barcelona June 10, 2026). The refrain also reflects that we should not worry, and not try to tell God what we want and what he should do, rather, we should just follow what we've been taught, what we're taught almost every week -- be kind, be gentle, be loving... to everyone.

This piece was written during a time of great personal stress (perhaps distress), trying to manage significant levels of internal negativity. You can hear in the text that I was trying to simply say, let us pray for everyone, for ourselves, and for those who need God in their lives. Let us pray in the good and not-so-good times. This song, like many I compose, reminds us (me) of God's ultimate and constant presence in our lives. 

When I think of Mary, Mother of God, I think of her ultimate faith. What it must have been like to receive that word and to step forward in complete trust and faith. And then, what she experienced through his life, crucifixion, rising, and her own assumption. She is not the center, Christ is the center, but her faith is a clear example to follow. She said "yes" and we were given a savior who then gave us freedom. 

As we think of Mary saying "yes" to God, we should also remember that Joseph was also chosen by God to be Jesus' earthly father (a foster father of sorts). To guide him to adulthood, to be obedient. We remember the story of Joseph finding out about Mary, deciding to quietly abandon her, and then having his mind and heart opened by the angel of God. He still could have made that most human of choices, to leave, but he stayed, though initially he may have felt betrayed (before true understanding). 

This was written after one of Fr. Gabe Mills' homilies, when he said, "We've all been told, it cannot be a mystery to us about how we must act." Fr. Gabe also asked us in that homily, "What do you when God asks for more? Do we say yes, or close a door and ignore it?" 

Mustard Seed refers to Matthew 13:31-32; Mark 4:30-32. 

Narrow Gate refers to Luke 13:23-24; Matthew 7:13-14.

Throughout the Gospels we hear of Christ's miracles, we hear of his teaching in parables, and we hear that he is the one true living bread that has come from heaven. We know in our faith that Christ is there in the Eucharist. We also know ourselves, our frailties, our doubts, and we hear Jesus tell his disciples of the things he did to show them God's presence, that he is God and the Son, and ultimately died and rose to save us from our own sinfulness. 

The letter of James (which may have been written by many different people collectively) talks about how we should be joyous when we have trials and challenges in our faith, how the farmer waits for the harvest, how we should be patient, make our hearts firm, and be ready "for the coming of the Lord is at hand" (James 5:8). 

When my niece was confirmed, the vicar general of the Austin (TX) diocese came and celebrated the mass. His homily centered around how Christ is in us. We consume him, he is in our bodies, he is in our minds, he hears everything we hear, sees everything we see. 

I wrote this when I was thinking about how Jesus is in the Eucharist, and in us in every place in the church. I was hearing people complain about crying children, people who maybe "stank" one week, people who have health or learning challenges. People complaining about other people. The words started coming and I am not sure I truly understand except that when we do God's work, centered in loving our neighbors and family, we are seeing God in ourselves. His work is coming through us. 

This is one of the first songs I wrote and it centers around John the Baptist, Jesus' baptism and Holy Spirit descending at the Jordan River. Thinking through the Gospel of Mark, but also thinking about what we and perhaps more concertedly, our priests do -- making straight the paths. I wrote this for Fr. Plessala. 

This is a song for Fr. Farmer. I was thinking about his many years as a priest and what he said in a homily -- the realization for the first time that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, and that he is here in the church, his true presence. 

I thought about each mass when we pray for his intercession after the homily. Sometimes we have a moment where we are called to send up what is in the silence of our hearts, to be heard and shared with God. "Lord, hear our prayer." We are also often praying for an end to war, famine, poverty, natural disasters. 

I love this text, have loved it for a long time. When we think about Christ's death, rising, and ascending to heaven, it is sad but also joyous. The other part, the in between when he was not here on earth, he had no body, but those followers. Now, we are also "in between." His human body is not here -- but his church body is here... We have to live as he taught, and "be his earthly body." 

You might hear a tinge of sadness in this work. Being bombarded with the secularization of Christmas impacted me. I wanted to remind people that Christmas is about his birth, not the secular things we see everywhere. We should celebrate, but should remember what it really means. 

This song reminds us to "remain good with God" so to speak. Open yourself to what he can do in your life. Are we speaking and acting in ways he wants to us to speak and act? Matthew 7 comes in here in one of the verses (“Judge not, that you be not judged."). We cannot be hateful and at the same time say we belong to God. Matthew 7 also says we should not be hypocrites -- "get the log out of your own eye first." Ultimately, we can say "no" to God, but we also have the freedom to say "yes" to him being in our daily lives.

This is a song of hope. Through all of the worldly challenges we have, we should remember that Christ lived, died, and rose to save us. It references the idea that we are made in his image. We had a parish healing service and one of the texts, or maybe a homily, was to remember that he makes all things good, that he lived, died, and rose for a purpose, to save us. 

When we were asked in 2024 to choose a saint with whom we could relate, I chose Mary Magdalene. I started reading more about her and reading about her presence in the Gospels. In one gospel, she was the first to see and proclaim Christ's rising. In other version, she was with others. This is the story of her first seeing his rising, the disciples' joy at finding out, and his sending them on the unending journey of conversion and belief. 

Written for the Murray family in a time of great loss, to try and provide hope. 

Written during pro-life month. 

For Ms. Lisa Ross, on the passing of her mother.