Yes, that is Toolan’s original.

NB, in Worship II the original text was “…and I will raise him up…” Interesting, I always thought.

Happy Easter to you too.

Alternating the voice and address becomes confusing in many psalms too.It is not unique to tHIS hymn.
But I do not like the extended fuzzy interpretations the "Body of Christ" comparisons. I have recently heard these comments shared during a workshop on the New Missal.
1. During the communion rite, the celebrant greets and addresses the communicant as the " Body of
Christ." rather than proclaiming the presence of Christ in the Host.
2. Talking in church is preferred over private private prayers as we are Christ, and socializing is talking
to Christ.
3. Christ has no body but yours. ( I am beginning to think the Christ has nobody willing to accept him as
the head of the body))
4. If we genuflect to the tabernacle then we should genuflect to each other.
5. Christ is not mentioned as the head of the mystical body nor are we mentioned as mere members but
rather as His equals.
6. The incarnation is only a metaphor or a paradigm. We are flesh, we are the incarnation-
we make Christ real.
7. familiar Hymns texts are used to validate some of these statements.

I program this hymn 3 or 4 times a year for those who like it. For the same reason, I use, "Were You There," on Good Friday. I don't like either one of them, but have bigger battles to fight.

No "Bread of Life" at Sacred Heart.
Communion pieces were "Adoro Te, O Panis Caelice" and Remondi's "O Sacrum Convivium". Meditation was the Mode VI "Regina Caeli".
BMP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWad76Ipyuw

Greetings, all -- my first post. I consider Sr. Toolan a highly exceptional Catholic composer and "IATBOL" a small masterpiece of its type. Of course the original text was fine, and the only problem is that political correctness has reared its ugly head again and has dementedly chased male pronouns out of sight. The missalettes and hymnals of virtually all denominations are crammed with such vandalism. I wrote a short study on how it mars the LCMS's otherwise great Lutheran Hymnal -- copies on request. I comment in it that the fad ruins great poetry and trashes theology. Supposedly it's done to safeguard the females (somewhere) who, without prompting or a feminist teach-in, profess to feel slighted by God or his Son being represented as "he" or "him". If they exist I've never met one, but there I go again, attempting to apply logic to PC.

Notably, the pronoun police often leave the devil male -- "the prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him."

I recall a folky RC hymn which was banal enough as "Great things happen when God mixes with man" but was repellent as the witless "Great things happen when God mixes with us".

"I am the Bread of life" -- Jesus Christ said it. "Yes, Lord, I believe" -- St. Peter said it and so should we (Matt. 16:16).

Welcome, 1954!

Which came first, and which was the rip-off: "Great things happen when God mixes with man" or the soda-pop jingle "Great things happen when Cott mixes with us"?

Oh, well, now you're bringing in the "voice of God" problem, and that is a big one. At least 25 years ago someone was already decrying it in the AGO magazine. Rightly so, because it's another fad that's just crazy.

By "of its type" I basically meant "with the understanding that there's something notably bad about virtually everything in the genre", e.g. that all guitarish hymns tend to move congregations ever further away from their musical and Scriptural roots and from a more "think" to more "feel" orientation.

I guess when I play and sing IATBOL with my Catholic congregation it seems so much more substantive than a lot of other guitarish stuff (and the words are so much less trite) it lifts us all momentarily out of the banality of "please rise to greet our celebrant", prayers for open borders, lectors who stumble over Hebrew names they haven't practiced, etc. But the singer is undeniably presuming to sing Christ's words, and ultimately that's not right, at least not in the context of so many others that do.

Speaking of banality.... I wasn't going to say anything about On Eagles' Wings since I'm trying to quit causing brawls and turning people off, but since you've asked, I despise it and am proud to say that in the nearly ten years I've been picking hymns at my place it has never been done. Yeesh, it's awful! Makes everything sound just fine and copacetic, nothing to worry about, we're back in church a week later, the lights still come on and the pews are still cushy, lucky us. Let's worrying about the big issues out there to the experts.

That's the deal with the "voice of God" numbers. Most or all are sweet, reassuring, comforting, and they let people confuse themselves with the Almighty for a few minutes. God is just a nice pink marshmallow in the sky. He never rebukes or punishes. What people are missing with their love of treacle!

I love picking the hymns and polling the faithful later as to who knew which selections. We do guitarish ones, but only those with some character, and with keyboard only. Our missalette, forget which brand it is, has introduced me to some really quality material, some of it centuries old.

Thanks for your words of welcome. Hilarious re Cott!! Like the old ad "When you change to Cinzano you mix with the best, Cinzano Cinzano".

Person in the pew next to me sings "I am the Bread of Life".
I nudge said person and grumble softly, "No, you're not!"

