Faith in Action—Steve Angrisano, August 24, 2026

Tune into Faith in Action at 9 a.m., Monday, August 24 on Channel 88.1 FM, Siouxland Catholic Radio. Host Joanne Fox talks with Catholic composer and music missionary Steve Angrisano. 

Faith in Action is brought to you by Mary's Choice, a Sioux City Pregnancy Resource Center. Previous Faith in Action programs can be found at siouxlandcatholicradio.com, on YouTube, and on several other podcasting platforms. Programming is subject to change.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome listeners of the land Catholic Radio, channel 88.1 FM Fonds with City and F O I A Storm Like That. Thank you so very much for taking time out of your day or afternoon or evening whenever you listen to us to tune into Faith in Action. I'm your host, Joanne Fox. And we are so excited to again bring to you some interesting things that maybe enhance your faith life or educate you a little more in your faith or provide you with an opportunity that maybe you weren't aware of. And so if you happen to tune in a little later or you want to listen at your convenience, we can be found. All of our local programming can be found at our website at SolandcatholicRadio.com. We are also on Spotify and a number of other podcasting platforms. That's all due to the generosity of Mary's choice at the Society Pregnancy Resource Center, which is the exclusive underwriter for this shelf. So as I said, listeners, a lot of times in addition to bringing you individuals who maybe emulate the faith that we would like to as well, I offer to you opportunities. And so this would be a good time to uh get a pen and a pencil or um either one of those or a piece of paper or with your phone out. Because there's a really wonderful opportunity coming up. And it's time to save the date. It is Thursday, September 3rd at 6 30 p.m. It is here in Swiss City, Modern Day Paris, but specifically at Nativity Church, and that's 4241 Natalia Way here in Swiss City. And the parish is hosting for Steve Angersano. And I I have interviewed Steve for other uh entities that I have written for over the years. And he is a remarkable individual. This is an event that is open to the public. They are asking for a free will donation. But what's so great about this listener is coolenders of all ages can attend. So it isn't like, oh, I'm gonna send my kids over into another room while I as an adult sit here. No fact faith does a great job of presenting true music and testimonials of the faith. And it is for all ages. And I'm just gonna give you a little bit of background if you're wondering, well, who is this guy? He is a musician and a composer. He's been at Christar Live, he's been to Six World Youth Days, which I believe is uh five more than I've been at, and National Catholic Musicians Conference of Los Angeles Religious Education Conference at National Catholic Youth Conference, so many, many national international events, but coming here to Sioux City. I am so tickled as a listener. I have him on the phone. And it is my privilege to interview Steve Angersano, who's going to come to Sioux City and share his faith and talents with us. Steve, thank you so very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to um chat with me and enlighten our listeners about what's going on with you.

SPEAKER_02 3:15

Oh gosh, my pleasure. Happy to talk to you. And it's funny, you know, I was just a stone's throw away. I did a tour to raise money for Mary's Meals, a wonderful charity that feeds over three million children a year, uh, three million children a day at their place of education. And I was just outside of Sioux City. We started in Des Moines, but I was very near to you, and I had a few people come over and say, Hey, you're gonna be back, and we're bringing our families. I'm like, Great, I'm happy, I'm happy to see you there. So great to join you, good to be with you.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Yeah, absolutely. And uh we've had um some youth groups um that had come on my show and talked about working with Mary's Meals. So I'm so tickled you made that reference because again, I think you know, hopefully listeners pay attention and are listening and and when you when you drop things like that, they go, Oh yeah, I've heard of that before. So great to hear that you were just a stone strow away from us. So Steve, if you could tell the listeners a little bit about yourself, where you grew up, where you went to school, maybe, you know, where you worked, and and then we'll kinda get into your ministry a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 4:22

