The hymn “What God Calls Us To,” published in the July release of new hymns of “Hymns for Home and Church,” draws on the Savior’s life and teachings and invites all to follow Jesus Christ in their daily interactions with others.
This hymn begins with the opening line, “To see the world through others’ eyes.” The author, J. Frederic Voros Jr., said this concept is the essence of empathy and the heart of the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
The rest of the hymn applies this core principle to circumstances described in the Sermon on the Mount, the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 and other teachings of Jesus, Voros explained to the Church News.
“The final example in the hymn, seeing God in every human face, is taken from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25 that when we care for — or not — those who are poor, sick, in prison or alone and far from home, we do it to Him. By this measure, He says, He will judge the nations,” Voros said.
Voros wrote the hymn in 2014, and the music was written by composer Catherine Tibbitts, one of Voros’ high school classmates in San Luis Obispo, California. After they reconnected at a 40-year high school reunion, they began writing hymns together.
Tibbitts said the music for “What God Calls Us To” came together quickly after she got Voros’ text. When she writes vocal music, she tries to make the music follow the rhythm of the text, she told the Church News.
“Each phrase of ‘What God Calls Us To’ begins with the preposition ‘to,’ which means that it shouldn’t start on a strong beat in the music,” she said. Therefore there is a rest at the beginning of most of the phrases. She hopes choristers around the Church will forgive the time signature changes. “After they hear the song a few times, I think they will take courage and understand,” she said.
Meanwhile Voros said he loved the music from the first hearing. It “complements the spirit of the text in a gentle and moving way,” he said.
The hymn won a 2017 Church Music Submission merit award, and when Voros learned it was in the latest batch of new hymns, he said he was thrilled.
“I hope it can become part of the Church’s focus on Jesus Christ, whose life and teachings show us how we should treat others — as we would want them to treat us if our circumstances were reversed,” Voros said.
Tibbitts said not that many hymns “spell out practical ways we can behave better towards our fellow man. ‘What God Calls Us To’ does this and it feels very timely.”
She was honored to hear the hymn would be included in the new hymnbook. “But I have to say that I was even more happy for the members of the Church because I think people will really resonate with this hymn.”
1.To see the world through others’ eyes,
To be as kind as we are wise,
To share the mercy God has shown
And never cast another stone,
To show our faith in all we do—
This is what God calls us to.
2.To feed the hungry, clothe the poor,
Embrace the lonely at our door,
To stand as champions of the weak
And share our portion with the meek,
To offer hope in all we do—
This is what God calls us to.
3.To walk by faith and not by fear,
To show that all are welcome here,
To see our neighbor clothed in grace
And God in ev’ry human face,
To practice love in all we do—
This is what God calls us to.
Musical backgrounds and growth
Music was important to Tibbitts’ family as she grew up. She and her four siblings took piano lessons, and she was the Primary pianist while she was in Primary. All but one of her siblings eventually became ward pianists or organists.
Tibbitts continued accompanying music and majored in piano performance at BYU. Most of her composing began after college, with the main catalyst being her call to be the musical director for the Newport Beach California Temple Youth Celebration held for the opening of the Newport Beach California Temple in 2005, which involved 4,000 youth from around Orange County, California.
“My biggest musical growth and my most joyful moments have been through my musical service in the Church,” she said.
Voros learned to love hymns from his mother, who grew up in the Southern United States. He would often hear her at the piano playing the hymns she had loved as a child in the 1920s.
He joined the Church as a high school senior in 1968 in San Luis Obispo and spent his career as an attorney and a judge in Utah, including on the Utah Court of Appeals from 2009 to 2017.
A friend saw a children’s book he wrote about the construction of the Salt Lake Temple and invited him to try writing hymns. With another friend, Voros founded the Western Hymn Writers Workshop in 2013, where experienced and aspiring hymn writers could bring new hymns to be sung, critiqued and polished.
His hymn “This Day Is a Good Day, Lord,” which he both wrote and composed, was included in the September 2025 online release of new hymns. Tibbitts composed a choir arrangement of that hymn, which can be found on the Church’s website.
— Church News intern Carly Ludlow contributed to this report.
