Loved speaking to the generous PSR (CCD) teachers at St. Peter this evening about maintaining peace of heart amidst life’s struggles. Thanks for the invitation, Celie Clark, and thanks, Fr. Jacques Philipe, for your brilliant treatise on the subject that inspired the talk!
April 27 2014: Happy Feast of Divine Mercy! And happy Canonization Day, Blessed John Paul II! This song, “In the Breaking of the Bread” (written by Michael Ward), is my very favorite song to sing EVER. I sing it every year on the Feast of Divine Mercy after Communion in thanksgiving for the gift of Divine Mercy in my life and in my family’s. In fact, today is the 14th anniversary of the day my father was miraculously released from unjust imprisonment!
My friend Msgr. Christopher Nalty posted this video (created by another friend of his) on youtube that puts images to the song. You can find the song on my CD, The Miracle of Divine Mercy–hope you enjoy it, and Happy Easter!
Love’s other name is Mercy!
Want to hear the story of how and why I did a jazz CD? My pal Pat Gohn did a beautiful job of creating a podcast from an interview I did with her on the subject. She’s such a pro! Check out podcast #177: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/among-women/id312212031
Dear Friends,
I just wanted to provide you with some important updates, photos from the studio, and–finally–the final song list! We have spent many, many hours in pre-production and in the studio to give you a CD that I hope will stand the test of time and become one of your favorites.
Not pictured are my hubby Mel Rogers (clarinet), Steve Mazakowski (guitar), Don Vappie (guitar and banjo), Hannah Yim (violin) and Rex Gregory (flute). They are each world-class musicians, and I can’t believe that I got to sing with them!
While it was my sincere hope to have the final CD in your hands last month, we decided during our final mixing session that a full live string section on about half of the songs would put it OVER THE TOP. Unfortunately, my producer is so booked that it won’t be ready in time for Christmas. Ouch.
For those of you who were planning on this being your go-to Christmas gift, I know, I know–and I’m really, really sorry! I had to make the call between either having this ready in time for Christmas sales or making an album that is the best I can possibly make it.
So, I hope you aren’t too disappointed and that you’ll find it worth the wait. How would you feel about it being an awesome Valentine’s gift instead?
Our plan is to record the strings on January 2nd and–since it has so many love songs on it–to have it ready in plenty of time for St. Valentine’s Day! Speaking of love songs, drum roll please…
OUR FINAL SONG LIST
1) My Funny Valentine (This is what I want to call the CD, but my producer wants Blue Skies. What do you think?)
2) Blue Skies
3) My One and Only Love
4) La Mer
5) A Kiss to Build a Dream On
6) Summertime
7) S’Wonderful
8) I’ve Got a Crush on You
9) Basin Street Blues
10) One Day (You Will Be Mine)
11) Someone to Watch Over Me
I’m so grateful to each and every one of you for the support and love you’ve sent my way. Let me know which of the songs you like best for a CD title, and I’ll keep you posted on all developments on my end. My photographer (Johnny Chauvin) took off for Italy before he had a chance to process my photos for the CD cover, but we’ll get to work on that and the t-shirts as soon as we get the graphic design wrapped up.
Gratefully yours,
Kitty
August 1, 2013
We did it! As of this writing, over 300 of you beautiful people have locked arms with me and donated over $25,000 to make my new jazz standards CD a reality–a project that I hope will raise several thousands of dollars for Habitat for Humanity.
Thank you! You are my heroes.
And who knows…people who pick up the jazz CD might just be interested in what else I have to offer.
Stay tuned for exciting updates, incliuding the song list, video previews, and little hints at the New Orleans jazz greats we’ll have playing on the CD. We are going to make some beautiful music together!
[P.S. A few more photos from the jazz CD brunch on Sunday, June 23rd, are on the next page]
Please click on this photo  of me in the French Quarter to learn all about it! If you can’t see the photo, click here. to learn more.
Copied from the website of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception
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The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us — all of us. And, he wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy.
The Divine Mercy message is one we can call to mind simply by remembering ABC:
A – Ask for His Mercy
God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.
B – Be merciful
God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.
C – Completely trust in Jesus
God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.
This message and devotion to Jesus as The Divine Mercy is based on the writings of Saint Faustina Kowalska, an uneducated Polish nun who, in obedience to her spiritual director, wrote a diary of about 600 pages recording the revelations she received about God’s mercy. Even before her death in 1938, the devotion to The Divine Mercy had begun to spread.
The message and devotional practices proposed in the Diary of Saint Faustina and set forth in this website and other publications of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception are completely in accordance with the teachings of Church and are firmly rooted in the Gospel message of our Merciful Savior. Properly understood and implemented, they will help us grow as genuine followers of Christ.
Spend time to learn more about the mercy of God, learn to trust in Jesus, and live your life as merciful to others, as Christ is merciful to you.
We are not only to receive the mercy of God, but to use it by being merciful to others through our actions, our words, and our prayers; in other words, we are to practice the Corporal and Spiritual Works (Acts) of Mercy.
The Lord wants us to do these works of mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no use without works.
Corporal Works
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Spiritual Works
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“I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.
I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.
Many souls … are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.
If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy.” (1317)
By the grace of God, I have been invited to sing at Mass and and help sing the chaplet of Divine Mercy on the afternoons of Saturday, April 6, and Divine Mercy Sunday, April 7, 2013,at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, MA. I will also be sharing my Divine Mercy miracle story on Sunday morning, which my father also did many years ago.
I’m trembling a bit, as there will be between 20,000-25,000 people attending the Mass on Sunday, plus live coverage on EWTN. All I can say is that I am not worthy, and God is good.
Will I be singing in your living room this summer? Or perhaps in your parish church?
For the second year in a row my family and I are planning a summer “Be Not Afraid” concert tour. Here’s one of the letters I got after a concert last summer:
Kitty, We lost a son to the ravages of drug addiction and post-traumatic stress (from a terrorist bombing in Beruit). I knew he was in a better world but my dear wife has suffered these last two years as only a mother can. I SAW the healing begin last night in her eyes. I thank God for your healing ministry. Bless you.
Praise God! What a privilege it is to share my music and stories with you. There are many more beautiful testimonies you can read in our online guestbook.
We hope to start our 2012 Tour in the beginning of June. Are you anywhere in Louisiana or eastern Texas? Would you like to work with us to have us come to your parish or even to your home? Perhaps you’re in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee or North Carolina! The last week of June we will be in your area on our way to vacation in beautiful Brevard, NC. We also have dates available the last two weeks of July.
No matter where you are in the U.S., we will make every effort to accomodate any request and budget (even NO budget if we can get enough people there)–but we only have a limited number of dates! I can offer your parish or group
• A reflection on true beauty for women,
• An evening of song and meditation during a Eucharistic holy hour, or
• Just share my stories and music.
I hope to see you this summer! In the meantime, may this Lent be a time of spiritual renewal for you and this Easter a time of great joy. Again, please send my sister an email so I can see you in person this summer!
Blessings,
