HT to A Blog for Dallas Catholics for finding this Blog post from First Things (which includes the audio files):
10. “Pescador de los Hombres” (Lord, When You Stood by the Seashore)
According to some sources, this was the favorite hymn of Pope John Paul II.
9. “I Am the Bread of Life,” by Suzanne Toolan
8. “On Eagles’ Wings, ” by Michael Joncas
7. “Pan de Vida, cuerpo del Señor,” by Bob Hurd and Pia Moriarty
6. “Sing a New Song,” by Dan Schutte
5. “We Remember,” by Marty Haugen
4. “Here I Am, Lord,” by Dan Schutte
3. “City of God, ” by Dan Schutte
2. “Gather Us In,” by Marty Haugen
Oddly, “Gather Us In” reminds some of us of a much better secular song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” by Gordon Lightfoot
1. “Sons of God, Hear His Holy Word,” by James Thiem
Because this onetime favorite has disappeared (mercifully) from most modern hymnals, no video seems to be available. Here are the lyrics.
Pan de Vida, On Eagle’s Wings, and Gather Us In are three that just drive me nuts. There is a woman at daily Mass at a local parish that insists on singing Pan de Vida before, during, and after Communion. Normally, there is no music, just sacred silence. It has tested the limits of my charity not to either say something to her, or just shout “callase!” when she starts singing.
Other also read:
I am dismayed by your list, but happy to know that your opinions are just that, your opinions, and, as such, are irrelevant to me. “Here I Am, Lord” is the hymn that first stirred me toward becoming Catholic; I treasure it every time I hear it. “On Eagle’s Wings,” “Pan de Vida,” “We Remember,” “City of God,” and “Gather Us In” are all favorites of mine.
Well, Dr Borm, it’s not “my” list but from First Things. And thank you for sharing your opinion…which I do not find irrelevant. I’m actually very happy that these songs brought you to Catholicism. Deo gratias!
Colleen, your list is relevant, if that’s a strong enough word to describe it. My only complaint is that it’s too short. Also, going to some churches for Mass is a good example of what’s wrong with the “Spirit of Vatican II”. If you go to “ethnic” churches, it is really bad. For example, going to no shortage of “Black” churches is like going to a Protestant church(with a cascade of “gospel music” and/or so-called “spirituals”, which are the antithesis of worship music pleasing to God. Many “Spanish-speaking” churches are bombarded with Mariachi-like hymns. Nor do “ethnic” parishes have a lock on bad worship music. Masses held after 4:30 p.m. on Sundays and “youth” Masses are full of hymns that sound secular or Protestant.
Here’s an interesting post about Catholic musci. Post: The Hidden Hand Behind Bad Catholic Music
Link: http://thecatholicfaith.blogspot.com/2008/01/hidden-hand-behind-bad-catholic-music.html
I, too, like “Here I am, Lord” until I learned it was it was written by a former priest who is now living the homosexual lifestyle. Here’s quote from the article:
Schutte’s most famous song, “Here I am, Lord” is the anthem for the gay rights movement within the Catholic Church, as the Los Angeles Tidings’ Brenda Rees reported on February 9, 2001:
As someone who didn’t know “Here I Am Lord” was written by a homo-sexual, I, who once couldn’t get enough of the hymn(back when I once thought hymns were okay as long as they lacked non-Christian referen-ces), began to dislike it when I learned more about how Catholic worship music ought to sound. I sure didn’t know it was being used as a “gay-rights” anthem. I’ll for sure boycott the “hymn” now. When I get enough money, I, who sing in my chirch’s choir, will purchase “Sing Like a Catho-lic”, written by “The Wanderer” columnist Jeffrey Tucker. Every week, he writes about Catholic worship music. It should be required reading for every Catholic.
Dear Terri:
I am not sure where the person on the blog found the information about Dan Schutte, but I found nothing to the effect that he is living a homosexual life. Can you please try to confirm the information from a trusted source? Thank you.
As someone who sings in his church’s choir at Mass, I have to comment. There are so many rotten hymns out there it’s not easy to reduce it to a “Ten Worst” list. I can also list names of “Catholic” hymn writers who are part of the problem. They are, but not limited to, Bob Hurd, David Haas, and Grayson Brown. I, if I find hymns horrid enough, will go so far as to NOT sing them.
Colleen, I recently saw what you posted on a blog about how guitars don’t belong in worship music. I agree, and I’m a fan of many guitar playing musicians; that said, when I go to Mass, I don’t want to hear anything other than organ and/or voices(I grit my teeth every time my choir director adds other instruments for our worship music. I do have a trump card; when I save up some money, I will buy the Jeffrey Tucker-penned “Sing Like A Catholic” and, after I’ve read it, MAKE him read it.
Hi Colleen, I would like to have your comments about Michael W. Smith music. I love very much his song: Agnus Dei..
I’m not familiar with it, sorry!
Any hymn with lyrics that refer to Our Lord as “Our brother” is so blasphemous it would very much belong on a “Worst hymns” list. I myself sing in my parish’s choir, and will not hesitate to NOT sing hymns with lyrics that, at best, are not appropriate.
Some of the worst authors of post-concilliar hymns are, but not limited to, David Haas, Marty Haugen, Grayson Brown, and Bernadette Farrell.
Years ago, I was reading an article in the lay run Catholic magazine, “New Oxford Review”, and its author wrote about the sorry state of Catholic worship music. He referred to some of the worse hymns as “love songs to Jesus”(his words, not mine) because they sound a lot like romantic ballads. Make no mistake, I like a good love song, but when I go to Mass, I want authentic Catholic hymns, not music that can be separated by secular music only by the lyrics. My only problem with what I read was he could’ve picked a better wording of what he was talking about. While he can’t be accused of trying to blaspheme(otherwise the NOR would NOT have put up with it), some people would have taken him to task for his choice of words.