"There's this really popular line from St. Irenaeus, that 'the glory of God is man fully alive,' but man fully alive is man in communion," Fr. Mark-Mary said.
"There's something about this album that's the fruit of our Franciscan brotherhood, it's not the fruit of Brother Isaiah being a superstar, it's listening to one of our simple, older brother's prayer and the way he's speaking to the poor in Honduras, and then sharing that and putting my gifts at the service of Brother Isaiah, and Brother Isaiah receiving that gift," he said.
"This (album) wouldn't happen if it weren't for our Franciscan brotherhood, which we take very seriously, we're really proud of it," he said.
Using music as a way to evangelize is deeply embedded in the Franciscan charism, Fr. Mark-Mary noted, and goes all the way back to St. Francis of Assisi, who had a talented musical friend and follower.
"So St. Francis would have him come and play in the market square and he'd get people's attention, and then the musician would take a break and then they'd preach, so its very much a part of the Franciscan charism," he said.
It's also particularly a part of the CFR charism - one of the founding members of the order is the rapping Fr. Stan Fortuna (of 'Everybody Got 2 Suffer' fame), and many other musically talented brothers who have joined the order over the years.
The music adds, rather than detracts, from the friars' primary mission of serving the poor and evangelizing, Fr. Mark-Mary noted.
"I thought it was really beautiful that on the night when (the CD) was released, Br. Isaiah came down to our homeless shelter in the Bronx, and he's playing music and giving a word to the homeless in the shelter," he said.
"There's something beautiful about being able to do this but in a way that doesn't take us away from our first call."
Something else that Fr. Mark-Mary said he appreciated about being involved in the project was the opportunity to add something positive to the culture.
"I have a chance to lead the way again with some of the friars' work with media evangelization," he said.
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"What it comes down to is that we're in a battle for minds, and so...how can we be speaking goodness into the world? Because so much of the culture these days...its not morally neutral, a lot of the stuff out there, it's really like poison."
But it's not enough to tell people "don't watch this, don't listen to that," Fr. Mark-Mary noted, there has to be something else to take its place.
"The full work is saying - watch this instead, listen to this instead. So we're trying to do that and finding that music is one way to get into people's personal cultures, to get on their phones get in their car radios," he said.
So far the album has been received very well, Fr. Mark-Mary said. It was at one point the fourth best-selling Christian album according to Amazon, and the number 23 best-selling album for all music on Amazon.
The album "Poco a Poco" is available on iTunes and Amazon, and CDs and merchandise can also be ordered through Ascension Press.
One of Fr. Mark-Mary's favorite parts of the experience has been watching the comments that people have made on a music video for one of the tracks, "Struggler", produced by Spirit Juice Productions and posted on Ascension Press' website.