Absolutely. You know, I I my family moved around quite a bit when I was younger. My dad worked for a big tech company, and I think that is a l a little bit of how I became who I am today. I just had to make friends quickly. You know, I was not a they the term military brat, you know, I was not a military brat per se, but th those are kind of my friends. When you don't live anywhere longer than 18 months or so, then you learn to make friends quick when you're younger because you don't have a long time. And uh that's you know, that was the way I kind of grew up. We did sort of settle in Dallas for my high school years, and I went to the University of Texas and got a degree in marketing. I I started as a music major. My dad, the businessman, was not thrilled with my music degree, and you know, it was something that was a tough decision for me, but ultimately I decided, you know, I don't have to have a music degree to do what I want to do, but there are other things that I would like to know. And as it turned out, marketing was a really good degree for me, and and I think I use that as much as anything. And in fact, when I do I do a lot of workshops for musicians and for youth ministry folks as well. And and I often say, you know, we're all we're all in marketing. If you're having a mandatory confirmation meeting and you're trying to get the parents to come and you're trying to get the kids to come, you say the exact same thing to the kids as you say to the parents. If not, then you're marketing. So uh it was I I'm jumping the gun a little bit, but what when my when I was a junior in high school to get to the faith part of my life, when I was a junior in high school, I was invited on a retreat, a search retreat, which was a program like tech or search that they're not as as prevalent as they once were, but I some of the listeners in Iowa probably have heard of tech. And there was just a moment on that retreat where I'm sitting on the floor as a high school student who just moved to a new town, and always the first friends I made were church people. I think there's something about the body of Christ. I recognize that even in my earliest years, that you can make friends on a soccer team, you can make friends at school, but the friends you make at church, there is a difference. And I do believe the spirit of the body of Christ is very real and tangible if you kind of open your eyes to see it. And sometimes, you know, maybe some listeners don't see it because uh, as a bishop once said to me, you know, a fish could not describe water to you because he's so surrounded by water, he doesn't even know that it's there. I think that's true with some church people too. You know, we're so surrounded by faith and goodness and the Holy Spirit that we forget to even recognize that it's there. But I did, as I moved, I definitely recognize this is different. There's a there's a hopefulness here and there's a joy here that I can't put my finger on that is the Spirit of the Lord. And on that retreat, when I was uh just invited as a new person that moved into town, they gave me a little holy card that said, There's a God-shaped vacuum in your heart that only God can fill. And I just remember 15 years old, I thought, this is true. This I was made by God, for God, and most of the times that I have a trouble in my life, uh particularly of my own creation, it's because I've I've filled that space in my heart that was meant for God with something that's not God. And I really think it was a turning point in my life. That youth group, that the priest there, who's now a bishop, Bishop Duca, he's now in Louisiana, but he was a priest at my parish in Dallas, and and those days were just sort of beautiful in my own discovering of my adult faith as a teenager and finding God and recognizing that's the peace that was missing in my life.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Oh my, that is a remarkable story and and very moving. Now, when um this retreat came up, the search retreat, was it one of those things where the folks were saying, Yeah, you need to go, you know? Because we see that a lot with our own kids, you know, it's if you need to go to this, you'll get something out of it. So kind of tell the listeners a little bit about how how much your parents kind of urged you to be, you know, immersed in the faith.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

