Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe
~Ginny Ambrose


During my years as a pastoral musician I’ve had the
wonderful opportunity to meet many talented musicians.
One such musician is singer, songwriter, Allison Waldrop. I
met Allison in 1995 when we both worked for the Steel
City Medjugorie Convention which was held in Pittsburgh.
Her music was both contemplative and passionate,
moving listeners to greater spiritual depth and love for
God. I had the privilege of working with her when she did a
mini “music-mission’ with me for the youth of my parish.
One of the songs we used was her beautiful and moving,
“King Jesus, I Love You”. Each year I play this song on the
Feast of Christ, the King, and this year is no exception.
Since this song always draws comment, I thought it would
be ok with Allison if I printed the text of the lyrics for our
parishioners:

 King Jesus, I Love You
King Jesus, I love you. Redeemer, I praise you.
You are the Morningstar, the great “I AM”,
the Shepherd of my heart.
King Jesus, I love you, Redeemer, I praise you.
You are the Great High Priest, the Hope of Glory,
The Healer of my soul.
I stand in awe of your presence,
being given the heart of a child.
I wonder in your majesty
and walk in the comfort of your light.
In the company of angels and saints,
I give you endless praise.
May your name be forever exalted,
as your glory shines forever more!

Important Update Affects “Agnus Dei”

On September 12, 2012 there was an update made to
“Sing to the Lord: Music in Divine Worship”, a
document developed by the Committee on Divine
Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB). The USCCB Administrative Committee
has made a change in the text of the document so that
the Agnus Dei, (Lamb of God) would be brought into
conformity with the General Instruction of the Roman
Missal. The original text of the document allowed for the
use of “tropes” (additional Christological invocations
such as “Jesus, Bread of Life”, and “Jesus, Prince of
Peace”, etc). The revised text now explains that “the
invocation accompanies the fraction and, for this
reason, may be repeated as many times as necessary
until the rite has reached its conclusion,” (STL, 188),
but the “Agnus Dei should not be prolonged
unnecessarily nor may other texts be added to this
chant.” (GIRM, no. 83)

In the post Vatican II Church, composers began to
expand the texts, taking a more creative approach to the
prayers in the sung Mass parts. Presently, simply put,
when we sing the “Lamb of God’ before Communion, only
the title of “Lamb of God” will be able to be used. In
addition to this, the document “Sing to the Lord”, will
undergo an editorial review in light of the third edition of
the Roman Missal.