Encounter – Share the Journey Part 2
“Pan de Vida”
When selecting songs for the Communion procession the church tells us to look for texts that have “themes of joy, wonder, unity, gratitude and praise…. It is also appropriate to select a Communion processional song that reflects the liturgical action, i.e. eating and drink the Body and Blood of Christ.” (Sing to the Lord #191). The text of this song “Pan de Vida” is bi-lingual: parts of the refrain are in English and parts are in Spanish. Although this may make us uncomfortable because we can’t sing the whole song or we may not know what we’re singing about, that’s ok. I am just old enough to remember singing songs and praying prayers in Latin at Mass and I had no idea many times what I was saying unless I was looking at my St. Joseph hymnal that had the Latin on one side and the English on the other side. Try to sing what you can in Spanish and join whole-heartedly on the English parts. Maybe you won’t get it right the first time but the fact that you’re trying is important. Imagine some people in our parish for whom Spanish is their first language! They get to sing a song in their own language – what a relief! Imagine if you had to go through your entire day trying to understand a new language just to get your daily tasks finished. The text of this song refers to “the Body of Christ, the Bread of Life, and the cup of blessing.” It also has a beautiful reference to the Holy Thursday themes of serving each other as Jesus did. Let us be understanding and serve each other.
~Mary Robertson, Director of Liturgy and Music