Father Alvaro Gonzalez, the parochial vicar of St. Sylvester Parish in Tiger Point, shares this story written by a man who found his faith again when he found Spanish-language services at his parish. (Scroll down for the story in English...)
Mi experiencia de Iglesia en los Estados Unidos
Mi nombre es Manuel soy hispano. Vine a los Estados Unidos como muchos de ustedes por una sola razón: buscar trabajo para sostener a mi familia. La madre de mis hijos un día nos abandonó. El dinero que yo ganaba era muy bueno pero mi vida tomó el rumbo de las drogas, el alcohol, mujeres, y perdí todo. Vagué entre la locura y ese impulso interior de buscar a Dios para mi vida y para mis hijos, pero el vicio era más fuerte. Mis hijos, ya bautizados me pedían que me acercara a la iglesia pero mis temores a enfrentar mi realidad, mis temores, con la falta del idioma me paralizaba. Saqué fuerzas por la misericordia del Señor y fui a Misa en español a la parroquia de St. Sylvester, Gulf Breeze, FL. Que maravillosa experiencia encontrar un lugar donde hablan mi propio idioma, donde el mensaje de la homilía que puedo entender cobra un significado especial. Recibo formación, evangelización y oración en mi propio idioma a través de programas como RICA, clases de Biblia y grupo de oración, talleres y retiros. Recibir el sacramento de la confesión en mi propia lengua es un tesoro indescriptible. Estoy convencido que si no hubiera encontrado esta comunidad donde me puedo comunicar y donde recibo tantas bendiciones, mi vida hoy sería un abismo oscuro. Tengo la confianza de tener un apoyo para mí y para mis hijos quienes hoy participan en los ministerios y tengo la absoluta certeza de poder ayudar a otros porque soy un testimonio vivo de ello. ¡Y tú eres la Iglesia , cuéntanos tu historia!
My Church experience in the United States
My name is Manuel, Hispanic. I immigrated to the US perhaps like many of you have done it: looking for a job to support my family. My kids’ mother abandoned us. The money I was making was pretty good but I was doing drugs, alcohol and chasing women and I lost everything. I was caught between madness and an inner voice telling me to look for God for our lives. But the addictions were stronger. My kids, already baptized, would ask me to go to Church but my fears to face reality, the lack of the English language scared me to death. By the mercy of God I was strong enough to go to the Spanish Mass in St. Sylvester Parish in Gulf Breeze, FL. What an experience to find a place where people actually spoke my own language, where the homily which I understood completely conveyed a special meaning to me. I now receive formation, evangelization and prayer in my own language through programs such as RCIA, Bible study, prayer group, workshops, and retreats. I fall short in describing how much I treasure having the sacrament of confession in Spanish. I am convinced that if I had not found this community where I can communicate with people and where I receive so many blessings, I would be in a black hole. I can trust on their support for me and for my kids who are also currently participating in ministries and I can undoubtedly help others because I am a living witness of this fact. And You are the Church, tell us your story!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
"It's not what you say; it's how you say it"
Translation of the Roman Missal
I remember many times when I was a child my mother would say to me or my brothers or sister, “It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it.” In the English language the mere change in accent can have a drastic affect on how a statement is understood; how much more so the use of various words. I could ask my mother for lunch by saying, “May I please have something for lunch?” or, “I want something for lunch,” or, “Make me something for lunch, woman.” One statement would definitely get me something to eat; another might get me a smack on the face! The choice of words in communication is extremely important.
In May of 2001 the publication in Latin of the new Roman Missal (Sacramentary) was a major part of the renewal of the sacred liturgy called for by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. Obviously this work needed to be translated into the many and varied languages of the world. In anticipation of this part of the renewal of the liturgical books the Holy See issued a document called Liturgiam Authenticam to guide the translations.
We say gas, others say petrol. We say elevator, others say lift. We say truck, others say lorry. We say a car has a trunk, others say it has a boot. Creating a translation into English, which is spoken by many peoples and no group of them speaks it in the same way, has been a daunting task to say the least; and getting it right is very important.
There is an ancient maxim that has guided the Church in its expressions of prayer. The Latin phrase is “lex orandi, lex credendi.” It has been variously been translated, “the law of prayer is the law of belief,” or “as the Church prays, so the Church believes.” In other words, the words we use in prayer form and shape the way we believe. It works both ways; how we pray shapes our beliefs, and how we believe shapes our prayer. How we worship not only reveals and safeguards what we believe, but guides us in how we live our Christian faith and fulfill our Christian mission in the world; so you can also say, “lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi;” “as the Church prays, so the Church believes, so the Church lives.”
