Life Your Living by Jesse Manibusan

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This past summer, I was incredibly blessed to meet Jesse Manibusan at the Alaska Catholic Youth Conference in Anchorage.

He gave a few talks for the teens which I attended as well as a concert.  I also had the privilege of chatting with him for a bit between his sessions.  I loved the few songs of his I had sung at church already,but after that event I discovered how many other songs he had written or performed and loved.  This man has a wonderful heart for God and shares it through music to people of all ages.

 

As he was in the middle of a cross country move, he brought only a two of his recordings for sale.  I bought both of them and thought it was time to share about his CD, Life Your Living.

Songs on Life Your Living

Life Your Living ~ the title song has a catchy pace and reminds us that we are living the life God has given us.

 

Glory to God ~this one is definitely a liturgical piece written before the new translation of the liturgy.  Even though it doesn’t fit within the Mass now because of the change of wording, it is still a wonderful song to sing and praise God.

 

Bread of Heaven ~ the song is all about recalling Jesus’s life and ultimate sacrifice which became the greatest gift you could ever receive. 

 

Falling Into You ~ Jesse talked a bit about this piece at ACYC and how he asked his daughter to listen to it and give her reaction.  At the end, she was in tears and felt like he has written it just for her.  I absolutely love this song and find it reminding me that when times are tough, falling into God’s Grace is the way to make it through the day.

 

Maria ~ this slow paced song reminds us of God’s abiding love that is there for all. 

 

God, the Great I Am ~ this piece is another wonderful song to sing and just praise God. 

 

This recording was from ACYC in 2010 and unlike the CD is done more call and response with the audience. It’s still a fantastic recording.

 

 

Give Us Your Peace ~ another slower song that serves as a prayer for God’s peace to envelop us.

 

 

Shelter ~ this upbeat song is one of my absolute favorites on the album.  It is also one of two songs that Jesse did not write.  But, he does a fantastic job performing the piece which reminds us to shelter in God and that through Christ was have been set free!

 

 

Gracious God ~ this song reminds me a bit of the psalms with both praise for God as well as a prayer that He lead us through this life until we can ultimately see Him face to face in Heaven.

 

How We Talk About It ~ years ago, I heard someone use the phrase “not only does she talk the talk, but she walks the walk.”  That phrase came to mind the first time I heard this song as we can do things that say we are Christian in our private lives, but it is how we share the love of God in the larger community.

 

Sing Amen! ~ this is the other song not written by Jesse, but beautifully performed on the CD.  All of us as God’s children should be singing Amen out in the world!

 

Open My Eyes ~ this piece is probably the most recognized piece by Jesse and one that I’ve loved to sing in Mass.  During one session at ACYC, the youth were starting to really take questions away from the focus of the talk.  I jumped in with my own question (How did you get started writing liturgical music?) and recorded his response which included this song.

 

Here’s that interview segment from ACYC:

 

 

Life Your Living is available on CD for $15 plus shipping (via Jesse’s site) and I saw a few used copies on Amazon.

 

This post has been submitted for inclusion in The Christian Home, Issue 88 hosted here.

 

As the featured columnist for the Movies and Music category, you can be looking forward to weekly posts on what we are watching or music we’ve enjoyed. 

 

Feel free to leave suggestions for me as well that are family friendly or uplifting for adults.  While I have movies and some music selections in mind, I’m always on the lookout for other great choices.