A Good Tree – Anthony J. Maglione

A Good Tree – Anthony J. Maglione
Te Deum
Matthew Christopher Shepard, director
Lucy Conklin, soloist
www.te-deum.org

Soprano: Mackenzie Beeton, Lucy Conklin, Paige Flenniken, Rupal Gupta, Sarah Powers, Jenny Smith
Alto: Zachary Cope, Tara Curtis, Connor Davis, Annie Kuzma, Ann Marzette, Julia Sharp
Tenor: Tom Assel, Christopher Fuelling, Andrew Flanagin, Tim Gorski, Jeff Jasperson, Colin Riley
Bass: Ryan Layton, Benny Martinson, Josh Markley, Evan Nelson, Asher Tillman, Ben Wheeler

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

You have made us for Yourself, O Lord,
and our heart is restless until it rests in You.

The shroud that covers me is a shroud of dust and death;
I hate it, yet hug it in love.
My debts are large, my failures great, my shame secret and heavy;
yet when I come to ask for my good,
I quake in fear lest my prayer be granted.

Ye shall know them by their fruits.
Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit;
but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,
and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,
the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that thou visitest him?”

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

You have made us for Yourself, O Lord.

—Matthew 7: 16-20 (KJV)
— St. Augustine’s “Confessions” (Book 1)
— Rabindranath Tagore's "Gitanjali"
— Psalm 8:3-4 (KJV)