It seems to me that this text would work well with the Hymn Tune EWING, to the same meter (common hymn "Jerusalem, the Golden").

This does seem a bit specific for something meant for more general use.

This is what happens when you replace nolo episcopari with volo episcopari.

^Keep refining it, MarkB; maybe you can get it to fit the tune for a G&S patter song.

I will point out, neutrally, that the author has also written hymns on the subject of #MeToo, universal health care in the US, the separation of immigrant children at the border, and global climate change (among a body of works that could probably fill a hymnal on its own - I estimate the total number from the website to be over 200). If nothing else, these would likely become dated pretty quickly.

There's probably a reason we don't sing hymns today about certain characters at the Council of Trent with dubious ideas, or ones praying for King Henry VIII in his time of ecclesiastical questioning.

I don't think it's a joke. My real question is why the author would choose to post it here, of all places on the Internet.

When would one sing it (if one did)?
It is typical of a genre of 'hymns' that focus on social problems or have social, political, or partisan themes. They are not 'hymns' by any stretch of the imagination. There are, sadly, similar 'hymns' in Worship IV and other Catholic 'hymnals'. One would (hopefully) never sing them at mass or any other ritual. One might (if one were hard up) consider them at a prayer meeting that had as its focus the particular scandal du jour.

It is worth repeating that a hymn is directed wholly to God, and focuses on and praises him objectively, his attributes, and his mighty acts. Absent this focus we have no hymn. And a 'not hymn' is categorically inappropriate at any of the Church's ritual observances.

(Oh, and singing this ditty or any other to Passion Chorale would be next to sacrilege.)

@MJO: the author does have a scriptural index with specific references for each hymn on the website, so there is at least an attempt made for the majority of what cannot be described as anything but a staggering amount of hymns.

That being said, I find the inclusion of any one of the more "recent" or "political" hymns in a Mass to be unjustified. There just isn't the scriptural context on its own, let alone enough content to displace an old, battle-tested favourite.

Gamba -
A good and clever choice!

Luther did his very best (which was pretty good!) when translating historic office hymns and liturgically-related texts. However, as evidenced by your above example, he did pen his share of partisan hymnody. Your example teeters rather transparently on the partisan issues of the day while giving a relatively dramatic, if polemical, casting of the psalm at hand. This is not the only example of Luther's having suborned a psalm to suit his polemical purposes.

Psalm XII, Salvum me fac, a paean extolling the Fatherly attributes of God, while lamenting faithlessness (of the house of Israel) has become an almost undisguised tirade against the Catholic world and its threat to Luther and his faithful remnant: 'May God root out all heresy / And of false teachers rid us', or 'The wicked everywhere abound / And would thy little flock confound; / But thou art our Salvation'. This is a masterful abduction of scripture for contemporary partisan polemics.

Of course, one could, if one wished, argue that certain of the psalms themselves are not without a definite polemical bent. Luther was surely adept at appropriating this element for his own context.

One notes that, on the whole, the various English verse versions of the psalms are generally lacking in this blatant confessional bias. For sheer poetic beauty the psalms as translated into verse by Sir Philip Sydney and his sister are without peer.

Here are some Scriptural responsories. They aren't set to chant but I'm sure they could be:

Resp. 1. (Deut. 18, 20; cf. Deut. 18, 12; Apoc. 20, 10)
R. Propheta qui arrogantia depravatus voluerit loqui in nomine meo, quæ ego non præcepi illi ut diceret, aut ex nomine alienorum deorum, interficietur. * Propter istiusmodi scelera delebo eum. V. Et pseudopropheta cruciabuntur die ac nocte in sæcula sæculorum. * Propter istiusmodi scelera delebo eum.

[R. The prophet, who being corrupted with pride, shall speak in my name things that I did not command him to say, or in the name of strange gods, shall be slain. * For these abominations I will destroy him. V. And the false prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. * For these abominations I will destroy him.]

Resp. 2. (Cf. Mal. 2, 7-9)
R. Labia sacerdotis custodient scientiam, et legem requirent ex ore ejus, quia angelus Domini exercituum est. Tu autem recessisti de via, et scandalizasti plurimos in lege: * Dicit Dominus exercituum. V. Propter quod et ego faciam te contemptibilem, et humilem omnibus populis, * Dicit Dominus exercituum.

[R. The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts. But thou hast departed out of the way, and hast caused many to stumble at the law: * Saith the Lord of hosts. V. Therefore shall I also make thee contemptible, and base before all people, * Saith the Lord of hosts.]

