Radiant Heart Music

Songwriting was not my idea.

In fact, after writing the lyrics for our first song, I remember feeling a little irritated with God. The Catholic faith, music, and writing, all rolled into one — how did I not think of this? I had  studied to be an English teacher (a career path that fizzled out quickly), and I had minored in music in college, but that was just for fun. When my husband and I moved to Grand Island in 2017, I volunteered in the choir at St. Leo’s. 

It was through this role that I met Kristen Schutte, who began serving as Music Director of both St. Leo’s and St. Mary’s Cathedral in 2018. Kristen prodded me to accompany at Masses and—beginning in 2020 of all years—helped create a part-time music ministry role at both parishes for me to assist her.

God had quietly cultivated the things I deeply care about and now the time was ripe.

For Kristen, the journey looked different.

Since the time she was a little girl, she was in awe of her mom’s ability to play piano and sing at Mass.

She told people, “I want to do what my mom does when I grow up.”

Kristen started singing at Mass in elementary school and, in high school, began accompanying. In college, as she studied music education, she befriended a young woman who composed her own music.

“It inspired me to be creative and write my own songs. At first, they were typical songs about boys, but they were fun to play — and really cheesy, looking back!”

A few years later, she began experimenting with faith-based music, sharing her compositions only with close friends.

Early in 2023, Kristen kept receiving comments about a songwriting contest for the National Eucharistic Revival.

“I wanted to try, but I also wanted the lyrics to be good and liturgically correct. I asked Jami if she would consider helping. I knew with her English background that she was good with writing. She prayerfully considered it, and then was on board.”

A few months later, we submitted our first song, titled “By You, Consumed” to the revival. As we awaited the results, the Grand Island Diocese held its own Eucharistic Congress. Because “By You, Consumed” features the Anima Christi prayer, we sang it as the Communion meditation at that Mass. Both Kristen and I were stunned by the response: people were touched by our song and wanted to know where they could find it! We did not win the songwriting contest, but it had given us the necessary push to begin.

We desired to write again, this time about our Blessed Mother. The song began to take shape, focusing on scriptural accounts of Mary and the perfect model of her faith for all Christians. Providentially, as I finished the words, Kristen returned from World Youth Day in Portugal, where she had visited the apparition location of Our Lady of Fatima. Impressively, in  her jet-lagged state, she created a melody for my text, and “As You Did” was born.

After these two songs, we began thinking more critically about musical needs throughout the liturgical year, one of which was the need for a Christmas Communion hymn. I recalled a homily given by (then) Father Golka, in which he explained the manger as a trough, a fitting cradle for the Bread of Life. This idea provided the foundation for “Be Cradled In Me.”

Other musical needs arose. Preparations were being made for Bishop Joseph Hanefeldt’s 10th Episcopal Anniversary, which would be celebrated several days after the Feast of St. Joseph. We searched for St. Joseph music but found few options. After borrowing a book from a friend, I discovered St. Louis de Montfort’s “Prayer to St. Joseph,” a prayer parallel to the Hail Mary, and Kristen set it beautifully to music.

The idea for “Arise! He Is Risen” came from my son’s faith-formation class packet, which included and introduced me to “An Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday.” “Holy Spirit, We Invite You” was created out of a need for more robust music about the Holy Spirit. “Our Love Is Yours” was inspired by an excellent wedding homily.

The Holy Spirit continually invites us into new writing opportunities and inspires Kristen’s compositions. He has generously provided a wealth of texts to guide my writing, and has directed the give-and-take as we merge words and music.

God’s providence in bringing Kristen and me together has been a tremendous gift. The complementarity of our strengths (and weaknesses) is something only he could have arranged.  We continue to learn about notation software, recording, marketing, etc., but the joy of the creative process has felt like tapping into core parts of who we are. While our submissions to national publishers have thus far been unsuccessful, we are confident our work “will not return to [the Lord] empty, but will accomplish what [he desires] and achieve the purpose for which [he sends] it” (Is 55:11), whatever that may be. †

Kristen Schutte and Jami Kusek can be contacted at [email protected].

Their sheet music is available on sheetmusicdirect.com.