On August 28, 2018, I was in Cuenca, Ecuador, for the 30th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady, Guardian of the Faith, to a teenage girl named Patricia “Pachi” Talbot (the messages have been approved by her bishop, as has the building of a massive new shrine at El Cajas, high in the Andes Mountains. For more on Pachi, click here and here).  The anniversary Mass with her bishop was beautiful, with thousands of roses and colorful orchids covering the altar and perfuming the open-air chapel. Pachi had earnestly asked me when visiting the U.S. months earlier to sing for this special Mass (and the week of celebrations preceding it), and she came over and hugged me after it was over.  I whispered a question that had been burning in my heart,

“Why me?”

After all, she’s met so many lovely singers as she’s traveled the world setting up Prayer Cenacles (Our Lady’s request), and she had talented, faith-filled singers there in Cuenca.

Her response startled me.

“Because Our Lady loves you so much, and because you have a mission to save the world with your voice.”

“Is that coming from you...or from her?” I asked.  “From her,” she replied.

I wasn’t sure what that meant or what that would look like, but tears filled my eyes as I contemplated the gravity of her words (and thank goodness I'm not the only one with a mission to save the world! We all have our part to play, do we not?).

In the meantime, life continued on with its many commitments, including the organization of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, writing a new book, and speaking/singing at various conferences. I had all but forgotten Pachi's words to me.

Many months passed, and I was driving home from singing for my second funeral in three days, thinking that I needed to do more works of mercy for the sick and the dying.  Both of these people had been listening to my music in their last days, which seems to be the theme from the many letters I've received over the years. By God's grace, the music seems to help people pass peacefully into the arms of God when it's time, and it brings consolation to those who grieve their loss. What a privilege!

As I got onto the Causeway Bridge, it occurred to me that I needed to do more for these people. Should I go sing for the sick and dying in hospitals and nursing homes? Should I work with Hospice?

Then I heard a sweet voice say to my soul,

“Give your music away to the poor, the sick, and the dying. No one should suffer or die without consolation.“

My heart was on fire, and inspiration came like a download from Heaven:

–Buy 1,000 digital music (MP3) players to start;

–Download them with all of my music (9 CDs);

–Give them away to the poor, the sick, the homebound, to Hospice care…

–Don't delay!

I made a few phone calls to friends who I thought might be able to help me, and it was essentially a done deal before I got off the bridge. Then I realized what day it was:

It was August 28, 2019, Feast of Our Lady, Guardian of the Faith, exactly one year after Pachi's words to me!

After getting the ball rolling with manufacturers and polling my friends on Facebook, we decided to call the project “Sounds of Peace.” My teen daughter, Cecilia, designed this beautiful logo for me:

I was astonished at the outpouring of support and how quickly and beautifully the various parts of the Sounds of Peace package came together, as only God can do. Within two months, the first 1,000 players had arrived and we began assembling and distributing the packages.

Of course, I had no idea that the COVID-19 pandemic would erupt only weeks later. How many thousands of people were--and are--“suffering and dying without consolation” now that families are so often prohibited from visiting them in their last days? It was--and is--heartbreaking! Those words spoken to my soul on the Causeway made so much sense in hindsight, especially given the testimonies that we've since received in response to the Sounds of Peace players.

As one gentleman put it, "It was crushing to not be with my beloved wife in her last days of suffering, but I took great consolation in knowing that she was listening to your voice and to the consoling message of God's great love for her when she died."

And so I ask you, my friends, will you help me fulfill this mission of mercy, to bring peace and consolation to the poor, the sick, and the dying? I'm making very little money from music these days, but I trust that together we are storing up lasting treasure in Heaven!