Music Notes: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, October 11, 2026

October 9, 2026

Dr. John Michniewicz, Director of Music

The readings for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time start with the image of a fine banquet that the Lord is preparing “for all peoples.” It is notable that all are welcome and all are invited to this wonderful feast. Here, in the First Reading, Isaiah 25:6-10a, the prophet describes a feast that the Lord of hosts will provide. This banquet is described in detail: “a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.” At this feast the Lord is said to remove the veil, the sense of grief, despair and mourning covering all nations, by destroying death forever. God wipes away every tear. The redeemed joyously proclaim: “let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”

Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm is one of the most famous, Psalm 23, often paired with the refrain: “The Lord is my shepherd.” However, Sunday’s refrain “I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” emphasizes the eternal aspect of God’s welcome and really God’s salvation. All are welcomed not only to one meal, but invited to dwell forever in God’s kingdom.

In the Second Reading, Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20, Paul, writing from prison, states that he has learned to be content in any situation: “I know how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance.” Strength does not come from the immediate situation, but from Christ. Paul writes, “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” Paul uses his own experience as an example to encourage the believers at Philippi: “My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

In the Gospel, Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a king who gives a wedding feast for his son. This is the third of three parables Jesus addresses to the chief priests and elders in the Temple, following the Parable of the Two Sons and the Parable of the Tenants. The invited guests refuse to come. Some ignore the invitation and go off to work on their farms and businesses; others mistreat and kill the king’s servants. The king then sends his servants out to the main roads to invite whomever they find, until the hall is full. One guest, however, arrives without a wedding garment and is thrown out. The invitation, without cost, is offered to everyone, but accepting it does come with the expectation of being prepared, that is to say, with a life that has actually been changed by the invitation. The parable closes with the line, “Many are invited, but few are chosen.” Taken together, Sunday’s readings show that God’s invitation is generous and open to everyone, but that it also asks for a faithful response.

At the 11:30 Mass, the Choir will sing as a Prelude I Sat Down Under His Shadow by Edward Bairstow. The text comes from the Song of Songs 2:3-4, in the King James translation. The Song of Songs is a wedding poem, and in this passage the bride describes being brought by her beloved into the “banqueting house.” The Hebrew phrase behind “banqueting house” literally means “house of wine,” which echoes the feast of rich food and choice wines described in Isaiah, and the king’s wedding hall in the Gospel. Bairstow published the anthem in 1925 as the first of a set of Three Introits or Short Anthems.

Edward Bairstow (1874-1946) was born in Huddersfield, England, and served as organist at Wigan Parish Church and Leeds Parish Church before becoming organist of York Minster in 1913, a post he held until his death. He was knighted in 1932. In 1926 he became the first person to record any part of Bach’s Mass in B Minor, at a Royal Albert Hall concert with the Royal Choral Society. Bairstow was known for being blunt. When asked whether he would follow the example of his predecessor at York, T. Tertius Noble (composer of the tune ORA LABORA, which the choir sang as the presentation two weeks ago in Come, Labor On), and move to the United States, he sharply answered that he would “rather go to the devil.” He also surprisingly turned down the position of organist at Westminster Abbey.

I Sat Down Under His Shadow

I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

Here is the choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine beautifully singing Bairstow’s I Sat Down Under His Shadow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XegGxEATo7k

Sunday’s Entrance hymn, All Are Welcome (Worship Hymnal No. 833), was written in 1994 by Marty Haugen, who composed both the words and the tune. The tune, TWO OAKS, was written specifically for this text. Each verse begins with the same phrase, “Let us build a house,” and then describes one aspect of that house: a place where love can dwell, where prophets speak, where hands reach out beyond wood and stone to welcome the outcast and the stranger, and where all are named. The hymn’s refrain echoes the episode in the Gospel reading, when the king sends his servants out to bring in everyone they find to the Wedding Banquet. It also reflects Isaiah’s feast, which is prepared not for a select few but for all peoples. The third verse specifically describes “A banquet hall on holy ground, Where peace and justice meet.” The verse’s continuation also echoes the salvation Isaiah speaks of, as well as “dwelling in the house of the Lord,”

as shown in the 23rd Psalm: “Here the love of God, through Jesus, Is revealed in time and space; As we share in Christ the feast that frees us.”

  1. Let us build a house where love can dwell And all can safely live,

A place where saints and children tell How hearts learn to forgive.