Resp. 3. (Matt. 18, 6-7)
R. Qui scandalizaverit unum de pusillis istis, qui in me credunt, expedit ei ut suspendatur mola asinaria in collo ejus, et demergatur in profundum maris. * Væ homini illi, per quem scandalum venit. V. Væ mundo a scandalis! Necesse est enim ut veniant scandala: verumtamen * Væ homini illi, per quem scandalum venit.

[R. He that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea. * Woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh. V. Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless * Woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh.]

Resp. 4. (Gal. 1, 7-8; Matt. 5, 19)
R. Sunt aliqui qui vos conturbant, et volunt convertere Evangelium Christi: sed licet nos aut angelus de cælo evangelizet vobis praeterquam quod evangelizavimus vobis, * Anathema sit. V. Qui solverit unum de mandatis istis minimis, et docuerit sic homines, * Anathema sit.

[R. There are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ: but though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, * Let him be anathema. V. He that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, * Let him be anathema.]

Love your turn of phrase "the insufferable eating the inedible." I have a few friends who are UU and they are definitely activist types who are concerned about "social justice." Not quite sure I agree with all your characterizations here, which seem a bit harsh. But your old hippie comment is generally accurate.

Okay, I have been in 3 UU Fellowship buildings and they are all very modern. Each had a grand piano and I have peeked in their hymnal. It is interesting how many old time Protestant hymns are in there. It struck me that deep within each soul is the longing for the One True God, even when the person is unaware of it.

SJW? Do I want to know what this stands for?

You forgot to say they are carrying a guitar case, if you want to complete the stereotype. Actually, this does describe one of my UU friends to a T.

Parce, Domine, parce populo tuo; ne in aeternum irascaris nobis.

THE Hymn Above

Not appropriate for liturgy
It’s just a silly ditty
Social Justice is
The (godless) religion of the state
It’s high time we put on
Sackcloth and ashes
And wear hearts of penitence
Before it’s too late.

Sing em now, Kathy, cause the fire of the HS that’s coming isn’t going to be very conducive to singing anything IMHO.

Heh.

Francis, I have 6 hymn writing patrons.

St. Thomas Aquinas and St. John of the Cross, because of their sublime poetry.

St. Peter Damian, because of his fine images of the mediation of the Blessed Mother.

St. Ephrem, who took heretical hymns, shook the words out of the tunes, and wrote orthodox texts, thus beating the rascals at their own game.

Pope St. Gregory the Great for obvious reasons.

But more and more I find myself leaning on St. Ambrose, who wrote hymns specifically for his people to encourage them in troubled times, as St. Augustine tells us in his Confessions.

"Social justice" may give warm fuzzies, but it isn't the crux of our Faith. If our focus is on God - where it SHOULD be, "social justice" follows.

"social justice" follows

The awkward questions come up when it does so at a very great distance.

The only hymn appropriate at Mass right now is Faith of Our Fathers and it should be sung weekly.

Carolyn,

When you say that we're commanded to love God and our neighbor by the Head of the Church, what do you do with these examples of such love?

"You white-washed sepulchers"
"You brood of vipers"
" Whereto art thou come?"
"It would be better for him if he had never been born."
"Is there none to return thanks to God but this foreigner?"

I hope that affirming the other in his own self-image isn't what you mean by "love". Similarly, I hope "feeling the pain" isn't what you mean by "love". These might be examples of one aspect of love, maybe, but they don't belong, properly speaking, at Mass. Remember that Mass isn't anthropocentric.

I wonder. What "service" was in progress when the this song was sung?


[I should have added earlier]

Each of these examples show love, but not self-affirmation, because God is love.

Additionally, it should be noted that social justice, properly understood, isn't what most people mean by the term nowadays.

Carolyn, as a Methodist author, I'm not sure you're in any position to lecture us on what Catholic hymnody should represent. As mentioned, Mass (and the hymnody contained inside) is not anthropocentric and certainly not only meant to "comfort" individuals.

I feel the concerns raised by other users here, as well as myself, are justified and not gratuitous.

Mass is not about feelings.

It enheartens me when I hear an Easterner say this. That's when I know they're the Real Deal.

Beyond God being glorified...

Loses the entire focus of the Mass.

Any statement regarding liturgy or its music that is preceded by the words “Beyond God being glorified” is de facto null and void.

Kathy, there's nothing here about Trump being a terrible person. That has to be included, too. ;)