Music Notes, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 16, 2025
Dr. John Michniewicz
The readings for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time focus on themes of vigilance, preparation, faithful stewardship, and the ultimate triumph of God’s justice at the end times. The First Reading: Malachi 3:19-20a, shows that the Day of the Lord is coming, a day of judgement, but with ultimate healing. The “Sun of Justice” will rise for those believers who honor God’s name. The refrain of Psalm 98 declares that “The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice,” continuing that: “he comes to rule the earth; he will rule the world with justice and the peoples with equity.” The Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12, continues as an exhortation then to work diligently and remain faithful while waiting for the Lord’s return. The message is one of perseverance, continued effort towards living faithfully in expectation of the final age. Finally in the Gospel Reading, Luke 21:5-19, Jesus warns his disciples about signs that will show the end times: wars, insurrections, persecutions, and natural disasters. He encourages them to endure: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
Interestingly, as the Church Liturgical year and its cycle of readings comes to a close (the 33rd Sunday is the penultimate Sunday of the Liturgical Year, the readings also focus on the end of times with themes that lead into the final Sunday of the Liturgical Year, which this year is November 23rd: Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
Our Entrance Hymn “Alleluia! Sing To Jesus!” (W-953) is a well-known and prominent hymn widely sung throughout the English speaking world. This hymn speaks to Christ’s return and kingship, echoing the themes found in the lectionary readings. William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898) wrote “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!” as a Communion hymn for Ascension Day in 1866. Dix stands out among nineteenth-century British hymn writers as he was not a clergyman, but had a career in business, and later served as a manager of a marine insurance company in Glasgow, Scotland. He was a prolific writer of hymns though, and he published many collections. Besides “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus,” a number of his hymns are also still widely known and sung, including: “What Child Is This?” and “As With Gladness, Men of Old.” Although written as a hymn for Ascension Day, “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!” echoes and reinforces the call to endure, the certainty of Christ’s sovereignty, and Christ’s glorious return. There are references to these themes throughout the four verses: such as in verse 1, “His the triumph, His the victory alone.” In Verse 2, we see God’s faithfulness: “I am with you evermore.” emphasizing triumph through adversity. Despite the tribulation and fear described in Luke, the hymn again proclaims Christ’s triumph (“His the triumph”) and continuous presence in the midst of suffering (through the Eucharist, in the “heavenly feast”) in the fourth verse. The hymn’s strong imagery and thematic content, and its pairing with the well-known tune Hyfrydol, have made it an enduring and meaningful hymn.
Here is a performance by the King’s College Choir, Cambridge, singing “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!
The Presentation Hymn: “How Can I Keep from Singing?” (W-684) also echoes the gospel reading, particularly the idea of perseverance through adversity. Sources note the text was likely written by Anna Barlett Warner, 1820-1915, who is said to have led worship services at West Point and was later buried with full Military Honors. Robert Lowrey, a Baptist minister serving in Brooklyn New York and in New Jersey, is thought to have written the folk-like hymn tune for the 1869 song book: Bright Jewels for the Sunday School. Many of Lowrey’s hymns are still known and popular today, such as “Shall We Gather At the River,” but by the early 20th century, “How Can I Keep From Singing” was not known or sung by many congregations and had fallen mostly into obscurity. However, a popular folk singer, Pete Seeger (1919-2014) heard the hymn from a family friend, Doris Plenn who had learned it from her family in North Carolina. With its powerful and important message, Seeger performed it, adapting its text to reflect his contemporary environment. As a song, it caught on and then became popular as part of the American folk revival movement in the 1960’s. This popularity interestingly then led to its rebirth or even rediscovery as a hymn. Around 1995, paired again with its original sacred text, it began to be included in many new hymnals. Well liked, with an inspirational and faithful message, and given with its memorable and tuneful melody, it is now included in the majority of new hymnals.
Some point out that while the Gospel Reading from Luke can seem somber, with warnings of trials and tribulations, the reading ultimately points toward hope and the necessity of maintaining faith and perseverance—a message that deeply echoes the spirit of “How Can I Keep from Singing?” The hymn opens with the assertion that the trials of this world are nothing when compared to the new creation that is to come. Perhaps one of the original inspirations for the hymn came from James 1:2-4: “Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
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?
2. 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?
3. What though my joys and comfort die?
The Lord my savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth.
Here is an arranged version for choir and organ of “How Can I Keep from Singing:”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhkI41GdCGI
At the 11:30 Mass, the Choir will sing the Anthem: “Eternal Light” by Hal Hopson. The lyrics are a paraphrase of a text by Alcuin (c. 735-804), an English scholar, cleric, and poet, born in York, who later became a leading intellectual in the court of Charlemagne (748-814). Alcuin served as the head of the palace school and was very influential in Charlemagne’s court. By way of context, Charlemagne was a defender of the papacy who united most of Western and Central Europe, and was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III. Alcuin’s original Latin text is a theological and meditative prayer. The prayer was translated and paraphrased by Christopher Idle, born 1938, who is an Anglican clergyman, hymn writer and author. His paraphrase of Alcuin’s prayer maintains its structure and meaning, while making it accessible to contemporary English speakers. The prayer is a series of petitions to the Triune God, using epithets of “Eternal” to emphasize God’s constant, unchanging nature, and the worshipper’s complete dependence on God’s grace.
