Sunday February 15, 2009 n CatholicNews
15
PEOPLE
The Daughters of St. Paul wanted to do something to
create greater awareness of the life and writings of St.
Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles who is also patron saint
of the congregation. They decided to produce an album
of songs with lyrics based on the Letters of St. Paul. The
result is “His Grace is Sufficient”. CatholicNews asks
Sister Wendy Ooi, fsp, now serving in Kenya, about the
album and her role in making it happen
How did the idea for this CD
come about? Why?
Sister Wendy Ooi: We produced
this CD especially for the Pauline
Jubilee Year (Jun 28, 2008 to Jun
29, 2009) – in celebration of the
bi-millennium of St. Paul’s birth
Album by Daughters
of St. Paul to promote
Year of St. Paul
By Darren Boon
THE DAUGHTERS OF St.
Paul have released an album
“His Grace is Sufficient” to
commemorate the Year of St. Paul.
The album’s 13 songs are
based on the Letters of St. Paul
and are substantially written and
performed by Pauline Sisters
serving in Kenya and India.
Readers of CatholicNews will
recognise a familiar name in the
CD credits. Sister Wendy Ooi
wrote and performed two of the 13
songs including the title track “His
Grace is Sufficient” and the ending
track “I Fall on My Knees”. The
talented Sister also produced
seven songs and did the cover and
booklet design – “pau ka liau”,
is how she described her role.
The album consists of a
repertoire of slow and upbeat
tracks that uplift the listener
and inspire hope, faith and
love. It begins on a snappy note
with “My Goal My Destiny”
and instantaneously grabs the
and in response to the pope’s
recommendation to create a
greater awareness of the life and
writings of the Apostle of the
Gentiles, who is of course our
patron saint as well.
Through this CD we hope
listener’s attention. “God Loves
a Cheerful Giver” and “Strangers
No Longer” are also addictive.
“Thank You Lord” is
ideal in a praise and worship
session with its meaningful and
appropriate lyrics. “Nothing in
the World” is a stand-out track
with its groovy pop-electronic
arrangement which should strike
a chord with teenage listeners.
While performance may
not be the strongest chord, the
album is a production effort that
comes from the heart. It hits
the right notes with memorable
tunes and lyrics that stick in the
consciousness after a few listens.
Listeners will find “His Grace
is Sufficient” an album that will
help create the right ambience
when reflecting on the letters of
St. Paul, in family prayer time,
after a hectic day at work or in
the quiet moments of the day.
 “His Grace is Sufficient”
is available at $12.50 from
Catholic Book & Media
(2 Highland Road, #01-02). n
Singaporean Sister Wendy Ooi, fsp performs for the album, “His Grace is Sufficient,”
at the production studio in Nairobi, Kenya, where she is based.
to spread the inspiring words of
St. Paul as well as to evoke the
interest especially of the youth to
read his letters, which contain so
many beautiful reflections on our
Christian faith and life.
Lastly it is also very much in
line with our apostolate to use the
media to spread God’s love.
Was it your initiative?
In a way, but I would say that all
of us in the Paulines Audiovisuals
Department wanted to do some
projects in line with the Pauline
year so this was one of them.
How were you involved?
I produced seven songs, wrote
and performed two songs. I
also did the cover and booklet
design. Since we’re “small time”
or what the industry would
call an “independent label”,
we have to save costs and try
and do everything on our own
here – “pau ka liau”, you know
– but I also enjoyed that part of
it because it’s a whole package
really.
How much time and effort did
you have to invest to create this
CD?
This is a little hard to say – we
did the recording in eight days
but there was also some prep time
for the composition, listening and
selecting the demos, etc.
Which parts of the whole
process did you enjoy most?
Writing the songs, “producing”
them which involves the
arrangement of the songs
in collaboration with a very
talented sound engineer, Timothy
Muriithi (who also did most
of the other instruments), and
finally recording them. I guess
it’s the whole process of seeing
it through from start to finish
– hearing the song in its very
raw form (just the voice and the
acoustic guitar) then finally with
all the production behind it.
Could you briefly explain the
process?
For the two songs I wrote, I first
selected the Pauline passage
that touched me. (“I Fall on My
Knees” based on Eph 3:14-21 was
written for someone as a birthday
gift because at the time I wrote
it, I wasn’t sure if this project
would push through.) Then I had
to rewrite the words to fit the
melody. Once I was contented
with it, I recorded the song (just
my voice and the acoustic guitar).
This was the same for the other
composers – Sister Roselyn
Wambani, fsp, as well as Steve
Kithisya. Then we worked on the
arrangement – other instruments
as well as voice arrangements.
Once the instrumental tracks were
recorded, we then proceeded to
record the vocals – lead and back
up. Then I left it to Timothy to do
the final mix and master.
Who else did what?
The other six tracks on the album
were produced by our Sisters in
India.
For the seven songs produced
in Kenya, three were written and
performed by Sister Roselyn
Wambani, fsp, two were written
by Steve Kithisya whom we
commissioned to write some
songs. He actually wrote several
but only two were selected.
As mentioned earlier, Timothy
also played most of the other
instruments and I thought he was
a wonderful collaborator.
Is there anything else you
would like to tell us?
This was really a debut of sorts
for me – in terms of production as
well as recording and performing
for a CD meant for the public. I
found the whole experience quite
awesome.
Initially I was hesitant to
actually use my voice (I’m no
Olivia Newton-John!) for my
own songs but Timothy the sound
engineer and a couple of the
Sisters who heard my voice on
the demo actually liked it and
encouraged me to record it and,
in the end, I thought it worked
out pretty well.
Some fellow fans of Suzanne
Vega actually said they could
hear her influence in my
songs which for me is a great
compliment. I was also pleasantly
surprised when someone else said
I sound like Tanita Tikaram!
My prayer now is that those
who hear these songs will find
some inspiration from them,
that the songs can help them
grow in their faith, deepen their
relationship with God as well as
help them contemplate his great
love for them through the words
of St. Paul.
 Sample tracks can be heard on
www.paulinesav.blogspot.com.
Sister Wendy Ooi’s blog, where
she posts periodical updates of
her life in Kenya, is at http://
chilliandlime.blogspot.com n