It’s interesting to browse through pre-Vatican II hymnals: there isn’t much about Communion.

Benediction, yes—but not Communion.  Oh, the choir might have sung “Panis angelicus,” but the people weren’t singing at Communion time. Most weren’t even going to Communion! 

Things have certainly changed.

We’ve been singing the Mass in the vernacular for 50-some years now: our assemblies know quite well what Communion is about. They don’t have to be told at every liturgy. But hymnals still label all the “bread” songs as being for Communion, as if those were the only suitable choices. They’re not.

Singing “bread” songs at Communion is overkill. Think of having dinner at a nice restaurant with a foodie friend who talks about nothing but recipes—it’s boring. Worse, it’s didactic, with patronizing overtones. Good Communion songs have a verse-refrain structure and are thematically related to the readings. Psalms, and songs based on them, make good communion songs.

However, on a day like today, when the Gospel is making a specific point about recognizing Jesus in the breaking of the bread, there’s good reason to sing something like David Haas’s “Song of the Body of Christ,” or the Taizé “Eat This Bread, ” or Bob Hurd’s “In the Breaking of the Bread.”

But if you choose a “bread” song for communion, stop there. Don’t run the idea into the ground; choose something different for other parts of the liturgy. The day’s scriptures touch on many different subjects—resurrection, witness, joy, peace, forgiveness, and understanding, among others. Choose music that reinforces these subjects, too.