The Bread of Life in the Tabernacle, waiting to be placed on the TONGUES (read "not hands") of those who hunger for Him.
BMP

WEIRD CHARLES IS GOING TANGENTIAL ALERT.
Read no further if you don't want your preconceptions and prejudices challenged.

Old Dopey out here was pondering why our resident Grumpies were going all Rodney King on Seabiscuit (aka IOTBOL) for the umpteenth time afresh when there are so many other pleasant diversions to occupy inquiring minds, ie. Royal Nuptials, devastating tornadoes, fish-faced moguls kissing mirrors over presidential birth documents, the collapse of the dollar/western civilization (which came first of those eggs?) etc. And cool new person adds OEW in for good measure as well. Cool sez I.

I wonder why the average pew lodger emerges from the rubble of what was his basement in Tuscaloosa, or the tabloid pages of the Daily News, or pie-eyed from the den after an hour of Hannity/Matthews' ranting about Brit pomposity versus Trump/Obama pomposity.....humming "Gustate et videte" to h/self as a coping, comforting mechanism?

Why, when gramma gets burried that all four generations of the surviving family will agree that IOTBOL/OEW or How Great Thou Art will be "just perfect" for her funeral?

Well, channeling my inner Mozart gave me the answer. I was thinking about a few rhythmic motives in Amie's REQUIEM, having just rehearsed a hundred singers this last Tuesday evening who often ambled through it like donkeys instead of galloping like thoroughbreds. "Christe e-LE.....Quam olim ABrahae...." and so forth. At one point in that rehearsal I reminded them of one of the most basic maxims of rhythmic intent: rest/three successive pulses that lead to a majorly emphatic DOWNbeat. "What's the pinnacle example in Classical music of that?" I demanded of them. A hyper brilliant female tenor attorney sez "Beethoven's Fifth" to which I bellow "tum tum tum TUM! Had no further lapses of momentum with that motive for the balance of the rehearsal.

What do the three refrain melodies of IOTBOL/OEW/HGTA have in common? "tum tum tum TUM! ! There is just something within the human neural hardwired soul that responds in affirmation to the use of that device to set words. Maybe the words themselves get subsummed by the melodic/rhythmic figuration itself, but the human soul's need for emphatic structure amidst most of the grind, chaos, turmoil, silliness and dreck of daily life somehow feels, ahem, "raised up" or "lifted" via those five pulses (rest included.)

You might say, "Dopey, so what does that have to do with the drudgery of Vox Dei sacropop?" Well, Grumpy, it just might serve to remind us that there are often things at play within these ditties that simply "works" for the simple soul that suggests clearly it's okay to just get up and take that next step into the day. You can find all sorts and manner of these little hidden hooks (think of the sequence of melodic notes: 1-7-5. 1-7-5) that Lloyd-Webber splashes everywhere in every tune, but Rutter managed to sanctify in his Requiem. It boggles the mind, it's inexplicable.

So, I say we just get over it, move on, stop beating ourselves, the PIPs and the horse of the tune up on a regular, intervallic basis, and appreciate that God has a pure beautiful heart that gave us both chant/polyphony and yes, rhythm. 'Cause each breathing human is capable of burping out "I got rhythm" if s/he needs a smile now and then.

He's getting grumpy. They must have locked him out of the wine cellar again. ;-)

However, he is correct about the Toolan song not being worth arguing over. There's much worse out there.

The Disney effect could have been from both. I thought the greenery looked a bit strange. Elton DOES look a bit Fuddish, now that you mention it. Also, the neutered, PC texts were equivalent to anything the U.S. Catholic big three publishers have produced.

I mentioned on another forum (eastern) that it is amusing to watch clergy and people going through the elaborate ceremonies of a faith they mostly don't believe or practice. But that would be true most anywhere, not just in England.

I've read a lot lately about going through elaborate ceremonies that the partcipants don't believe or practice. Couldn't some of them believe a little? Couldn't some of them be led to faith by participating in such ceremonies? I'm kind of with Jewish practice here: do the right thing and let intention follow. Even if there's a hint of faith and/or good intent, that's enough for me. To suggest otherwise seems Puritanical. God alone can read hearts.

Offer up the sufferings caused by IATBOL for the conversion of sinners.

My e-mail address is berthaclaraus@

However, THIS might sound grumpy: has Westminster Cathedral ever looked more Disney? Or is it just the "guests?"

I don't know about grumpy, Charles, or Disneyfication, or the amusing implication that the congregation were dragged there kicking and screaming, but it was Westminster Abbey (currently occupied by amiable heretics), not Westminster Cathedral (built and still held by the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church the last time I looked).

rest, quarter, quarter, quarter... yuck!

what is iotbol

I think we're on to something here. A new coping mechinism for church musicians to tolerate sanctopop by associating it on a primal level to an actual masterwork. Now, can anyone think of a good Ruth Duck hymn that uses the rhytmical motive from eine kleine Nachtmusik?

Well... maybe not compared to Lambillotte....