History of Hymns: 'You Are Mine'

David Robert Haas (b. 1957, Saginaw, Michigan) is a well-known author and composer of music for choirs and congregations. He studied vocal music performance and conducting at Central Michigan University and theology and music at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has served congregations in Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota as parish musician and currently serves as a cantor at St. Cecilia’s Parish in St. Paul, Minnesota, and is director of the Emmaus Center for Music, Prayer, and Ministry in Eagan, Minnesota, where he resides. Haas is committed to encouraging young liturgical musicians, so he directs a summer program for high school and college-age students.

Following Vatican II (1962—1965), many writers of Roman Catholic liturgical music avoided classical hymn structures, but Haas, and others in the generation that followed, rebirthed hymnody with theologically-sound texts based on scripture in well-developed arrangements with instrumental parts and choral parts in four-part harmony in many instances (Silhavy, n.p.).

David Haas is one of three liturgical composers who formed what was informally called the “Minnesota School” of liturgical composition, all graduating from the University of St. Thomas. According to the website for GIA Publications, David Haas, Michael Joncas (b. 1951), and Marty Haugen (b. 1950) produced “some of the most popular and effective music for the Church’s worship that has appeared in the days following the Second Vatican Council” (Haas, www.giamusic.com). Recently, the three friends combined to produce a reunion compilation titled With Gratitude – Music Collection (Chicago: GIA, 2017) that includes their most widely published songs, including “You Are Mine” (CD, MP3, and print music, https://www.giamusic.com/store/resource/with-gratitude-music-collection-print-g9397). The songs on this album have played a large role in reshaping congregational song since the Second Vatican Council, both within Catholic parishes and Protestant congregations.

Though Haas is prominent as an author and composer of modern Roman Catholic liturgical music, his many popular songs have found their way into a wide variety of hymnals and songbooks. In addition to “You Are Mine,” three additional hymns that are widely sung in the ecumenical community are “Blest Are They” (The Faith We Sing, 2155), “We Are Called” (The Faith We Sing, 2172), and “Without Seeing You” (The Faith We Sing, 2206).

In 2017, The National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) conducted a hymn survey in which 3,000 participants ranked hymns. Haas’s “You Are Mine” was number four on the list. Written in the early 1990s, this hymn, according to Hymnary.org, is now included in fourteen current hymnals across numerous denominations. The words are based on texts from Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know…”; Isaiah 43:1b, “Do not fear…you are mine”; and John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (NIV*). The hymn’s text is written in God’s voice, assuring, comforting, and encouraging – “I am with you,” “Come and rest in me,” and “I love you and you are mine.” The themes of this hymn are God’s care, strength in troubling times, baptism, and confirmation. “’You Are Mine’ is a reminder that no matter where we are and how low we may feel, God is always there, calling to us, and inviting us to follow” (The Faith We Sing: Worship Planner, 55).

The hymn first appeared in the composer’s collection (also on CD), Who Calls You by Name: Music for Christian Initiation (Chicago: 1988-1991). This gives some clues as to the liturgical intent of the song. Though hymnologist and hymnwriter Carl P. Daw, Jr. finds the scriptural allusions to be ambiguous, he adds a helpful note in understanding the song’s meaning: