Celebrating 60 Years of "I Am the Bread of Life"

As we celebrate 60 years of "I Am the Bread of Life", Sr. Suzanne Toolan tells the story of its composition and its significance in Christian worship.

Jun 27, 2026

Sixty years after its publication, Suzanne Toolan’s “I Am the Bread of Life” remains one of the most beloved and enduring hymns in Catholic worship. Emerging in the years surrounding the renewal of the liturgy after Vatican II, the hymn gave voice to a Church learning again to sing its faith in the vernacular, with the full, conscious, and active participation of the assembly.

Rooted in the words of Christ from John’s Gospel, its soaring refrain has accompanied generations of Catholics to the Eucharistic table, proclaiming with confidence the central mystery of our faith: that in Christ, the Bread of Life, we are raised up, nourished, and made one.

In written correspondence for the Open Your Hymnal podcast back in 2020, Sister Suzanne Toolan recounts the writing of I Am the Bread of Life:

I was teaching high School and I had a free period. There was an archdiocesan event coming up and my kids were going to sing for it. It was some sort of Eucharistic event so when I sat down at the piano in my classroom I opened the scriptures to John 6. I just began to write down what I was playing and singing. Pretty soon the bell rang and I knew I had to move into the Great Hall (in the Kohl Mansion where I taught my choral classes.) I tossed the manuscript in the waste paper basket because I thought, “This is not it!”

On my way to my class I passed by the Infirmary (where often the kids who didn’t want to take tests or who were otherwise not prepared for class, would take refuge.) Well, a little blond freshman came out of that infirmary and stopped me. She said, “What was that? It was beautiful.” I did a ninety degree turn and headed back to my classroom. I found some scotch tape, retrieved the manuscript which was actually a scrap of paper – and put it together. That little scrap of paper has had a life of its own ever since.

Some of my hymns began to be used a little in the archdiocese – mostly “Great is the Lord” and “I Am the Bread of Life.” I never thought of them being published but when I attended a workshop put on by GIA in Windsor, Ontario I brought my manuscripts with me. I thought of approaching Bob Batistini but I simply couldn’t get up enough nerve. I went home with my manuscripts.

I lost track of this little blond freshman but in the last few years we have reconnected. I receive a card every few weeks from her as she remembers her ninety-three year old teacher.

Fr. Bob Hayburn was Director of Music for the San Francisco Archdiocese. He met Bob Batistini frequently and interested him in publishing some of my things. I was grateful to receive a lot of encouragement from Bob. While he certainly encouraged me he asked if he could list my name as S. Suzanne Toolan. He shied away from “sister” because people attributed rather sentimental writing to the sisterhood.

In (can’t remember the year) there was an International Eucharistic Congress to which composers were invited to submit music. “Gift of Finest Wheat” was rightfully chosen as the official hymn of the Congress. I was thrilled to hear that “I Am the Bread of Life” was also prayed in song in assembly halls, in non official gatherings and even on the subway.

Now, in my own community the song is never sung – not even for funerals. But I hear from former students and from people all over the world as they tell me how the hymn has given them comfort and hope at the death of a loved one. And that is its strength and I think the reason that it still lives on. The message of resurrection is so strong in the text.

-Sr. Suzanne Toolan