Our God Is Here Chris Muglia	(Based on 2 votes)

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Lyrics

1. Here in this time, here in this place,
here we are standing face to face.
Here in our hearts, here in our lives,
our God is here.
Here for the broken, here for the strong,
here in this temple we belong.
Here in our hearts, here in our lives,
our God is here.
And we cry:
Refrain
“Holy! Holy! Holy are you!”
We cry: “Holy! Holy! Holy and true!”
Amen, we do believe our God is here.
Our God is here.
2. Here in the Word, God is revealed,
here where the wounded can be healed.
Here in our hearts, here in our lives,
our God is here.
Here we become what we receive,
here in this Eucharistic feast.
We are his body, living as one;
our God is here.
And we cry:

© 2001, Chris Muglia. Published by spiritandsong.com®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved.

Artist Reflection

I wrote "Our God is Here" out of frustration with non-participatory liturgy. I had just returned to my home parish after being away for three years. The parish had been through a difficult time, and understandably, they had little to sing about. It was hard for me to come on Sunday and sing songs with texts that described an actively involved assembly while most of the assembly wasn't actively involved in singing.

I began to ask myself: "Why are all these people here?" Through prayer and discernment I began to see they were here because God is here. I began to think about what that might mean. I think everyone comes to church for a different reason. Some people come for other people. Is God there? Some people come because they need to be lifted up by a strong person. Is God present in that? Some people come because they understand the truths of Catholic liturgy: community, Word, and the Eucharist. Whatever their reasons, I realized that collectively, every person was there because they believed God was also there.

I had an idea for a song that would be a declaration of why we should sing. I began to organize my thoughts and came up with the idea that God is here, now. God is in all of us, whether we are messed up or have it all together, God is here. Then I began to think of the church's beliefs regarding liturgy. God is truly present in the Word and in the Eucharist. If we believe that our God is truly present to us in all these things, then we should worship Him!

Out of these thoughts and ideas came the words "Holy, holy, holy are You… Holy, holy, holy and true… Amen we do believe, our God is here!"

We began using the song at our Sunday liturgies. My pastor began to reinforce the idea that if we believe God is present, we need to worship Him. Today (3 years later) the liturgies at my church are Spirit filled and participatory! Praise God, it caught on!

— Chris Muglia