Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Ten worst Catholic Hymns . . .

Probably stepping over a line with some people, but I had to agree with this list I found on line. With all the richness of Church music available, it seems sad that so many choirs limit themselves to mundane, camp fire type music. Our pastor just mentioned to us a couple of Sundays ago that the hymn he dislikes the most happens to be the number one 'worst' one on this list.

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 SeƱor,” 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

1. “Sons of God, Hear His Holy Word,” by James Thiem

1 comment:

Barbara Maria said...

Although everyone has their own tastes in church music, some of the hymns being sung over the last decade do not do justice, in my opinion, to the wealth of Catholic music acquired over our history. I found some links that express the reasoning behind the likes and dislikes of the music heard in the Church today. My feeling is that I like to feel uplifted and I don't think a too-simple song with a guitar accompaniment quite does that.

I have noticed, however, that whenever our pastor decides to throw in a hymn or response from the past aka Latin, the congregation seems to wake up and join in more joyously than usual.

I think my real beef is the use of so many Protestant hymns. Unnecessary, as we have so many beautiful ones of our own As my pastor said, he doesn't want the 'modern' hymns to go away so much as to be used for retreat rallies, campfire singalongs, or classroom music. They don't inspire as much dignity as the 'old' stuff seems to do.

http://cleansingfiredor.com/2010/07/the-ten-worst-catholic-hymns/

http://www.chantcafe.com/2010/07/someone-finally-did-it-10-worst-hymns.html

http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2010/07/12/are-these-the-ten-best-hymns-of-all-time/