"It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to thy name, O Most High; to declare thy steadfast love in the morning, and thy faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For thou, O Lord, hast made me glad by thy work; at the works of thy hands I sing for joy (Psalm 92)." This is my first venture at writing praise and worship songs. I hope it lifts your heart and mind to God. Here it is for you. For me. For God.

In title and theme, this song is based on a book entitled Sacrament of the Present Moment, written by the French Jesuit, Jean-Pierre de Cassuade. Another great work of this same author is entitled Abandonment to Divine Providence, a treatise on the happiness and peace of giving ourselves entirely and in all things to God's caring solicitude. An online version of this work can be found here. "There are no moments which are not filled with God's infinite holiness so that there are none we should not honor." As you and I are well aware, that's something that's harder to do than say. But Christians are not in the business of paying God lip service. So we keep trying.

From Good Friday afternoon to Easter Sunday morning, such a short period of time, but the effects of which are eternal. Here we recognize we cannot save ourselves. That is God's work for us to participate in.

Here's my one, obligatory "folk" song on this album. Enjoy! Logos is the Greek word for "Word." We find this in the first chapter of John's gospel. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1: 1-5) "When you walked at the head of your people, O God, and lived with them on their journey, the earth shook at your PRESENCE and the skies poured forth their rain, alleluia." (Ps. 67:8-9, 20) I have to thank Flannery O'Connor for the idea of this song. Discussing the Eucharist with friends who thought it was a "pretty good [symbol]," she responded, albeit in a very shaky voice, "Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with it." She realized that was all the defense she could come up with then or ever, "outside of a story, except that it is the center of existence for me; all the rest of life is expendable." I think that's a pretty good defense. (Taken from a Washington Post article dated July 5, 2005.)

"I'm receiving Calvary all over again" - It's not again as in brand new, but in the immortal words of Paul Simon, I write these songs with "words that tear and strain to rhyme." By again, I mean a recapitulation of Calvary at each Eucharist. By new I mean new to you and to me. That's the great thing about it, we're receiving Jesus truly. Talk about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It's the re-presenting of the one sacrifice of Christ crucified. Does anyone know what rhymes with recapitulation?

This song is just as much about faith as it is the Eucharist. In this day of unbelief and the necessity of verifiable proof, I wanted to draw upon the much more ancient and beautifully poetic understanding of reality that is rooted in, I think, humility. It's okay that we are not the masters of everything. Yes, you can find instances of Eucharistic miracles, which I highly recommend looking into, but as a rule, God does not work in this way in this day and age. Faith is true faith when we believe without having seen for ourselves (remember doubting Thomas?).

I've had this song in my stack for about eight years now and finally feel like it's the right time to pull it out. I think it a beautiful thing that we, as Catholics, honor Mary for her fiat, her yes, to God and the fulfillment of His plan of salvation. She just did what we're all called to do, say "yes" to God and His plan for our lives.

Imagining the promise of a new day, I wanted to convey a sentiment of expectation and hope in God. It's a Saturday morning in the spring, when the cold has gone and the warm breeze has returned. Grace - God's free and undeserved gift of Himself to us- gives us true, lasting hope and refreshment for our lives. The question for myself is always, "Do I recognize it and if or when I do, what happens next? What do I do about it?" What will YOU do about it?

Sacramentum is a Latin word meaning the sacred or mysterious. This sacred mystery of which I speak is none other than God and His grace. The splendor of the Catholic faith is the sacramental life which is made available to us, if only we would avail ourselves of this. This is where "heaven and earth collide," where the divine lips of God touch the human soul, sanctifying it and giving it life, nourishment, strength, even its very breath and life. The pinnacle of all seven sacraments is the Eucharist, where we receive Christ Himself, body and blood, soul and divinity. St. Thomas, in his antiphon on the Eucharist says, "O sacred banquet, in which Christ is received, the memory of the passion is recalled, the soul is filled with grace, and a pledge of future life is given to us." How glorious is this sacramental life of the Church that we have been blessed with?

No, this isn't a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. To be completely honest, Confession is a sacrament which has been hard for me in the past. Like so many other things (i.e. geometry, chemistry, exercise, etc. ect.) I should take this as evidence that it's good for me. And it has been. It's been something I've grown to love and appreciate. How good is our God who gives this to us? To be able to know that He has forgiven me my offenses. To know that He is a Father to us who gives us second chances, and third, and fourth. However many we need to grow closer to Him.

"For it is love I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts." (Hosea 6:6) You can pretty much get anything on-the-go these days: music, money, internet, yogurt, etc. With all the people to see, places to go, and things to do, the One that gets forgotten is the One who has not forgotten us (Isaiah 49:15). Spend an hour in adoration with our Lord to let Him know that you have not forgotten him.

I was originally going to use the opening lines of this song as decorative text for the CD jacket, but then thought the theme of being set on fire with love for God would be a great jumping board into an entire song. Here's the fruit of that realization, my second venture at praise and worship songs.

What we need is usually not what we want. Why is that? I once had a college professor say love cannot fix all thing. Human love, that is. Why not? Because it's human, it's fallen, it's broken and it's not perfect. But divine love? Ah, that's an entirely different story. It CAN fix everything because He's perfect and complete. He is the divine carpenter who sets about fixing human brokenness. There's hope, there's salvation, in the God who knows us and STILL LOVES US. He's the One we need above all others. He's the one who gives us life and gives it to the full. Are you living the life of fullness He has intended for you?