Category: HYMNS

Posted in HYMNS, IGNATIAN/JESUIT SJ- Reflections, Jesuit Saints and more, Our MORNING Offering, YouTube VIDEOS

Our Morning Offering – 29 March – “Here I Am, Lord”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 29 March – The Fifth Sunday of Lent

“Here I Am, Lord”
By Daniel Schutte

I, the Lord of sea and sky
I have heard My people cry
All who dwell in dark and sin
My Hand will save.

I, who made the stars of night
I will make their darkness bright
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night
I will go, Lord, if You lead me
I will hold Your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of snow and rain
I have borne My people’s pain
I have wept for love of them
They turn away.

I will break their hearts of stone
Give them hearts for love alone
Who will speak My word to them
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night
I will go, Lord, if You lead me
I will hold Your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of wind and flame
I will tend the poor and lame
I will set a feast for them
My hand will save.

Finest bread I will provide
‘Til their hearts be satisfied
I will give My life to them
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord.  Is it I, Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night
I will go, Lord, if You lead me
I will hold Your people in my heart.

here i am lord by daniel schutte 29 march 2020

Daniel Schutte is an American composer of Catholic liturgical music and a contemporary Christian songwriter best known for composing the hymn “Here I Am, Lord” (1981, also incorrectly known as “I, the Lord of Sea and Sky”) and over 150 popular hymns and Mass settings.

Mr Schutte said the positive reception of “Here I Am, Lord” has continued consistently since the song’s premiere in 1979 and its publication in 1981.   He even has a file of letters he has received praising the song.   One of his favorites came from an army captain serving in Afghanistan.

The captain wrote that the troops would gather in a field for Mass, near where they were fighting and their chaplain would lead them in singing “Here I Am, Lord.”   The servicemen and women who had grown up with the song could all sing it by heart.

“We stand here in this awful place, where we are asked to serve our country but fear for our own lives and we sing ‘Here I Am, Lord,’” 

I asked Mr Schutte how he reacts when he receives personal, emotional letters like these.

“There’s a whole constellation of feelings that surround it for me,” he said.   “I feel so grateful that God seems to have chosen that song to accompany people through so many moments of their life….  I didn’t plan that.   I didn’t know that the song was going to be special.   I’m very aware that God is doing something beyond me when I get those letters from people…. It’s also very humbling because it’s something way, way far beyond what I can do.”

A great story of the circumstances surrounding the writing of this most wonderful and emotive Hymn.

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/10/12/here-i-am-lord-little-known-story-behind-catholic-hit

Posted in HYMNS, I BELIEVE!, LENT 2020, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, POETRY, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on FAITH, St JOHN HENRY Cardinal NEWMAN!, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 27 March – The Two Worlds by St John Henry Newman

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One Minute Reflection – 27 March – Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent, Readings: Wisdom 2:1, 12-22, Psalm 34:17-21, 23, John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

“You know me and you know where I come from?
But I have not come of my own accord, he who sent me is true and him you do not know.
I know him, for I come from him and he sent me.” … John 7:28-29

REFLECTION – The Two Worlds by St John Henry Newman (1801-1890) – The Oratory, 1862.
“UNVEIL, O Lord and on us shine
In glory and in grace.
This gaudy world grows pale before
The beauty of Thy face.

Till Thou art seen, it seems to be
A sort of fairy ground,
Where suns unsetting light the sky,
And flowers and fruits abound.

But when Thy keener, purer beam
Is pour’d upon our sight,
It loses all its power to charm,
And what was day is night.

Its noblest toils are then the scourge
Which made Thy blood to flow.
Its joys are but the treacherous thorns
Which circled round Thy brow.

And thus, when we renounce for Thee
Its restless aims and fears,
The tender memories of the past,
The hopes of coming years,

Poor is our sacrifice, whose eyes
Are lighted from above.
We offer what we cannot keep,
What we have ceased to love.”the two worlds - unveil o lord and shine on us - st john henry newman 27 march 2020

PRAYER – Loving God and Father, open our eyes and ears and our hearts. Help us to recognise the Light of Christ in the world around us. Too often we are hard of heart and closed up in our ‘rites’ – He is there but He is not only there and we are blind. May the prayers of the saints and angels help us to be open to Him. Mary, the Mother He gave us, pray for us. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, God for all eternity, amen.mother-mary-pray-for-us-5-oct-2018 and 27 march 2020

Posted in HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, St JOSEPH

Our Morning Offering – 19 March – Saint Joseph, Be Our Guide

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Our Morning Offering – 19 March – The Solemnity of St Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Guardian of Jesus and Patron of the Universal Church, Patron of Fathers, Patron of the Dying, Patron of Workers.