My mom, you know, I give my mom a lot of credit for just making me, you know, uh I was learning to play guitar as a teenager, and she was involved in vacation bible school, and both my parents were faithful their whole lives, and and my mom always jumped into something. And so it's funny, you know, the first confirmation retreat I ever went on, I was younger than the kids getting confirmed. I'm like, mom, I don't have to do this for two years, and she's like, Yes, but I need you to play guitar. And so I was forced to go as a child, and I didn't hate it and I didn't love it either one at first. You know, at first I was like, well, you know, it's something to do, but as I as as my faith developed, I enjoyed it much more for what it was speaking to me. But yeah, if you're a parent, I would say, especially because what I do now is so much youth ministry, there's a little nip and tuck, you know. I never I never encourage people to just, you know, if you're going to war over making a teenage a young adult or a teen go to church, you're probably not doing any any good. But to yeah, you know, make them go a little bit when they're just discovering, make sure they make their confirmation retreat. Like I would say, I have told my children before, hey, you know, you're 12 and I'm your dad, and it's okay for me to tell you who you are today. You want to be somebody different in a few years, that's your call. But today you're a kid that goes to church. And I think sometimes we give our children a little too much power, and and it's okay to say, hey, we're a family that goes to church. And and and when you are old enough to make your own decision, make your own decision. But that's who we are today. And so, yeah, I do think it is one of those things where they try to gather 40 people to go on this thing, and and a few were you know bribed into it, and a few were arm wrestled into it, and a lot of them wanted to be there, and there's lots of faithful kids, and being around that is really important. I think I think parents sometimes we underestimate that there are two, this is my now you're you're you've got me in my in my zone. This is what I talk about for a living. But you know, the two greatest indicators that a young person will be faithful as an adult is that they pray daily and that they have two other friends that are also faithful. And those are things as parents we can greatly influence. You know, we try to make all these things happen that are not necessarily the most important things, if they go to youth group or not, did they go to Catholic school or not? Not that those are not important decisions, but at the end of the day, if a young person prayed every day, and if a young person has other friends that pray and go to church, then they're much more likely to stay faithful. And you know, for me, probably the most influential thing my mom did for me wasn't stick faith into my heart because she couldn't really do that. I had to do that. But she did surround me with other young people who were faithful and they became my friends and I liked them and they had a little spark of faith and that encouraged me. So that's a big piece of it, I think.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Yeah, I would agree as well, because um our relationships, well, not just with our parents, but with our friends, you know, a lot of times compel us to embrace things, you know, that because we respect them and we think what their their choices are good and so you know we go along with it. And I just had to chuckle. I had to move away from the mic because I was chuckling when you said your mom said, Oh, yes, we need to come, we need somebody to play the guitar. Although none of my kids play the guitar. I can tell you I use that a lot, like, yes, you need to come. I need you to sit there at the soundboard, or you know, I need you to read this thing here. And they go, Okay. And a lot of times that's how you win them over. But I'd love to hear your your musician journey. Um, because that was interesting that you said, mom said, we need somebody to play the guitar. You must have been somewhat accomplished at the guitar.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

I started playing, I don't know, accomplished, but but I'm good at it. You know, I always tell people this is my living today, and I hope folks come out because it's a great evening where we laugh and we sing and we pray and maybe cry, who knows, and just live our faith together. Um I always say I'm a good guitar player, I'm not a great guitar player, and people will say to me, Oh, no, no, you're a great guitar player. And I'm like, Well, I know I'm not a great guitar player because when I do a big show for 8,000 people, I pay a great guitar player $300 to stand next to me and play better than me. So uh he's the great guitar player. I'm the good guitar player, but I did start playing in middle school. I got a guitar for Christmas, and I played like stereotypically. I just played until my fingers were hurting so bad I couldn't play anymore, and I played in talent shows and had some friends, and we put together, you know, some James Taylor kind of things that we would do around. And I just always played at church. From the time I started playing guitar, I played at church, and I w I was not good at first, like any like anyone with learning, but by the time I'd spent a couple years at it, I was playing pretty well, and I was writing songs, most of which I would never play for anyone today because I think they're terrible songs. But I was writing songs, and that's a whole nother craft, which is probably why I'm doing what I'm doing. I publish with Oregon Catholic Press, which is a very big company, and if you don't know that name, but you probably see their books are Glory and Praise and Breaking Bread, and uh often in particularly in the in Iowa, you see a lot of uh OCP, Oregon Catholic Press resources. I have a couple of dozen songs published in any of those books, and writing was really what kind of helped me through all the moving around and expressing my feelings, and like most teenage boys, most of my songs were about heartache and and breakups and all those things. But I did start writing about God even as a teenager, and I wrote some Christian songs, and Christian music on the radio was a really big deal when I was in high school, and so I emulated that, but it really turned a corner for me in I guess I was just out of college or at the end of my college years, and I was asked to do some things for my own diocese uh at our youth rally, and and that sort of parlayed into would you write a song for the National Catholic Youth Conference? And there was a big closing session of the National Catholic Youth Conference, and I had a friend who had sort of mentored me into meeting people at OCP, and I had not yet published a single song, and we wrote, me and this friend of mine, Tom Thomasek, we wrote a song called Go Make a Difference, which little did I know I was writing what I sometimes call the national anthem of Catholic grade school. But most children know the song. If you if the people listening don't know the song, if your kids go to Catholic school, they probably know the song. And Go Make a Difference was uh a very much of a game-changing thing for me because it got published by OCP, it got sung at the big national youth conference, and it's a really simple song, you know. I people have made fun of it before too. It is very, very simple, but it's beautiful, children love it, still sing it all the time. I have been serenaded by countless third graders, and I sing it uh almost everywhere I go. And that was sort of uh, you know, the song that created a relationship for me with the publisher. And and so now, um, I don't know, some almost 30 years later, uh I've worked in and around liturgical music my whole life. I have a master's degree in uh liturgical and and sacramental theology from St. Myrd, which is a great, a beautiful holy place, uh monastery in Indiana, not terribly far from you, but it's uh if if anyone has a chance to go there, but that is a holy place for me with 80 monks that live and work and pray there, and I often go there and write music and retreat there.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

