January is going to be a very big month for Jamie Rivera who is gearing up for the visit to the country of Pope Francis. As part of her preparations for the visit, Jamie produced and recorded an album that will not only pay tribute to the Pope but will also help deliver the message of why he’s here.
The album is titled We Are All God’s Children and features 12 inspirational songs performed by various artists, including Jed Madela, Angeline Quinto, Liezel Garcia, Janella Salvador, Fatima Soriano, Aiza Seguerra, Erik Santos, Robert Seña, Juris Fernandez, Morissette Amon and Jamie herself. The song We Are All God’s Children — written and sung by Jamie with music by Noel Espenida — talks about how others deserve our help, no matter who they are, where they are, or what they’ve been through, simply because “we are all God’s children” and one of God’s most important commandments is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
The message of the song is connected to why the Pope is coming to the Philippines. “It’s about the poor and the victims of Typhoon Yolanda, which is the reason why Pope Francis will visit us,” says Jamie. “It talks about how we should be one with them and how we should help our neighbors.”
Aside from We Are All God’s Children, the other songs are Our Dearest Pope (also written and sung by Jamie), On Eagle’s Wings, Anima Christi, Give Thanks, Lift Up Your Hands, Lead Me Lord, I Offer My Life (also featuring the San Carlos Seminary Choir), One More Gift, Take and Receive, The Mission (sung by Jamie), Papa Francisco, Mabuhay Po Kayo (written and sung by Jamie and composed by her brother Jun Cruz and nephew Pio Cruz).
When Jamie found out that the Pope is coming to Manila, she lost no time in making contact with Archbishop Soc Villegas to offer her services. “I asked him if I could write a song for the Papal visit, and he said yes,” relates Jamie.
Archbishop Soc gave Jamie the theme of the Papal visit, which is “solidarity to the poor, mercy to the weak” and told her that the song had to be approved by the Vatican. He also asked her to make an action video and gave her a deadline. (The official music video of We Are All God’s Children was produced by Ligaya ng Panginoon for Star Records; the score sheet, action video and official music video are downloadable for free at the We Are All God’s Children fan page).
Once the race to produce a song and an album for the Papal visit was on, Jamie threw herself into the project 100 percent. It took her two weeks to finish the lyrics of the title track. “After it was done, I gave it to Noel Espenida for the music, then I immediately sent it to Archbishop Soc. He liked it so he asked me to do the video. I contacted my brother, who contacted Landa Juan of Ligaya ng Panginoon, to do the actions. When everything was finished, we sent it all back to Bishop Soc. After several days, he called to say, ‘It’s official.’ I informed Star Records and we immediately recorded all the songs to complete one whole album.”
Jamie fully understood the significance of the project she was about to undertake. This wasn’t just another album. “I felt privileged to be able to write my feelings and sentiments for the victims of Yolanda, more so, that the whole Philippines would be singing it. I also hope that even after the Pope’s visit, the message of the song would still be in the minds of everybody, that we should help the poor. I also feel blessed because this is such a big event and I know that it would be recorded in history that I wrote and sung the song for the Papal visit,” says an excited Jamie.
As producer of the album, Jamie was hands-on in the making of it. And now that it’s out and ready, she couldn’t be more proud or excited. Jamie will be performing the songs at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena during the Pope’s encounter with families on Jan. 16 and at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) for the Pope’s encounter with the youth on Jan. 18.
More than anything, Jamie wants people to embrace the message of both the Pope’s visit and the album.
“The message is that we are all God’s children. We are all the same no matter what religion you belong to, that we have an obligation to our neighbors, especially the poor, that we must not give them empty promises and that we should fight for their rights to give them back their honor and their pride.”