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Angela
 If
you look under the letter "A" in an
expectant parent's book of baby names you'll
find "God's Messenger" is the classic
definition given for the name Angela. While
many parents select a cherished family name,
an historic name or perhaps the name of a
biblical figure or a revered saint, Mom and
Dad just hope and pray their little son or
daughter will live to honor their namesake
throughout their life. To the delight of her
parents, Angela, now 23 and a newlywed, is
doing just that.
In August of 1995, Angela began to fulfill
the mission of her prophetic name when her
life made a dramatic, wonderful turn. But
let's look back. As a college freshman at
Villanova University, Angela put God on the
back-burner and veered into the
stereotypical collegiate moral compass
headings of excessive partying, careless
study habits, sexual promiscuity, reckless
marijuana use... all the rebellious allures
that fill the horizon of a teenager staring
at her new-found parental freedom. Angela
was singing in a local rock band, playing
clubs, dating the lead singer - It was like
the script of a made-for-TV movie or
"After-School Special."
Take a look back further. Angela was raised
in an upstanding Italian Catholic family in
northern New Jersey. She obediently went to
Mass on Sundays with her folks and was
taught by nuns at the prestigious all-girls
Catholic high school, Villa Walsh Academy,
where she excelled in athletics, not music.
But despite the solid, ever-present
spiritual influences throughout her young
life, Angela had never come to know Jesus in
a personal way. "You know, I've always grown
up Catholic, done that thing going to Mass
every Sunday," Angela remembers. "But I
never really knew Jesus; knew Him in my
heart, knew who He was, anything!"
Dire circumstances so often bring about
radical changes. Angela's situation became
mission critical when the eating disorder,
bulimia, overtook her faltering control and
escalated into an incapacitating stomach
ulcer. Now, with her physical health
seriously threatened, Angela's life was
rapidly unraveling. Although "not knowing
the half of it", Angela's dad did know his
daughter was quite sick and frightened.
Angela's father recalls, "She was caught up
in something she didn't even realize." With
concern, he demanded Angela attend a healing
service with him. With skepticism, Angela
begrudgingly agreed to go. With trepidation,
they both prayed.
A gentle, grandfatherly priest named Father
Edward McDonough, well known across New
England for his healing ministry, prayed
over Angela that night and a swell of the
Holy Spirit flooded over her, startling her
senses. "I felt something happen," Angela
explained. "I wasn't sure what it was just
then, but afterwards, I was feeling a lot
better."
Curiously led to learn more, Angela followed
Fr. McDonough to another healing service
held in a different church in a different
city a few weeks later. Here she would
receive the clarity she had sought since
that first transforming evening. Angela
bowed her head in humility, Fr. McDonough
once again stood over her and prayed, and
this time a miraculous thing happened.
Angela's heart was stirred and filled with
the warmth of Christ's peace and joy. There
was no mistaking it. This was indeed the
Holy Spirit,
converting her troubled soul. The serenity
she experienced would prove to not be just a
fleeting feeling, but rather, evidence of an
everlasting renewal of faith. It was highly
personal. Things had changed. Angela had
finally come to know Jesus in her heart.
The dramatic, wonderful turn Angela took in
her faith walk came without any plotting or
planning, and there's been no looking back.
"I didn't ask for any of this to happen to
me," Angela confided. "It just did. Jesus
put his hand on me, gave me all this grace,
and I said 'Yes.' I just said 'Yes.'" But,
as God would have it, Angela just said 'No'
to everything else soon thereafter... no
more band, no more boyfriend, no more pot,
no more binging and purging, no more ulcer
medication. "God healed me physically,
emotionally and spiritually," she revealed.
"I gave up everything and turned to follow
Him."
And that's where Angela is today, following
Him, as she delivers the message of Christ
"in a cool way."
And Angela continues to become known
throughout all the Christian community as
God equips His messenger with the music and
divine wisdom she requires to fulfill her
calling to deliver the Word of God. From
small youth groups of less than twenty in
the barrios of Jersey to the TWA Dome in St.
Louis for a youth conference of nearly
25,000 to guest appearances on international
religious programs of the Eternal World
Television Network, Angela has been reaching
people. Angela also occasionally gives her
witness and testimony at those same healing
services with Fr. McDonough that
providentially led her to this ministry
today.
In August of 1995, that's when it all began.
Angela remains as passionate as ever,
delving deeper into her faith through Holy
Pilgrimages to Rome with Pope John Paul II,
charitable outreaches in the inner cities
and contemplative retreats with the sisters
of Mother Teresa's Missionaries Of Charity.
Angela's considerable personal prayer life
and her obedience to attending daily church
liturgies all serve to keep her in sync with
the rhythm of heaven's heartbeat while
re-charging her promise and commitment to
doing God's work.
In her youthful lingo, Angela reminds the
kids, "God's in the business of changing
lives. It's never too late to get it
together. No matter what you're into,
whatever your struggles - Jesus is always
with you... always! I'm just so grateful to
Jesus that He changed my life, and I know
Jesus loves me."
Come, Follow Me
Angela’s new album, entitled "Come Follow
Me", is a departure from her debut album
which was one of the first Catholic modern
rock albums (“Heaven Knows Me”). Angela
recalls that "the first album was recorded
in New York and Philly but this one was
recorded in Tennessee. There's some slow
songs, some rock songs and a little Irish...
there's a little of everything." The Irish
influence comes from the production work by
Bob Halligan Jr. of Ceili Rain. "He and I
worked so well together. This one has a lot
of my creativity. There are different themes
such as chastity, Our Lady, and following
Christ. I was trying to find different songs
to relate to my ministry, to touch the youth
and to help them understand more about our
Faith."
Bob Halligan's Celtic influences are also
felt on the songs which he helped write such
as "Fresh Wind" and "Breastplate of St.
Patrick". On the album are also songs
co-written by Sarah Hart. Angela, however,
contributes two of the album's strongest
songs; "Come Follow Me" and "Rain". The
latter song was based on her conversion
experience. "I had never really written many
songs before. I was in Eucharistic Adoration
one night and I asked the Lord if He could
give me a song about my conversion. I just
knelt there in front of Him and He just
flooded me with the words. I went home that
night and I prayed to the Holy Spirit to
give me the melody."
From start to finish, Angela's warm vocals
bring focus to some great songs. There is
even a cover of "Let it Be" on this album.
"I felt that song was so cool. Paul
McCartney wrote it for his mother who was
Catholic. I related it to our Blessed Mother
who we can always go to. 'Let it Be' is
short for 'Let it be done to me according to
thy Word' (Mary's words at the
Annunciation). That's been my logo and it is
even on my T-shirts. It's just so powerful
as Our Lady leads us to Christ."
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