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shanita akana
( For My God )

St. Michael Volunteer Shanita Akana Sings From Her Soul
By Mary Lovee Klipp

“All of my songs are born out of prayer. They are blessings from God which I sing for Him.” This is how Shanita Akana, a 36-year-old wife and mother of three from Ewa Beach, Hi., describes her lifelong love of music. And when Shanita released her Catholic debut album “My Soul Sings” in October 2001, she finally realized the dream of her youth.

“I dreamed for many years to be able to share my music with the world. I know this is all because of God,” Shanita added.

Turning her dream into reality was as much a spiritual journey as it was a musical one for the Catholic singer. Active in music throughout her years at Sacred Hearts Academy and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Shanita has performed as a soloist and in choirs both inside and outside of school.

But her confidence as a singer took years to develop. After meeting Shanita, a woman strongly grounded in her Catholic faith, and hearing the clear soprano voice that soars on her debut album today, it is hard to imagine she was once a young girl suffering from stage fright.

“Until high school, I was a nervous wreck. I could barely stand in front of an audience and sing,” Shanita said. “My dad (Ernest Aana) kept encouraging me by telling me: ‘Shanita, God gave you your voice, so share it.’ But even hearing that didn’t completely rid me of my fear. So he suggested that I make believe God was the only one in the audience listening and to just sing for Him. Little did my dad know how important his words would become in my life.”

The statement of faith Shanita received from her father as a teenager eventually became not only a basis for her songs, but also a way for her to reach out to other teenagers, just as her father once reached out to her. Shanita’s desire to bring youth and young adults to Christ led to her role as Life Teen youth coordinator at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in 1995.

“God opened the door for me at my parish, under the leadership of Fr. Bob Phelps. Serving as Life Teen coordinator, I delved deep into the Mass and Holy Eucharist, which is the heart of both the Church and the Life Teen ministry,” Shanita explained. “I wanted to reach out to the young people and help bring them back to Church. At first, the upbeat music and youth homilies encourage them to come to Mass, but the Eucharist is what brings them back each week.”

Although she only served as coordinator until 1998, Shanita is still very involved in the Life Teen program, helping lead music for Mass with the youth choir and attending Life Teen events with her husband John and their 14-year-old son Kyle. The singer credits her work with the youth as the inspiration for her Catholic music career.

“Serving with the youth is a pure joy. I attended the national Life Teen conference in 1998 in Mesa, Ariz., and the conference inspired my faith so much that I wanted to write songs for the youth. When I came back to the island, I wrote three of the songs that are currently on my album. I was at the height of my conviction and love for my Church and my God,” Shanita said.

One of the songs originally written for her Life Teen group, “Give Me Jesus,” has become a message of Jesus’ love to the youth of the world. After the Columbine tragedy, Shanita re-dedicated “Give Me Jesus” to all the American youth, and finally to the children and young adults of the world, after the terrorist attacks last September.

“What do we tell these kids when they come here for an answer?
What do we tell these kids when their hearts beat just like thunder?
What do we tell these kids who’ve been victims of a terror?
What do we tell these kids who are afraid and left to wonder?
What do we give them when the world turns its back?…
We’re going to give them Jesus! Oh, no matter what the problems be, let’s unite all families.
That’s what we give to them. Jesus be my best friend.”

“I started writing “Give Me Jesus” in August 1998 for the youth of my parish but for some reason I couldn’t finish the song,” Shanita said. “Then, after the Columbine tragedy in April 1999, I realized how much the youth of today need Jesus in their lives. I finished the song two days later. The question what do we tell these kids when terrible things happen is really at the heart of the song. The answer was staring me right in the face: Jesus! God placed this song in my heart during prayer before it was ever put on paper.”

The youth of Shanita’s parish not only helped inspire her music, they also helped her produce it. On “My Soul Sings,” Shanita asked three students from Our Lady of Perpetual of Help School, including her son Brock, 11, to sing backup for her in “Seeking God.” Shanita dedicated the song to the children of the parish school and also to their pastor, Fr. Bob Phelps. “He jumped for joy when he first heard this song. Thank you, Fr. Bob,” she said.

“Children learn what they live.
Go and teach them how to give
Children learn what they hear.
O Mother, draw them near…
All this time spent in prayer, listen now to what we share.”

The songs born in Shanita’s soul are reflected by her family’s love for her. Their unwavering support was a constant reminder to her of God’s presence along her journey to becoming a Catholic singer. Shanita received a strong faith from her parents, and knew from the start that she and her husband were a “match made in heaven” and their children were “blessings from God.”

And, for the woman whose music has been recognized by Catholic and secular media, and has reached people across the state and now the country, nothing matters more to Shanita than her God. The acknowledgement by the Hawaii Catholic Herald, Honolulu Star-Bulletin and various radio stations and bookstores throughout the islands have only clarified the spiritual mission behind her music: “to You my soul sings.”

“Not my will anymore.
You gave my life new meaning, helped me see things clearly.
You came to me in silence now this song’s complete.
You showed me where I had faltered, brought me knees to the altar, gave me daily bread.
My one and only desire is to live Your will for my life…to You my soul sings.”


