Catholic musician urges teens to live their faith
By Scott Alessi
Staff Writer
SOUTH PLAINFIELD — Singer and songwriter Steve Angrisano has traveled the world spreading a message to young people that is best summed up in the title of one of his most popular songs, “Go Make a Difference.”
Angrisano, a Catholic musician who has been featured at two World Youth Day events and four National Catholic Youth Conferences, engaged 312 teenagers in an “extreme faith makeover” as part of Diocesan Youth Day March 3. The event was sponsored by the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry.
The day featured two general workshop sessions with Angrisano at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, during which he addressed teens in both word and song. He also provided the music for the parish’s Saturday evening Mass and capped off the event with a concert in the church.
“We are all called to be holy,” Angrisano told the teens, who had come from 29 parishes and schools throughout the diocese. He stated that while many people in today’s world believe that it is too difficult for them to live a life of holiness or to become a saint, they can make a difference through carrying out the church’s teaching in their everyday lives.
“That’s what an extreme faith makeover is,” he said. “It is not changing so much as it is being aware that God is calling us to live this way all the time.” He also encouraged young people to not confine their faith only to the time they are at Mass, but rather to believe in an “everywhere God” and not simply a “church God.”
While Angrisano created a lively atmosphere by performing upbeat songs and encouraging audience participation, he also offered a more somber personal story to strengthen his message. A resident of Littleton, Col., Angrisano saw first hand the tragedy of the Columbine High School shootings in the town, where four children from his home parish were killed.
He recounted the stories of those who died in the tragic shooting and of one girl who survived, explaining that their actions serve as an example to others that we are called not only to practice our faith within the walls of a church, but to reach out to those around us.
“We have a God who calls us not just to sing happy songs in church, but to take the faith we have here and live it,” Angrisano said. “The world is going to change because you and I live what we believe.”
For Angrisano, touring the world and delivering his inspirational message is not simply a job, it is his personal ministry.
“My first calling I believe is as a minister,” Angrisano said in an interview with The Catholic Spirit. “Even when I was becoming more known as a musician, I was still writing those songs in the context of ministering to teenagers.”
After college, Angrisano spent four years working as a parish youth minister in Texas. During that time, he began accepting invitations to speak and perform at retreats and other parish events. He slowly began receiving more requests to appear at events and eventually decided to take his ministry on the road full time.
Long before working in church ministry, Angrisano had developed a passion for music. He began playing the guitar as a child and writing songs that expressed his own faith. “Music and faith have always gone hand-in-hand for me,” he said. “I’ve always felt that music speaks a language that words alone can not.”
Angrisano soon discovered that he had a gift for writing songs about his personal faith journey that other people could identify with. “A lot of times, the most powerful things I say in a song are things I think God is saying to me,” he explained. “I don’t think that’s an accident. God uses those weaknesses in our life to convey a message to many people who need to hear it."
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*The attached/referenced article was originally published in The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Metuchen, and is protected under U.S. and international copyright law