Westborough youth hear message from Angrisano

By Susan Bailey | CFP Correspondent

“Cooperating with grace is the holiest thing we can do!” This was the thrust of singer/songwriter and storyteller Steve Angrisano’s message when he told a tale of a young woman who told him how he had changed her life. The story was shared during a concert at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Westborough on Sunday, Nov. 19.
Her life-changing experience was not due to his fine singing; she had never heard his music. It wasn’t because of the many engaging stories he tells during his concerts; she had not attended any. It was because of prayer.
Mr. Angrisano, after learning of the sudden passing of the young woman’s mother, prayed over her, along with the teenager’s youth minister. Holding hands, the three cried together as they prayed.
Seven years later, the young woman came back to a conference at which he was performing to thank him; their prayer circle helped her feel God’s embrace and she knew she would be OK.
Mr. Angrisano shared, with honesty, that he did not even remember the original encounter, and, at first, insisted he had done nothing. He was later to learn that in fact he did much in cooperating with God’s grace.
After telling the story, he sang “Lean on Me,” encouraging the audience to sing along and participate in the hand motions.
This was one of many engrossing tales told to a full house at St. Luke’s where enthusiastic middle and high school students filled the church. Mr. Angrisano immediately engaged the young people, beginning with a rapid-fire game of “Simon Says,” and continuing the audience interaction with the lively “J-E-S-U-S,” with parts for the guys and then the girls.
Mr. Angrisano, who spends some 40-plus weeks on the road every year, had just come off of the three-day National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Indianapolis and showed no signs of fatigue. His two-hour concert of joy and energy filled the church.
“I feel so fortunate to do this as a full-time ministry,” he later remarked. “I draw a great deal of energy from every community I visit and the joy of the people there. I’m usually walking into some big event or another that wouldn’t even be happening if there weren’t really good and dedicated priests and laypeople making it happen. Truly, I get to work with the best people in the world.”
Having majored in music and business at the University of Texas, Mr. Angrisano is completing a master’s in theology from St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana.
“Very early after graduating college I was applying for jobs and being in the business of encouraging and cultivating faith was the most worthwhile thing I felt like I could do. Many of my stories of being a youth minister for four years at St. Mark in Plano, Texas, come from those years. Most of those kids that are now adults with kids are still very much in my life and in ministry, as well!  I also think the fact that I had such a powerful experience of God when I was a teenager has always made me passionate about the importance of reaching teenagers with the message of the Gospel.”
He encouraged the young people to believe in God, despite what they hear from the culture. Evidence of God is all around us. “People are the only beings that can reason, create and ‘see’ what we create,” he told the audience. “We create because we were made in the image of the Creator! The fingerprint of God is on us.”
Mr. Angrisano shared stories from his brief trip to the Holy Land, saying it was “mind blowing” to be where Jesus lived. The young people were enthralled as he told of visiting the tomb of Jesus, revealing his profound experience of laying his head upon the stone as the reality of Christ’s death and resurrection sunk in.
Toward the end of the evening he told an amusing story of the creation of his most popular song, “My Soul is Thirsting for You.” It began with a simple riff played over and over on the guitar until his wife couldn’t stand it anymore and insisted he finish the song. Tossing a Bible at her husband, the book opened to Psalm 63 where he found the inspiration to complete the song. With such an unlikely beginning, Mr. Angrisano smiled, expressing surprise at the song’s popularity. He then led the audience in the singing of that song.
Before his 7:30 performance, Mr. Angrisano played and sang with the Contemporary Choir of St. Luke’s for the 6:30 Mass, led by music director Ellen Linn.
“What an amazing experience, having Steve Angrisano visit our congregation,” she said. “He held the congregation/audience in the palm of his hand, with brilliant playing and compelling witness.”
Recalling the impression he made on the many young people in the choir she added, “Performing with him was wonderful for us all – he is so easy to work with – a fantastic and accessible musician who brings out the best in the other performers. I know that the members of our Contemporary Group were so inspired, and will carry the energy from that Mass for a long time.”
Mr. Angrisano’s recordings are distributed by Oregon Catholic Press; his many songs are published in their “Spirit and Song” hymnals which are used by St. Luke’s. Repeating the song used at the end of Mass, “Go Make A Difference,” during the concert was used as a reminder to the young people that they could make such a difference in cooperation with God’s grace.
The concert ended with a crowd favorite, “I’m Trading My Sorrows” (best known as “Yes, Lord!”), complete with hand motions.
“Steve Angrisano totally captured and energized our young parishioners,” said Gloria Josephs, youth ministry director at St. Luke’s. “He is utterly entertaining while getting across his message of God’s love for all of us. His personal stories brought you to tears and laughter. I really enjoyed his performance, his music, his sincere sharing of his deep faith in Christ.”