Back to the 2026 Breaking Bread selections from OCP for 2026.
This is by Dan Schutte and is described as a “stirring, patriotic tune”.
If it meant to be about the USA, as an outsider looking from across the Pacific from a very imperfect country, the words about hope for immigrants, truth, freedom and justice seem beyond the hope of prayer. Maybe that’s why they are needed, who knows, but I would ban anything patriotic from a Catholic church anyway.
I love Schutte’s music but this one is not very stirring on a first listen.
The sheet music is available at OCP who provide the text in their preview.
Perhaps it should be sung as a lament (and maybe OCP misunderstands Schutte’s intent and he didn’t mean it to be a stirring patriotic song in any case):
Maybe lament is what Chris Brunelle is aiming for too:
I actually quite like this one. Not to get overly political, but “lament” seems apt considering the current state of affairs here, especially regarding immigration and nationalism. Maybe that’s why is resonates with me. It’s a prayer for what our country (or any country really) should be, even though we’re far from that ideal.
Ryan
It’s hard to be critical from Australia, where we have a history of maligning asylum seekers and stranding them on Nauru at huge expense to our budget and their sanity. Our policies are so bad they are praised by the worst people all over the world!
I suspect your are correct about the intent of this sung prayer, I’m just not sure OCP is.
Geoff