“Marie, you are the luckiest girl in the world,” I announced, climbing into our family’s van. “Take a look at the hymn you will be singing for your First Holy Communion!” (The thoughtful secretary at our parish’s Religious Education Office had just given me the lyrics for Marie to practice while the children waited a moment in the car.)
Agnes was the first to get a hold of the slip of paper I was carelessly handing back, recognizing the verses instantly and singing:
“Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All,
How can I love Thee as I ought?”
She interrupted herself to exclaim, “Oh, I love that one! You really are lucky, Marie. That’s going to be beautiful.”
Waiting at a stop sign and watching Marie through my rear-view mirror, I could see she was pleased. “You will love this hymn all your life and learn so much from it,” I assured her, flicking on a right hand blinker, “In fact, it is a Catechism in itself! It reminds us that Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Eucharist and we need to spend our lives loving Him more and more, taking Mary as our model.”
Within moments, the trees and lights and houses whizzing past both sides of the van seemed curiously out of rhythm with the measured hymn being sung by four steady voices behind me:
“Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All,
How can I love Thee as I ought?
And how revere this won’drous gift,
So far surpassing hope or thought?
“Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore!
O make us love Thee more and more!
O make us love Thee more and more!
“Had I but Mary’s sinless heart,
To love Thee with my dearest King,
O with what bursts of fervent praise,
Thy goodness Jesus would I sing!
“Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore!
O make us love Thee more and more!
O make us love Thee more and more!
Seven-year-old Marie asked only one question, “What does ‘surpassing’ mean?”
“It means the gift of the Blessed Sacrament is far beyond anything we could ever hope for or imagine. It’s better than anything!”
“Wow,” she breathed, poking a thoughtful thumb into her mouth to drink it in. [Yes, dear friends, like her mother before her, our precious Marie is a thumb sucker, particularly when she is mulling something over.] She sat quietly pondering as her sisters began again, relishing the sound of their own voices in a hymn worthy of the Seraphim.
Weeks passed, and our long-anticipated Easter Pageant rolled around. After one of the performances, Marie was asked to rehearse the song along with the other communicants. A jumble of children tumbled into three standing rows—an adorable hodgepodge of tall and small, sharp and scruffy, calm and clamorous--boys and girls with eyes and hair and faces of every description--some from Mass-going families and others who may find themselves inside the Church but rarely.
When the music began, a palpable and unifying change in expression and demeanor came over each and every one of them, and, as they lifted their voices to sing, a range of emotions could be read upon their earnest faces:
“Jesus, my Lord, my God, my All,”
Reverence.
“How can I love Thee as I ought?”
Ardor.
“And how revere this wond’rous gift,”
Depth.
“So far surpassing hope or thought?"
Joy.
“Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore! O make us love Thee more and more! O make us love Thee more and more!”
Pure Elation.
Something perceptible and heartfelt had taken root in all of them, no mistake.
Understandably impressed and not a little bit surprised, the musical director blurted after one round, “You are the best First Holy Communion singers I have ever had!” The children gladly began the hymn once more, their second rendering no less heartfelt than the first.
This time, the director could not help but wheel about, hoping to find some adults catching this singular performance. Most of the moms were chatting in clusters, but I stood watching with a broad smile on my face, and she made a beeline toward me.
“I can’t believe how well they are singing,” she began happily and without any introduction. “When this song was chosen, I had my doubts. I thought it would be too hard for young children.”
“It is wonderful!” I agreed wholeheartedly. “I think the words of the hymn have inspired them!”
“I don’t know,” she said, still beaming toward the children, “maybe,” before slipping back to the front to cheer on her little band of singers.
The children resumed the hymn for the third time in a row, their faces still as alight and ardent as before. By this time, I had tears in my eyes, and, as if in silent accompaniment to the melody, the words of St. John’s Gospel rang out in my mind:
“Simon, do you love me? Feed my lambs. Simon, do you love me? Tend my sheep. Simon, do you love me? Feed my sheep.”
Our Lord’s lambs were right there before me and populating the First Holy Communion group. There they were, frisking and frolicking and kicking up their heels, having just been fed the hardy grasses of Truth and Beauty. I can only imagine how vibrant this flock will be when nourished by the Bread of Angels.
It seems to me that too often we choose over-simplified little ditties for young children, as if perk and pep would stand in for substance. For seven and eight year olds, insipid, shallow strains hold about as much spiritual significance as “I’m a Little Teapot.” But give them Truth articulated in rich and beautiful language, and their ready hearts soak it in like well-tilled gardens in April. Young though they are, children are eternal beings made in the image and likeness of God, longing—no living--to know Him. The question, “Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all, how can I love Thee as I ought?” is a challenge for all eternity and an aspiration that cannot be embraced too soon. It is the battle cry of the saints.
I am looking forward to the blessed day on which my fourth young one will receive Jesus in First Holy Communion, and I cannot wait to hear those precious lambs singing their hearts out once more—this time lit from within by the True Presence of Our Lord Himself.
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[This photo of five of our children, taken back in October, seemed perfect for Marie's Hymn.]
Pearls from the Catechism:
“Truth is beautiful in itself.” [CCC 2500.]
“’The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art.’” [CCC 1156.]
“What material food produces in our bodily life, Holy Communion wonderfully achieves in our spiritual life.” [CCC 1392.]
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Complete Lyrics to "Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All" by Father Frederick William Faber.
Sample of Marie's hymn, sung by my favorite singer, the late Frank Patterson. (Please scroll down to select.)
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This post is lovingly dedicated to our beloved "Papa," Pope John Paul the Great, on his second birthday in Heaven.