Built of hopes and dreams and visions, Rock of faith and vault of grace;

Here the love of Christ shall end divisions: All are welcome, all are welcome,

all are welcome in this place.

  1. Let us build a house where prophets speak, And words are strong and true.

Where all God’s children dare to seek To dream God’s reign anew

Here the cross shall stand as witness And as symbol of God’s grace;

Here as one we claim the faith of Jesus: All are welcome, all are welcome,

all are welcome in this place.

  1. Let us build a house where love is found In water, wine and wheat:

A banquet hall on holy ground, Where peace and justice meet. Here the love of God, through Jesus, Is revealed in time and space;

As we share in Christ the feast that frees us: All are welcome, all are welcome,

all are welcome in this place.

Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm, I Shall Live in the House of the Lord (Worship Hymnal No. 1190), is Psalm 23, which clearly ties into Sunday’s readings. The table spread “in the sight of my foes” and the cup that “overflows” connect the psalm directly to the rich feast that Isaiah writes of, and to the wedding banquet in the Gospel. The Psalm highlights that God’s welcome is not only a one-time gesture, but is eternal: “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.”

Sunday’s Presentation hymn, As We Gather at Your Table (Worship Hymnal No. 831), was written in 1989 by Carl P. Daw, Jr. The first verse deliberately mixes the language of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, opening with the table (“as we gather at your table”) and immediately moving to Scripture (“as we listen to your word”). The third verse, addressed to the Holy Spirit, is clearly based on the Parable of the Banquet. It asks for help to “summon other guests to share that feast” where “those who had been last and least” will be welcomed.

At the 11:30 Mass, the Presentation anthem, sung by the Choir, is As Truly As God Is Our Father by the Welsh composer William Mathias (1934-1992). The text comes from the writings of Julian of Norwich. She was a 14th-century English woman revered as “one of England’s greatest mystics.” Julian is generally considered the first woman to write a book in English. As an anchoress, she lived in a small cell attached to the church of St. Julian in Norwich, withdrawing to a life of solitude and contemplation. Her book, Revelations of Divine Love, describes a series of visions she received. Her text speaks of God as both Father and Mother, and of salvation. She speaks of human lives being restored and made whole: “Our fragmented lives are knit together.” The anthem builds to Julian’s best-known words, “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Mathias wrote the anthem in 1987 at the request of John Scott, then organist of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, for the festival of the Friends of St. Paul’s. It was first sung on June 30, 1987, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. The music is broad and spacious, written with the very large acoustic of St. Paul’s in mind. Julian of Norwich’s famous line “all shall be well” echoes the promise in Isaiah that God will wipe away the tears from every face and destroy death forever. It also reflects Paul’s assurance to the Philippians that God will “fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Here is the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, singing As Truly As God Is Our Father as conducted by John Scott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mWIOETSDkw

As Truly As God Is Our Father

As truly as God is our Father,

So just as truly is God our Mother.

In our Father, God Almighty, We have our being;

In our merciful Mother

We are re-made and restored.

Our fragmented lives are knit together; And by giving and yielding ourselves Through grace, to the Holy Spirit

We are made whole.

It is I, the strength and goodness of Fatherhood. It is I, the wisdom of Motherhood.

It is I, the light and grace of holy love. It is I, the Trinity, it is I, the unity.

I am the sovereign goodness in all things. It is I who teach you to love.

It is I who teach you to desire.

It is I who am the reward of all true desiring.

All shall be well, And all shall be well,

And all manner of thing shall be well. Amen.

Sunday’s Communion hymn, Taste and See (Worship Hymnal No. 952), is by Brian Luckner, and takes its refrain from Psalm 34: “Taste and see how good the Lord is.” Luckner (b. 1959) has been director of music and organist at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph the Workman in La Crosse, Wisconsin, since 1988. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, and before going to La Crosse he was Assistant in Liturgical Music at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He currently heads the Conference of Roman Catholic Cathedral Musicians.

Psalm 34 is one of the Psalms that has traditionally been sung during Communion. In the fourth century, the instructions given to the newly baptized in Jerusalem (traditionally attributed to St. Cyril of Jerusalem) describe the moment of Communion this way: “you hear the chanter inviting you with a sacred melody to the communion of the Holy Mysteries, and saying, O taste and see that the Lord is good.” The psalm’s invitation again echoes the rich feast described in Isaiah and the Wedding Banquet.

