Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling (2)

Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling is a golden, gentle hymn. It is not precisely a Catholic hymn. It was written by Will L Thompson and first published in 1880.

Cyber Hymnal has this notation on the hymn:

When the world-renowned lay preacher, Dwight Lyman Moody, lay on his death bed in his Northfield, Massachusetts, home, Will Thompson made a special visit to inquire as to his condition. The attending physician refused to admit him to the sick­room, and Moody heard them talking just outside the bedroom door. Recognizing Thompson’s voice, he called for him to come to his bedside. Taking the Ohio poet-composer by the hand, the dying evangelist said, “Will, I would rather have written “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling” than anything I have been able to do in my whole life.”

 The song has appeared in movies, television and was included in Jonny Cash Sings Precious Memories album in 1975 where I first heard it at my grandparent’s house as a little girl. It stuck with me and has been one of my favorite hymns since then. It was also published on his 2004 album “My Mother’s Hymn Book”.

If you are interested in obtaining the music for the hymn Oregon Catholic Press carries it in several of their publications and the score is online at several places  

If you are looking for the lyrics they are here:

 Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals He’s waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.

Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!

Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
Mercies for you and for me?

 Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!

Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing,
Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, deathbeds are coming,
Coming for you and for me.

 Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!

 Oh, for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.