It is it I have not been there, but we have a number of our diocesan priests who have studied there and they all talk about just how holy it is and a real kind of um oh piece of uh of attending there. So I'm so glad you mentioned that. And I just uh find it real interesting. Oh, by the way, listeners, if you're just tuning in, of course, I'm very happy that you are. Um I'm Joanne Fox, the show is faith in action. And uh if you didn't have a chance to go get uh a pen or a pencil and a piece of paper or your phone for this would be a good time to do it, although I will mention it again first and what I'm talking about on the show today is an opportunity for and opportunity to save the day. It is uh Steven Gas who is going to do a concert at Mother Day Paris, specifically at October 1st, at 34241 Natalia Way or Thursday for September 3rd or 6 30 p.m. It is open to the public to do uh ask for a free will donation. And I think I mentioned this at the start, but again, if you're just opening in for lenders of all ages are invited to attend. So it's really a presentation that kind of expands, you know, many, many different age groups. And I mentioned earlier, you know, if uh a lot of our listeners uh have been uh at PriStar Live, so you know they would uh probably know you, Steve. And then um World Youth Days. I know a lot of our uh listeners have have had children or brothers or sisters that have gone to World Youth Days, but Steve's been at the first um appearance in the Diocese of State. So he's a stranger to coming here, but he's on the phone with me and talking about uh kind of what has brought him to this point in his life where he is you know doing these kinds of things. And you had mentioned earlier that um you know you have a degree in marketing, which uh absolutely uh as a parent, I would have been very pleased if my child had said, well, I I want to do music, but uh and I would say, Well, what are you gonna do with that? Maybe you have a backup plan and you did still very proud of you. But um you know, this that must have been kind of a surprise, uh I would think, when you're performing or and uh you're you're getting this feedback of people who are appreciative and then you have a job, a real I hate to say a real job, but a job in the real world, and suddenly it's going in another direction for you. So maybe you could tell the listeners a little bit about that, how you transitioned from what I would say a secular job to a little bit more of a religious job.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Yes, you know, I worked only very briefly out of college for a medical supply company, and almost immediately I applied for and took a job as a youth minister at a parish. So in a way, I've always worked in ministry of some sort. But what's interesting to m to me is getting getting involved in in parish ministry is very different than what I do now, and in some ways very much the same. You know, when you work at a parish, and if you're listening to the radio here, you probably have some interaction with people at your parish, but it's very in the grassroots. And I I fly in and fly out today, but for four years I I took that job and I had a basically built a youth group from scratch and taught religion in the school and coordinated confirmation, and it was just my whole life for four years, but I count it as four of the best years of my life of just being surrounded by faith and and engaged in it. And I did start to get these requests. Could you I was in Dallas at the time, could you could you speak at our youth rally? Could you come Oklahoma City calls? Could you come and and do music at our pro life fundraiser, these sorts of things that are very common around, and they got so frequent I had to start saying no to them because I had a job. And and then sort of a moment happened where I I came up probably to, I want to say it was South Dakota, and did a big regional youth gathering, and I had Go Make a Difference happen at the Big National Youth Conference. And I sang on the stage with Pope John Paul when he came for World Youth Day in Denver, which was at that time certainly one of the most amazing things I'd ever seen or done in my life. And and to this day, quite honestly, I'm just feet away from a living saint, and you could feel it. It was epic, and and one was Of that is a lot of phone calls. Could you come to this or that? And and so I I basically, when people say, What was it like to make the big leap? In some ways it wasn't a big leap because I had all these phone calls coming in and I thought, you know, maybe I should just go for it. But in other ways, it's a gigantic leap because even if I make as much money on the road as I'm making working a regular job, um, once I quit the regular job, that's still 50% of the money going away. Yes. So like, okay, right now I'm making both, then in a minute I'm gonna be making half. And so unless I really gain some momentum quickly, uh, we're gonna eat a lot of ramen noodles or something. And and my wife and I prayed about it and we made that leap. And, you know, God provided. We joked, we had little children at the time, and this will tell you how long ago it was, but but uh Taco Bell had 39 cent tacos after 9 p.m. And so during the summer we were we were so stretched when I first quit the church job that we would like be digging in the floorboard of the car for change, and the children were like, We're hungry. We're like 30 more minutes, you know. Go buy our 39 cent tacos. But God provided and and things really kind of picked up steam quickly, and and so I've been doing this longer than 30 years. I'm not gonna do the math sitting here, but a long, a long time. And so uh it that was the moment though that really that leap of faith kind of put all our eggs in the basket, and God kind of gives you, you know, you follow, I've never been a big risk taker, but you sort of follow with confidence the Holy Spirit, and it just felt like the right thing all along.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

