Once in a great
while, we are caught up in a cause or a movement that unifies all Christians –
human rights, defeating Nazism or the Soviet Union, stopping apartheid, civil
rights or abolishing slavery and (increasingly so) ending abortion. We can
rally round the great social justice issues and even, sometimes, be galvanized
by a song when tragedy like 9/11 befalls us; a hymn because the times simply
call for it as they did in the fractured society of 1970.
Arguably, the
most familiar and beloved hymn of modern times is “Amazing Grace” by the 18th
century hymnist and Anglican priest, John Newton. Its themes are so universal,
profoundly resonant and familiar to readers of the Bible perhaps because of the
story of John Newton himself: a slave trader converted to Christianity who
eventually became a minister, a vocal abolitionist and who penned the hymn to
be sung by his own congregation. He was experimenting with what at the time was
a relatively new form of religious song, the Protestant hymn.
The hymn was
published many times in the U.S. during the 19th century. Its
popularity grew during the last century coinciding with the invention and
popularity of recorded music, then exploded into pop music becoming a Top 10
Hit with Judy Collins’s 1970 a capella
recording. The majority of the 450 recordings held by the Library of Congress
were made after 1970 and include versions by artists as varied as Elvis
Presley, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tiny Tim, Al Green, Johnny Cash, Rod Stewart,
Chet Baker and Destiny’s Child.
Eventually, of course, the hymn found its way into
Catholic hymnals, our own included, and the Catholic worship song repertoire.
We are mindful of
it today because of our Gospel reading in which the beggar, blind from birth,
gains sight for the first time and says, “One thing I do know is that I was
blind and now I see.”
Evangelizing
Challenge This Week
Talk with family
about how much we believe in common and practice in common with our friends and
neighbors of other faith traditions. Start with the words on the change in your
pocket or the currency in your wallet.
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