At the 11:30 Mass, the Choir’s Communion Meditation is Like a River in My Soul, an arrangement by Tim Osiek of the traditional African American spiritual I’ve Got Peace Like a River, as edited by Dan Forrest. Forrest (b. 1978) is an American composer best known for large choral works such as Requiem for the Living and Jubilate Deo, recently sung at the Mass celebrated by Pope Leo in France. The arrangement is for choir and piano, and follows the spiritual’s images as they move from river to ocean to fountain and back again, with an intensity that rises and falls underneath the calm surface of the melody.

While the exact author of the spiritual is unknown, its central image is usually traced to Isaiah 66:12, where God promises to spread prosperity over Jerusalem “like a river.” The spiritual’s three gifts, peace, love, and joy, are three of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul lists in Galatians 5:22. The image of peace flowing like a river recalls the “restful waters” of Psalm 23, and the inner calm the lyrics describe echoes Christ’s strength that Paul speaks of in the Second Reading. The selection speaks of peace, a peace that does not depend on outward circumstances. The third verse, “When your hope nearly dies, just remember, once again you shall rise!” also speaks to salvation and again echoes the Psalmist’s vision of dwelling with God forever. The third verse also speaks to the joy of salvation at the end of Sunday’s First Reading: “let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”

I’ve got peace like a river, like a river in my soul.

I’ve got peace like a river, soothing river, calmly flow. When the world closes in, feel the stillness within.

I’ve got peace like a river, like a river in my soul.

I’ve got love like an ocean, like an ocean in my soul. I’ve got love like an ocean, endless ocean, deep and full.

When you’re lost and alone, let the waves bring you home. I’ve got love like an ocean, like an ocean in my soul.

I’ve got joy like a fountain, like a fountain in my soul. I’ve got joy like a fountain, like a fountain in my soul.

When your hope nearly dies, just remember, once again you shall rise! I’ve got joy like a fountain, Love like an ocean,

Peace like a river in my soul.

Here is a nicely done version of Like a River in My Soul: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoWP8n0mUCE

Sunday’s Final Hymn is How Can I Keep from Singing (Worship Hymnal No. 684). The text first appeared on August 27, 1868, in The New York Observer, under the title “Always Rejoicing.” It was signed only “Pauline T.,” and nothing more is known about its author. The following year, Robert Lowry published it with his own tune in a Sunday School songbook called Bright Jewels. Lowry (1826-1899) had no formal musical training, but several of his songs passed into common use, including some still

well-known today, for example, Shall We Gather at the River?

The text in the hymn is about joy that holds firm regardless of circumstances. The text “What though my joys and comfort die? The Lord my savior liveth.” reflects Paul’s words to the Philippians about living with both humble circumstances and abundance. The line “All things are mine since I am his” reflects Paul’s assurance that God will supply every need, and the image of “a fountain ever springing” echoes God’s welcome and the abundance of the banquet. Finally, the hymn’s refrain echoes the response at the end of Sunday’s First Reading: “let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!”

How Can I Keep from Singing

  1. My life flows on in endless song. Above earth’s lamentation

I hear the clear though far-off hymn That hails a new creation.

No storm can shake my inmost calm While to that Rock I’m clinging.

Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, How can I keep from singing?

  1. Through all the tumult and the strife

I hear that music ringing. It finds an echo in my soul.

How can I keep from singing?

No storm can shake my inmost calm While to that Rock I’m clinging.

Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, How can I keep from singing?

  1. What though my joys and comfort die? The Lord my savior liveth.

What though the darkness gather round? Songs in the night he giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm While to that Rock I’m clinging.

Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, How can I keep from singing?

  1. The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, A fountain ever springing!

All things are mine since I am his! How can I keep from singing?

No storm can shake my inmost calm While to that Rock I’m clinging.

Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, How can I keep from singing?

Sources:

I Sat Down Under His Shadow / Edward Bairstow

All Are Welcome / Marty Haugen / TWO OAKS

As We Gather at Your Table / Carl P. Daw, Jr. / NETTLETON

As Truly As God Is Our Father / Julian of Norwich / William Mathias

Taste and See / Brian Luckner / Psalm 34

Like a River in My Soul / Traditional Spiritual / arr. Tim Osiek / ed. Dan Forrest

How Can I Keep from Singing / Pauline T. / Robert Lowry

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