Eternal light, shine in my heart; Eternal hope, lift up my eyes;
Eternal power, be my support; Eternal wisdom, make me wise.
Eternal life, raise me from death;
Eternal brightness, help me see; Eternal Spirit, give me breath; Eternal Savior, come to me.
Until by your most costly grace, Invited by your holy word, At last I come before your face,
To know you, my eternal God. Amen.
In the first section are petitions for guidance, strength, and wisdom, the second section contains petitions for salvation, for the gift of the Spirit, and God’s enduring presence, and the third section sets out the desire to know God eternally. The prayer’s petitions directly relate to the theme of working faithfully to be prepared for the Lord’s coming (2 Thessalonians). The text serves as a prayer for constant spiritual readiness and the hope of everlasting life. As a prayer of preparation it confesses the believer’s need for God’s eternal attributes—Light, Hope, Power, Wisdom, Life, Brightness, and the Spirit—to navigate the trials of the present age and attain the final promise of God’s presence.
The composer, Hal Hopson, born in 1933, published over 1,800 works among 30 different publishers. Hopson passed away recently on July 20th, 2025 at the age of 92 in Austin, Texas. His works are heard weekly in congregations throughout the country and he was one of the most prolific composers of church music of his generation. Additionally, he served as a professor at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ and as well at the Scarritt Graduate School in Nashville TN. His expertise in psalmody and liturgy led to appointments on the Symposium for Church Composers sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Milwaukee and the Task Force on Psalmody sponsored by the Presbyterian Church, USA.
During Communion at the 11:30 Mass, the choir will sing “He Will Hold Me Fast” by Matt Merker as the Communion Meditation. Matt Merker is a worship leader, songwriter and director at Getty Music. He used as the basis for his composition a hymn text by Ada Habershon (1861-1918) a somewhat obscure English Christian hymn writer, lecturer and author. Her hymn, written in 1907, though, is a strong testament to God’s preserving grace, recognizing that for the believer, security rests entirely on Christ’s steadfast love and power. The themes of perseverance, judgment, hope, and ultimate deliverance therefore found in “He Will Hold Me Fast” resonate strongly with the Lectionary readings for this Sunday. The anthem acts as a prayer and a confession that in the face of inevitable trials (Luke 21) and the final judgment (Malachi 4) believers are not left to their own strength but are eternally secured by the unbreakable hold of Christ. In 2013, Matt Merker found and adapted Habershon’s text, rearranging the verses, composing an attractive and contemporary sounding new melody, and added the memorable refrain: He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast, For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast.
When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast; When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast. I could never keep my hold, through life’s fearful path; For my love is often cold; He must hold me fast.
He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast, For my Savior loves me so, He will hold me fast.
Those He saves are His delight, Christ will hold me fast; Precious in His holy sight, He will hold me fast. He’ll not let my soul be lost; His promises shall last; Bought by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast.
For my life He bled and died, Christ will hold me fast; Justice has been satisfied; He will hold me fast. Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast ‘Til our faith is turned to sight, When He comes at last!
Here is a performance of “He Will Hold Me Fast”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNQMjNI6w9Q
Our Final Hymn is “Rejoice the Lord Is King” (W-564). Written by Charles Wesley in 1744, the hymn is an uplifting and spirited celebration of Christ’s reign over creation, including his victory over death. Wesley based his hymn in part on Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.” The apostle Paul was writing to the Church at Philippi, likely while he was imprisoned in Rome, between A.D. 60 and 62. Paul expresses his affection for the believers and the Church at Philippi, and encourages their continued joy and unity in faith, even amidst difficult circumstances. Dan Chapman and Taylor Brantley state that: In a world often marked by chaos, Wesley’s clarion call remains profoundly relevant, with its vital and uplifting message. Regardless of our current struggles, we are called to lift our hearts and voices to celebrate the One whose kingdom is eternal and whose love is unfailing.
Here is a triumphant presentation of Rejoice the Lord Is King in a setting by John Rutter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA0jM77Qers
Sources:
https://tribuneonlineng.com/story-behind-the-hymn-alleluia-sing-to-jesus/
https://www.facebook.com/CarolynWinfreyGillette/posts/1217407863764319/
https://www.google.com/search?q=scarrit+graduate+school
https://virtuosity.lorenz.com/shop/church-choral/anthems/eternal-light-1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Hopson
https://www.onelicense.net/search?term=&hymnal=17&hymn=684
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Can_I_Keep_from_Singing%3F
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcuin
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JaRr6ViPmpGwfpP9SbUMHZdFz3UuoMStQobZF4gFLgs/edit?tab=t.0
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_R._Habershon
https://www.hymncharts.com/the-story-behind-rejoice-the-lord-is-king/#:~:text=Celebrating%20Christ’s%20Reign,chapters%20of%20Hebrews%20and%20Revelation.