On Religion: Yes, Biden Is An ‘On Eagle’s Wings’ American Catholic

[Michie]

(ANALYSIS) With its lilting pop melody and sweet God talk, “On Eagle's Wings” is the hymn that conservative Catholics love to hate and Catholic progressives often wave like a red flag.

President Joe Biden loves it.

“My prayer, my hope is we continue to believe our best days are ahead of us — that as a nation we continue to believe in honesty, decency, dignity and respect. We see each other not as enemies but as fellow human beings, each made in the image of God, each precious in his sight,” said Biden at the National Prayer Breakfast.

Before his latest nod to “On Eagle's Wings,” the president stressed that Americans “believe everyone deserves a fair shot. We give hate no safe harbor. ... In my church, we’ve taken the 22nd Psalm and turned it into a hymn. And it says, 'And he will raise you up on eagle's wings and bear you on the breath of dawn and make you to shine like the sun. Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.’ ...

“We have really tough, tough differences. ... But remember — let's remember who the hell we are. We're the United States of America. It's all about dignity and respect.”

Actually, Father Jan Michael Joncas based this folk Mass hymn on Psalm 91, the Book of Exodus and the Gospel of St. Matthew. The White House transcript corrected many gaffes in the 81-year-old Biden's talk but missed that biblical detail.

Few would deny that "On Eagle's Wings" has become an American Catholic standard, especially during funerals. Biden quoted the hymn in his 2020 victory-night address, and it was performed during the 2015 funeral Mass for his son Beau.

“The ‘On Eagle's Wings’ debate was never just about a hymn. It was about whether Catholics will rip each other apart during the Biden presidency,” wrote Father Bill McCormick in the Jesuit journal America in early 2021 — just weeks into that presidency.

Attitudes about this hymn underlined real differences, he stressed.

Continued below.

On Religion: Yes, Biden Is An ‘On Eagle’s Wings’ American Catholic

(ANALYSIS) With its lilting pop melody and sweet God talk, “On Eagle's Wings” is the hymn that conservative Catholics love to hate and Catholic progressives often wave like a red flag. President Joe Biden loves it.

religionunplugged.com

 

[RileyG]

22nd psalm? Isn't it from the 91st psalm?

 

[Michie]

22nd psalm? Isn't it from the 91st psalm?

Actually, Father Jan Michael Joncas based this folk Mass hymn on Psalm 91, the Book of Exodus and the Gospel of St. Matthew. The White House transcript corrected many gaffes in the 81-year-old Biden's talk but missed that biblical detail.

 

[RileyG]

Actually, Father Jan Michael Joncas based this folk Mass hymn on Psalm 91, the Book of Exodus and the Gospel of St. Matthew. The White House transcript corrected many gaffes in the 81-year-old Biden's talk but missed that biblical detail.

Thanks!

 

[Michie]

“On Eagle's Wings" is a devotional hymn composed by Michael Joncas. Its words are based on Psalm 91, Book of Exodus 19, and Gospel of Matthew 13. Joncas wrote the piece in either 1976 or 1979, after he and his friend, Douglas Hall, returned from a meal to learn that Hall's father had died of a heart attack.

 

[Michie]

Biden mixed up his Psalms at the prayer Breakfast.

 

[RileyG]

Biden mixed up his Psalms at the prayer Breakfast.

That's understandable. Not everyone prays the psalms regularly.

 

[chevyontheriver]

22nd psalm? Isn't it from the 91st psalm?

Are you saying Joe Biden misremembered?

I set up a program for my parish on John Paul II's synod on Vatican II back in 1985. One of the people I talked to about it was Jan Micheal Joncas back when he was at the University of Minnesota Newman Center. We had a good long talk as he was looking to put together a similar program at Newman. He seemed an OK sort of guy.

I was into the St Louis Jesuit stuff when it was being written, going to Midnight Mass at the Underground Church below St. Francis Xavier at SLU in St Louis. That was 1975-1978. I thought it was cool back then. But those were my salad years, when I was green in judgement. I've kind of moved on even if those around me have not yet.

Yup. Joe would be that sort of Catholic. And one who can be both catholic and for abortion in the same breath. I just don't get that.

 

[RileyG]

Are you saying Joe Biden misremembered?

I set up a program for my parish on John Paul II's synod on Vatican II back in 1985. One of the people I talked to about it was Jan Micheal Joncas back when he was at the University of Minnesota Newman Center. We had a good long talk as he was looking to put together a similar program at Newman. He seemed an OK sort of guy.

I was into the St Louis Jesuit stuff when it was being written, going to Midnight Mass at the Underground Church below St. Francis Xavier at SLU in St Louis. That was 1975-1978. I thought it was cool back then. But those were my salad years, when I was green in judgement. I've kind of moved on even if those around me have not yet.

Yup. Joe would be that sort of Catholic. And one who can be both catholic and for abortion in the same breath. I just don't get that.

Thanks for sharing. I don't think all Jesuits are bad. I'm sure there are some good, faithful ones left, even though they are small in number.

(Not to go off topic, even though many Jesuits are pro-LGBT, Fr. Martin, for example, has ALWAYS been consistently pro-life and has publicly spoken out against abortion despite his critics. Most of his audience are liberal atheists).

 

[Wolseley]

Are you saying Joe Biden misremembered?

Considering that just a day or so ago, Biden related that while he was at a G-7 summit meeting in 2021, he talked with Helmut Kohl (who died in 2017), and François Mitterrand (who died in 1996), I'd say that would be a relatively safe assumption.

I dunno....we all know Joe is a cafeteria Catholic; maybe he was using a Ouija board. (shrug)

 

[RileyG]

Considering that just a day or so ago, Biden related that while he was at a G-7 summit meeting in 2021, he talked with Helmut Kohl (who died in 2017), and François Mitterrand (who died in 1996), I'd say that would be a relatively safe assumption.

I dunno....we all know Joe is a cafeteria Catholic; maybe he was using a Ouija board. (shrug)

When my grandmother was dying from Alzheimer's 20 years ago she thought my (deceased) grandfather was alive. I wonder if the same thing is happening with Joe. Eeek

This is scary.

 

[Wolseley]

I remember reading an account by a woman whose father had been a Marine in the Pacific during World War II. When he got well up into his 80's, they would sometimes find him crouching behind a table on the back porch, looking fearfully over at the swimming pool.

It turned out that he thought he was back on Guadalcanal, and he was seeing the Japanese attacking across the Lunga River. He was uneasy because he didn't have a weapon.