To order Shanita’s CDs or for bookings, please contact

JSA Enterprises
91-1144 Haiamu Place
Ewa Beach, Hi. 96706
(808) 391-4371; lyricjsa@yahoo.com



 
LIVES OF THE SAINTS

SEPTEMBER 1
ST. GILES
St. Giles was born in Athens, Greece, in early times. When his parents died, he used the large fortune they left him to help the poor. 

SEPTEMBER 2
BLESSED JOHN DU LAU AND THE SEPTEMBER MARTYRS
Blessed John was the archbishop of Arles, France.. 

SEPTEMBER 3
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT
St. Gregory was born in 540 in Rome. His father was a senator. His mother is a saint, St. Celia.

SEPTEMBER 4
ST. ROSE OF VITERBO
St. Rose was born in 1235 in Viterbo, Italy. She lived at the time when Emperor Frederick had conquered land that belonged to the Church.

SEPTEMBER 5
ST. LAWRENCE JUSTINIAN

St. Lawrence Justinian was born in Venice, Italy, in 1381.

SEPTEMBER 6
BLESSED BERTRAND

Blessed Bertrand lived in the last half of the twelfth and first part of the thirteenth centuries.

SEPTEMBER 7
BLESSED JOHN DUCKETT AND BLESSED RALPH CORBY

Blessed James Duckett studied at the English college of Douay and became a priest in 1639.

SEPTEMBER 8
BIRTH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

We do not usually celebrate the birthdays of the saints.

SEPTEMBER 9
ST. PETER CLAVER

St. Peter Claver, the Spanish priest of the Society of Jesus was born in 1580.

SEPTEMBER 10
ST. NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO

St. Nicholas was born in 1245 in Ancona, Italy. His parents had waited long and anxiously for a child.

SEPTEMBER 11
BLESSED LOUIS OF THURINGIA

Blessed Loius, the German prince, lived during the last part of the twelfth and first part of the thirteenth centuries.

SEPTEMBER 13
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

St. John Chrysostom was born in Antioch around 344.

SEPTEMBER 15
OUR LADY OF SORROWS

Our Lady had many great joys as the mother of Jesus, but she had much to suffer, too.

SEPTEMBER 16
ST. CORNELIUS AND ST. CYPRIAN

St. Cornelius, a holy priest of Rome, was elected Pope in 251. He accepted because he loved Christ.

SEPTEMBER 17
ST. ROBERT BELLARMINE

St. Robert Bellarmine was born in Italy in 1542.

SEPTEMBER 18
ST. JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO

St. Joseph was born on June 17, 1603, in a small Italian village to poor parents.

SEPTEMBER 19
ST. JANUARIUS

St. Januarius lived in the fourth century. He was born either in Benevento or Naples, Italy.

SEPTEMBER 20
ST. ANDREW KIM TAEGON AND ST. PAUL CHONG HASANG

St. Andrew Kim Taegon was a priest and St. Paul Chong Hasang was a lay person.

SEPTEMBER 21
ST. MATTHEW

St. Matthew was a tax collector in the city of Capernaum, where Jesus was living.

SEPTEMBER 22
ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA

St. Thomas was born in Spain in 1488.

SEPTEMBER 24
ST. PACIFICUS

St. Pacificus, a little Italian boy born in 1653 was named Charles Anthony. He was just five years old when his loving parents died.

SEPTEMBER 25
ST. SERGIUS

St. Serguis, the famous Russian saint lived in the fourteenth century.

SEPTEMBER 27
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL

St. Vincent de Paul, the son of poor French peasants, was born in 1581.

SEPTEMBER 28
ST. LAWRENCE RUIZ AND COMPANIONS

St. Lawrence Ruiz, and his fifteen companions were killed for their faith in 1637, in Nagasaki, Japan.

SEPTEMBER 29
ST. MICHAEL, ST. GABRIEL, ST. RAPHAEL

Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are called "saints" because they are holy.

SEPTEMBER 30
ST. JEROME

St. Jerome was a Roman Christian who lived in the fourth century.

 
ABOUT ARCHANGELS
SAINT MICHAEL
St. Michael the Archangel Story
History of St. Michael the Archangel Prayer
St. Michael the Archangel Prayers
St. Michael the Archangel Apparitions
The Chaplet of St. Michael Archangel
Novena to St Micheal the Archangel
Litany of St. Michael the Archangel


SAINT GABRIEL

St. Gabriel Prayer

SAINT RAPHAEL

St. Raphael Prayer
 
PHOTO OF THE MONTH


Tour of the Relics of the Passion
(International Center for Holy Relics)
www.HolyRelics.org

 
REFLECTIONS

“Jesus’ Baptism”

Why did Jesus, the sinless one sent from the Father in heaven, submit himself to John’s baptism? John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3). In this humble submission we see a foreshadowing of the “baptism” of Jesus bloody death upon the cross. Jesus’ baptism is the acceptance and the beginning of his mission as God’s suffering Servant (Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:1-12). He allowed himself to be numbered among sinners. Jesus submitted himself entirely to his Father’s will. Out of love he consented to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. Do you know the joy of trust and submission to God?

 
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The Sacrament of Marriage
Bishops Shield Pope Against BBC Assault
Much Work Remains in Many Areas

Vatican Appeals for Least Developed Countries

MAINPAGE ARTICLE
Immaculate Conception of Mary
Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

Feast of St Jude the Miraculous Saint
Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima


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