So yeah, those gentle nudges that that I think God puts in our lives. And I I love the 39 cent taco thing because I often joke, of course, Taco John's is a big thing here, and and uh I'm gonna date myself. I remember when they did two tacos for 99 cents. Oh my goodness gracious, yeah, they haven't done that for quite a while. No, no. And I think all those years I ate the two tacos for 99 cents finally caught up with me because I have trouble now digesting tacos.

SPEAKER_02 24:23

There's another reason that becomes less attractive over the years. You're you're you don't tolerate all the all the grease as well when you get a little older either.

SPEAKER_01 24:31

So truth, very truthful. So when you do concerts like this or presentations, um, how do you kind of structure what it is you're going to do? What songs are you going to pick, um, what things are you going to share? You know, how does one arrive at, well, this is what I would like to accomplish in my concert and my presentation?

SPEAKER_02 24:55

Well, that's a that's a hard question to answer. So many different things. So many and I've done one of my favorite things when people ask me what I love about what I do. Well, being able to share faith for a living is certainly one of my favorite things about what I do. But also that I do so many different things. You know, during Lent, I often do a parish mission every week, you which would be speaking at the masses and then uh an evening program for two or three nights. And during the summer, I do almost exclusively concerts outside, uh conferen uh youth conferences and camps, things like that, and and everything in between. During the winter, I travel with Sarah Hart, another great musician, and we do an advent Christmas show, and um and I come out for Christ Our Life, which you mentioned, and I would like to say for my own faith, for the passion and what you learn about the faith at Christ Our Life, and every extraordinary famous speaker of the Catholic Church has been to Christ Our Life. If you live, I often joke and say if you live near Des Moines and haven't been, you probably think, how can anything that good be happening in Des Moines? But it is, it really is. It's just people waited years and went to the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis to see and do the very same things that we do every two years at Christ Our Life. And that is a place where I began praying the chaplain of Divine Mercy, which is a beautiful prayer. You pray on the rosary. Some will be very familiar with it, but some might not. And it's found in the diary of St. Faustina, a beautiful prayer that just ask God for his grace and mercy, especially in difficult times. And I started singing that because I was asked to sing it at Christ Our Life. And then when the pandemic happened and my ministry came to a standstill, and once again we didn't know how we were going to pay the bills or whatever. I did a simple my wife and I made a simple decision to pray the chaplet online every day while we're in sort of quarantine, you know, and it became a cornerstone of my faith and my life. We we we had a couple of thousand people praying every day with us for two years. We prayed every day. And now I still do the chaplet every Monday. We call it Mercy Monday, and you can find that on Facebook and on YouTube, and that little community of just praying for each other that's still maybe there's 150 people praying live in the middle of the day, but thousands of people watch throughout the week and add their prayers, and that really was important for me. I've I've gone and forgotten your actual first question, but it you know, I think one of the things that happened for me as a person doing ministry is the realization that I have to live this. I can't just talk about it. And probably a combination of the monks of St. Mindrid and things like Christ Alive and doing this as a as a ministry full-time was just realizing I've I've got to practice what I preach, and constancy in prayer has been probably the greatest fruit of being in ministry, which isn't that a funny thing to say. You're encouraging people to pray, but in fact, one of the fruits was the realization I have to do this. And and having sort of a constancy of making a few minutes for God every day. We so often say, Oh, I just didn't have time to pray. Well, that's impossible. You