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Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: God of the Sparrow | ROEDER

So often on this day, the church talks about Francis’ love of animals and creation. We usually focus on how God loves and protects all of creation. Jaroslav Vajda, a Lutheran theologian and poet, turns these ideas around in this hymn as asks questions about how creation acknowledges God and says thank you. There is no punctuation in Vajda’s poetry – almost as though the questions go beyond what is asked here and seem to suggest that all of creation can never thank God for all the good he provides. The tune by Carl Schalk, a noted Lutheran theologian and composer, is easily singable and fits Vajda’s text beautifully. Vajda and Schalk worked on many hymns and anthems together. Their most well-known collaboration is perhaps the hymn “Now the Silence.” As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer. Both the text and music remain under copyright and are presented here for devotional purposes only.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: If Thou but Trust in God to Guide Thee | WER NUR DEN LIEBEN GOTT

This hymn tune, written by German composer Georg Neumark is one of the most frequently sung tunes of the 17th Century. Neumark wrote 34 hymns, this one being one of the most frequent. The Picardy third (a musical device that changes the last chord from minor to major) at the end of the last verse is an individual decision but reflects the hopeful nature found at the end of the text. If you look through the hymnal at German chorale tunes, you will frequently see the name Catherine Winkworth. Though British, she was born in Germany in the 19th century and had a deep love of the German chorale and ecclesiological writings. She is responsible for most of the German translations found in hymnals to this day. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: God Is Love | MANDATUM

Richard Proulx was a composer, church musician and teacher who served in several faith traditions. A composer of over 250 pieces, he was best known for serving as Director of Music at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. His compositions are sung around the country by various faith communities. MANDATUM is one of Proulx’s better known tunes and is most often used on Maundy Thursday (with which the tune shares it’s name). James Quinn’s text, also drawn from the love of God found in Maundy Thursday, is paired here with great ease. Though written for another time in the church year, Quinn’s text reflects the nature of this past Sunday’s Gospel and Sermon to share the love of Christ with everyone, without qualification. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: Lord, Who Shall Sit Beside Thee | CHRISTUS DER IST MEIN LEBEN

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we were not able to gather together to celebrate our Patronal feast in July. This Sunday, we celebrated the Feast of Saint James the Apostle – Follower of Jesus, witness to the Ascension and early Martyr. William Romanis, an Anglican Priest, wrote the text for this hymn in direct reflection on the Gospel for this Sunday and the importance of Saint James in the communion of saints. The prolific German composer Melchior Vulpius wrote many hymn tunes and was Cantor and teacher in Weimar until his death in 1615. This tune, which translates as “For Me to Live is Jesus,” is one of over 400 hymn tunes Vulpius wrote and pairs perfectly with Romanis’ text. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: Thine Arm, O Lord | ST. MATTHEW

If you’ve been a regular follower of these hymn meditations, you may notice that this hymn feels fresh in your memory. Indeed, it formed the hymn meditation a few months ago (the video and audio content for this week is brand new). The poetry of hymns, however, has an ability to reflect fresh on the words that surround it. This is the case for the Rev. Deacon Julie Beals’ sermon on Sunday which invited us to love, care for and protect all of God’s children. The author of this text, Edward H. Plumptre, was an Oxford educated priest and biblical scholar. The second verse refers to a town that we don’t often talk about in hymnody. Gennesaret was a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: O Thou Who Camest From Above | HEREFORD

As did the sermon from Sunday, the text of this hymn by Charles Wesley invites us to share in the love of God as God has perfected and shared his love with us. Wesley is well known as the father of Methodism. Like Luther before him, his original intent wasn’t to form a new denomination, but to reform and revive the Church of England. His writings and teachings ultimately led to the formation of the Methodist Church. The tune, HEREFORD, was written by Wesley’s grandson - Samuel Sebastian Wesley. The younger Wesley was an English composer in the early 19th Century and primarily wrote music for the organ and use in church services. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: Shepherd of Souls, Refresh and Bless | ST. AGNES

These words of Jesus, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” (John 6:56) formed the central tenants of Sunday’s sermon. It is through Jesus’ body and blood that he remains with the disciples and continues to abide with us today. The appointed Psalm for the day (84) adds to this as the psalmist extols how excellent it is to be in God’s presence - his dwelling place. The text of this hymn by James Montgomery perfectly fits those ideas. The third verse is particularly appropriate: “Be known to us in breaking bread, and do not then depart; Saviour, abide with us, and spread thy table in our heart.” As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.

Organist Jason Klein-Mendoza offers a weekly hymn reflection on last Sunday’s sermon. Hymn: Now, My Tongue, the Mystery Telling | GRAFTON

We continued this week in the lectionary hearing Jesus speak more in metaphor about being the bread of life. This week, however, is a little more complicated to hear. Thomas Aquinas, father, teach and doctor of the church, sums up the Gospel for this week well with this text which he authored. Rather than being about simply food and drink to eat, we are invited to sing out about the bread of life as we eat and drink. In these words, we proclaim that “faith alone the true heart waketh to behold the mystery” of Word made Flesh for the sake of the world. This text is more commonly sung to the plainsong tune, PANGE LINGUA. It’s inclusion in the 1925 Songs of Praise hymnal shows that it once had at least a scant popularity. The Songs of Praise hymnal was put together along broad lines because there were many that associated the relatively new The New English Hymnal with being too high church. Whether broad or high, this tune, once grasped, helps breathe life into Aquinas’ words. As always, we invite you to either sing along at home or just follow along with the text and music as you continue your week in prayer.