Saint Joseph, Be Our Guide!
By Fr Michael Gannon (1927– 2017)

Look down to us, Saint Joseph,
Protector of Our Lord,
Who followed you through deserts,
And gave you blessed reward.
Our foes are yet about us,
Be strength now at our side,
Be light against the darkness.
Saint Joseph, be our guide!

We venerate your justice,
The gospels praise your name,
You are the Saint all humble,
Who gained eternal fame.
In your devoted family
Our souls in trust confide,
Direct our way to heaven.
Saint Joseph, be our guide.
Amenst joseph be our guide by fr michael gannon 19 march 2020

Posted in CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, HYMNS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Our Morning Offering – 17 March – Christ be Near

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Our Morning Offering – 17 March – Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent

Excerpt from St Patrick’s Breastplate – Christ be Near
St Patrick (c 386 – 461)christ be near - st patrick - 17 march 2020

Christ be near, at either hand,
Christ behind, before me stand,
Christ with me, where’er I go,
Christ around, above, below.

Christ be in my heart and mind,
Christ within my soul enshrined,
Christ control, my wayward heart,
Christ abide and ne’er depart.

Christ my life and only way,
Christ my lantern, night and day,
Christ be my unchanging friend,
guide and shepherd to the end.

We have this prayer and his own story in one of the few certainly authentic writings of Patrick – his Confessio, which is above all an act of homage to God for having called Patrick, unworthy sinner, to the apostolate.

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HYMNS, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS to the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 16 March – Now Let Us All with One Accord

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Our Morning Offering – 16 March – Monday of the Third week of Lent

Now Let Us All with One Accord
By St Gregory the Great (540-604)
Father & Doctor of the Church

Now let us all with one accord,
In fellowship with ages past,
Keep vigil with our heav’nly Lord,
In His temptation and his fast.

The covenant so long revealed
To faithful ones in former time,
Christ by His own example sealed,
The Lord of love, in love sublime.

Remember, Lord, though frail we be,
By Your own kind hand we were made
And help us, lest our frailty
Cause Your great name to be betrayed.

Hear us, O Trinity sublime,
And undivided unity.
So let this consecrated time
Bring forth its fruit abundantly.
Amennow-let-us-all-with-one-accord-by-st-gregory-the-great-14-march-2019 and 16 march 2020

Posted in BREVIARY Prayers, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, HYMNS, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering

Our Morning Offering – 10 March – This Is Our Accepted Time

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Our Morning Offering – 10 March – Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

This Is Our Accepted Time
By Fr Michael Gannon (1927– 2017)

This is our accepted time,
This is our salvation.
Prayer and fasting are our hope,
Penance, our vocation.

God of pardon and of love,
Mercy past all measure,
You alone can grant us peace,
You, our holy treasure.

Lord, look down upon Your sons,
Look upon their yearning.
Man is dust and unto dust
He shall be returning,

Lift him up, O Lord of life,
Flesh has gained him sadness,
Hear his plea, bestow on him
Everlasting gladness.

This is Our Accepted Time was written in 1955 by Sulpician Priest, Fr Michael Gannon. It is set to the 1609 tune, Weimar (Vulpius) by composer, Melchior Vulpius (c.1560-1615). this is our accepted time - fr michael gannon lenten prayer hymn

Posted in BREVIARY Prayers, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, HYMNS, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering -9 March – Lord Jesus, Think on Me

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Our Morning Offering -9 March – Monday of the Second Week of Lent, Year A

Lord Jesus, Think on Me
By St Synesius of Cyrene (375-430), Bishop of Ptolemais

Lord Jesus, think on me,
and purge away my sin,
from earth-born passions set me free,
and make me pure within.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
with care and woe oppressed,
let me Thy loving servant be,
and taste Thy promised rest.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
nor let me go astray,
through darkness and perplexity
point Thou the heav’nly way.
Lord Jesus, think on me,
that, when the flood is past,
I may eternal brightness see,
and share Thy joy at last.

St Synesius, a native of Cyrene, born circa 375.   His descent was illustrious.   His pedigree extended through seventeen centuries and in the words of Gibbon, “could not be equaled in the history of mankind.”   He became distinguished for his eloquence and philosophy and as a statesman and patriot he took a noble stand.   When the Goths were threatening his country he went to the court of Arcadius and for three years, tried to rouse it to the dangers that were coming on the empire.   But Gibbon says, ”The court of Arcadius indulged the zeal, applauded the eloquence and neglected the advice of Synesius.”   In 410 he was made Bishop of Ptolemaïs (modern Libya) but much against his will.   He died in 430.lord jesus think of me - st synesius - 9 march 2020