know, you can you can pray, you can read the gospel of the day and just let God speak to your heart for 30 seconds, and that probably only took a minute and a half, all things combined. And that's prayer. That's a beautiful, it's Lexi O Divina, if you want a fancy name for it. It's letting the scripture speak to us. You can say a decade of the rosary before you get out of the car. I'm a big car prayer because I always tell people if you don't have peace in your car, that's your own fault. That's true. Because the people you just left think you're gone, and the people you're going to don't know you're there yet. So that means you answered your phone and made it an unpeaceful place. But it could have been a peaceful place that you could relax a little bit into listening and speaking to the Lord. So um, if you can ask me your question again, but I would say doing this in a way, doing ministry and being engaged, even as a volunteer in church, I think is one of the best ways to call yourself to the question. And and how I know your I remember your question, how do I decide what I'm gonna say? Because I speak to so many different groups, I have different kinds of bullseyes that I hit. And my favorite thing is that my life changes. If you did only the one thing, I guess I wouldn't want to be in a Broadway show for eight years. If I only did the one thing, the parish mission, the same two nights every week, over and over and over, uh that would get hard, I think. But having it change all the time, and I uh appreciate parish ministry the most because it's really who we are as a church. We the the Catholic faith is built upon parishes and being able to walk into a community and laugh and sing and pray. So I always involve a lot of humor, I always involve a lot of song. I I want an eight-year-old to be able to hang in with me and an 88-year-old to walk away having learned something new. And I've just done it so long, I I do feel like it's one of the fruits or maybe uh uh one of the anointed things about the ministry I do. I just I do like having all ages in the room. You've said that twice, and it's very true. I don't think that's true for all things, nor does it need to be. If you're going to a lecture by Scott Hahn, it doesn't have to entertain an eight-year-old. But I really appreciate that we celebrate our faith together. That's one of the things I try to do.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Yeah, and I I think you're spot on with that. You know, the whole idea of like I I listeners know I taught uh at the college level for quite a few years, and although I had a plan when I walked into the classroom, you just never knew what was gonna happen that day. So you had to be able to quickly adapt uh to the needs of the students in the classroom at that time. Right. And so I love that, you know, you talked about uh, you know, you you might have a a prototype of you're gonna go in, but you kind of feel what's uh what's happening, and a lot of times, you know, the Lord reaches out and says, uh, hey, you know, you need to kind of emphasize this today, because you kind of sense it, I think, especially, you know, when you're in front of an audience or like I was in front of students, you sensed that you needed to maybe go in a little different direction.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

Yes. And I think part of that is the Holy Spirit, truly. I think if you're really receptive to it, God will sort of guide the moments and and also I just think the body of Christ is the most beautiful thing, and all of us bring our own joys and our own hurts. And I think one of the best things about being involved at church or in a faith community is that you realize you're not the only one dealing with the mom who's doing chemotherapy. You're not the only one who has a child who's struggling, and and answering those questions and walking those walks, not only with someone who understands, but as someone who understands in faith and someone who is seeking God in the midst of this, it just it's so life-giving. And yes, when you're in a room of people like that, you do feel you feel like you said, you feel their hearts, you feel where they want to go, and I think if you're open to it, God also guides you all because He's ministering to all of us in those moments.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

Yeah, absolutely. And I was so tickled that you mentioned Christ Our Life, which uh listeners, um, I will be doing a show uh for Faith and Action on Christ Our Life in Des Moines. You can mark that on your calendar Monday, August 31st. We're going to um have an interview with uh a couple of people from Christ Our Life, and I'm really excited about that. So Steve will be there. But that is a three-hour drive away. And Steve's going to be in South City. Since we're both in South City, it's a little culture. Not that it isn't worth your time to drive to Des Moines and experience Christar Life. But I was glad you mentioned that. And I love commonalities. You know, as I was listening to your talk and you mentioned the capital. We actually have that aired every day at three o'clock, the hour of the fine work. And Bishop Container who is uh Bishop of the Diocese associated, who introduces it. And then we have some vocalists that's saying it. And it's it's really it's um it's there for the listeners. And uh it's one of the things that we hear from the listeners a lot about. You know, if we have a little hiccup in the transmission, boy, they're right there saying, oh, we're the capital of Dying Mercy. And so I know that it resonates with them. And I was so glad you mentioned that as well. And then uh when you said World Youth Day with uh Pope John Paul II, uh Saint Pope John Paul II, uh and I'm sure you realized I was in the audience with my two boys that day as well.

SPEAKER_02 34:04

Oh my gosh, that's so cool. I did not realize that. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Yep, I was there and with my two oldest boys, and um what an incredible experience. I did not get to stand next to a saint, uh, but I did get to see him quite frequently. My challenge was I was covering it uh for the Catholic Globe, the newspaper for the diocese of city at the time. So I had my hands full of trying to get to people and interview them. But anyway, I segue away from it. So this is this is what I've I've wanted to ask you, Steve, for um most of this conversation. So uh listeners are always going, oh, that's very nice. Joanna's interviewing this this person sounds interesting, sounds like it might have some merit. But what would you say to individuals who are listening that maybe would nudge them into to coming to this event?

SPEAKER_02 34:58

Well, two things. You know, one so often I've been at events uh at church and people go, Oh, I wish more people had been here. We should have done this for everyone, and I laugh and I uh 'cause I say, Well, we actually did do this for everyone. So yeah, uh it wasn't for lack of effort. But you don't know what you don't know, you know, and maybe there's some category of listeners who just they don't go to anything extra, you know, you go to mass and that's what God calls us to do first and foremost, and that's absolutely true. But I think you're really missing out on what it means to really take a deeper step into the sense of the body of Christ and community and what it means to know people a little bit more personally. And as a friend of mine said, during a a hard time in my life, my dad was dying, and he just showed up unexpectedly, four states away at the hospital. And I was like, What are you doing here? And he said, Well, sometimes we need Jesus with skin on. And I just thought that was so beautiful. And and I think when you come, you experience Jesus with skin on a little bit, and and all of the people who are there for you in ways you didn't realize. But also, uh Saint Bernard, who's a great Benedictine saint, is sort of a, I don't know, I love what he writes, and I won't say a hero, but definitely a yeah, a hero for me. But Saint Bernard wrote, uh, do not try to be a channel of grace, but a reservoir of grace, and that what holiness is isn't so much a doing but a being, and it's allowing that space in our heart that's meant for God to be so filled that it's overflowing. And this was really the key line to me. He said, When you're a reservoir of grace, you you never are emptying yourself. You're never pouring it all out. What people are experiencing is the overflow, the excess that pours out of you, whether you want it to or not, because that's what God is doing in and through you. And I that's what we'll talk about a little bit, but also that's a way to live, that you are not constantly exhausted and burned out and and trying to get just barely to the next thing. And to me, it's so important that we live in a way that fills us up and not empties us in. That's hard to do in today's world. And and I just don't think there's anyone who couldn't come and because of the community and because of the Lord and because of what we're gonna sing and laugh and pray and do wouldn't enjoy and experience that.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

Yeah, and I like the idea of the skin on. That that's really powerful. And when you look around and you see other people, you know, and you think to yourself, you know what, I'm not alone. And I I know that is a struggle for a lot of people. There's a lot of loneliness in today's world and the feeling that no one else is going through what I'm going through, be it a challenge with our children or a challenge with our our parents or uh spouse, our loved ones, our friends, our work. I mean, I can just go down the line about uh, you know, things that impact us. And some days we just go, oh my gosh, you know, I feel like nobody else is going through what I'm going through. But then you're in, you know, this commonality that we all have, and that's our faith, and we're singing and we're laughing and maybe we're crying. But it's uh I'm not alone. I'm not all by myself. There are other people who I know are probably having challenges, maybe at a far greater level than I am, but they're here and we're trying to connect with our Lord and you know, walk away going, Okay, there's hope. There is hope.

SPEAKER_02 38:33

Yep, that's the right word too. Hope. I think you said it perfectly. Hope, I think, is a spiritual, you know, it's a grace, it's of a virtue and and uh an ability to see that God is in the midst of everything that we're experiencing. And and to feel that you're alone in your suffering or adversity, I I truly believe is the work of the devil. No, no, I'm not exaggerating. That's the work of the devil, just trying to make you feel isolated and alone and really hoping you don't show up anywhere where other people are there to to to put their shoulder under your cross and carry it with you. That's what Satan would love, you know, and you're not alone, and your suffering is is you do not have to suffer alone.

SPEAKER_01 39:17

And that is so true. So, listeners, this is a real opportunity if you finally have found a pen or a pencil, and I know I struggle with this myself. Where is that pen and pencil in my house or where's a piece of paper nowadays? I hope you have something now to write with, or pull out your phone and type it in. Save the date. Thursday, September 3rd. It is a concert, it is uh my guest on the show today, Steve Angersano. Uh it is a concert, it is at modern-day parish, but specifically at Nativity Church 41, 4241 to tell you away here in 68 again, Thursday, September 3rd at 6:30 p.m. It is open to the public if they are asking for a free will donation. And cool vendors of all ages are invited to attend. I know you will benefit from it. Steve is an incredible acclaimed musician, composer. Um if if you're not familiar with Go Make a Difference, then go to Google and Google it because the minute you hear it, you'll go, Oh yes, I recognize that song. And it's gonna be at Pri Star Life, um the World Youth Days, just so many wonderful things. So he brings a lot of um passion and uh just very infectious with your enthusiasm for your faith, um, Steve. And I am so grateful that you were able to take time out of your busy schedule to share with me uh your faith journey and and what it is that you hope that our listeners might gain um when they come to the concert.

SPEAKER_02 40:49

Well, thank you. I appreciate you. I I just enjoyed the conversation, honestly. It's wonderful to talk to you and I hope uh people come out. And if you do stop, stop me and say, Hey, I heard you on the radio. I think that would be fantastic. So I I look forward to being there very soon. So uh thank you for the interview and also just the faith conversation. It it's wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 41:10

And listeners, I just I didn't mention this, but you can go to the Modern Day's website. It's real easy. Uh Moder Day, which is M-A-T-E-R, D E I, and then S C, which is Sous City. So M-A-T-E-R, D E I, S C dot org, and this'll all come up. Or you can just Google it and it will come up too if that was too much to share with you.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

So that's you can find me. Let me just throw this in, sorry to interrupt, but because I didn't mention it, but you can find me very easily online. Just search my name, Steve Angrosano, and you don't even have to be able to spell it right. Google is very smart, so even if you get it wrong, it'll say, Did you mean? you know, and you can find uh my webpage, stepangersano.com. But most of the fruitful information about what I'm doing and where I'm going is on Facebook. If you do Facebook Steve Angrosano Music, you can find my schedule, you can find links to this event and all events that I'm doing.

SPEAKER_01 42:06

Terrific. Well, we wish you safe travels here to the diocese. Thank you again, Steve, so much. Um, listeners, that brings to an end another edition of Faith in Action. I'm so pleased that you are able to join us. And we have so much wonderful local programming on our station. Um, like I mentioned to Steve, we have the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day at 3 p.m. Um we have Mass from Modern Day every Sunday at 9 a.m. at Life Plan, which is a great, great show for young people. That is Sundays at 8 p.m. And then Catholic Ministry Professionals with John and Ty at Tuesday at 4 p.m. And then Father Note with Father Mark Stall for Wednesdays at 9 p.m. So if you tuned in late, you can hear this show at your convenience. You just go to our website, soandcatholicradio.com, and click on local programs and click on faith in action, and you can listen at your convenience. We're also on Spotify and a number of other podcasting platforms that's all due to the generosity of Mary's choice of the Pregnancy Resource Center, which is the exclusive underwriter for this show. On behalf of myself, I'm Joanne Fox, the host of the show, and my executive producer, Ann Reed, I want to remind you that a faithful reaction is good, but faith and action of it's so much better. Thanks for listening and God bless.