The words of the liturgy pass on the faith from one generation to the next and so the translations must be faithful, accurate, and uplifting. The translation needs to transcend one particular place and time in history because we speak and pray about eternal realities and even at that our words can never encompass God, only the Word who is Jesus can and does express the fullness of God. New translations will have to be done from time to time because the words we use to understand can change over the years. This relates to another teaching of the Church called the development of dogma. The truth never changes, but like clothes, the way in which the truth is expressed can and does change over the years. The new translations not only must be faithful to what has been handed down to us in Tradition, but must express that Tradition clearly to the world in which we live.
Translating a Latin text into English for all the English speaking countries requires the expertise of many people. The bishops and other members of the International Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) work with many scholars to produce a text. This is reviewed by the Bishops of the various countries who make suggestions and when those are approved the amended text returns to ICEL for possible incorporation or changes in the text and then a final text is sent back to the Bishops for their approval. Only then is it sent to Rome for acceptance as the authorized translation for the Church. That is why it is taking so long to translate into English the Roman Missal. It is projected that this process will be completed by the end of 2009 and the new translation of the Roman Missal will be published in English by the end of 2010.
You can check out the new translation of parts of the Mass and find many helpful documents concerning the Roman Missal project on this page of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s web site: http://usccb.org/liturgy/missalformation/index.shtml.
Fr. Paul White
Director of Liturgy
I remember many times when I was a child my mother would say to me or my brothers or sister, “It’s not what you said, it’s how you said it.” In the English language the mere change in accent can have a drastic affect on how a statement is understood; how much more so the use of various words. I could ask my mother for lunch by saying, “May I please have something for lunch?” or, “I want something for lunch,” or, “Make me something for lunch, woman.” One statement would definitely get me something to eat; another might get me a smack on the face! The choice of words in communication is extremely important.
In May of 2001 the publication in Latin of the new Roman Missal (Sacramentary) was a major part of the renewal of the sacred liturgy called for by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council. Obviously this work needed to be translated into the many and varied languages of the world. In anticipation of this part of the renewal of the liturgical books the Holy See issued a document called Liturgiam Authenticam to guide the translations.
We say gas, others say petrol. We say elevator, others say lift. We say truck, others say lorry. We say a car has a trunk, others say it has a boot. Creating a translation into English, which is spoken by many peoples and no group of them speaks it in the same way, has been a daunting task to say the least; and getting it right is very important.
There is an ancient maxim that has guided the Church in its expressions of prayer. The Latin phrase is “lex orandi, lex credendi.” It has been variously been translated, “the law of prayer is the law of belief,” or “as the Church prays, so the Church believes.” In other words, the words we use in prayer form and shape the way we believe. It works both ways; how we pray shapes our beliefs, and how we believe shapes our prayer. How we worship not only reveals and safeguards what we believe, but guides us in how we live our Christian faith and fulfill our Christian mission in the world; so you can also say, “lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi;” “as the Church prays, so the Church believes, so the Church lives.”
The words of the liturgy pass on the faith from one generation to the next and so the translations must be faithful, accurate, and uplifting. The translation needs to transcend one particular place and time in history because we speak and pray about eternal realities and even at that our words can never encompass God, only the Word who is Jesus can and does express the fullness of God. New translations will have to be done from time to time because the words we use to understand can change over the years. This relates to another teaching of the Church called the development of dogma. The truth never changes, but like clothes, the way in which the truth is expressed can and does change over the years. The new translations not only must be faithful to what has been handed down to us in Tradition, but must express that Tradition clearly to the world in which we live.
Translating a Latin text into English for all the English speaking countries requires the expertise of many people. The bishops and other members of the International Committee on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) work with many scholars to produce a text. This is reviewed by the Bishops of the various countries who make suggestions and when those are approved the amended text returns to ICEL for possible incorporation or changes in the text and then a final text is sent back to the Bishops for their approval. Only then is it sent to Rome for acceptance as the authorized translation for the Church. That is why it is taking so long to translate into English the Roman Missal. It is projected that this process will be completed by the end of 2009 and the new translation of the Roman Missal will be published in English by the end of 2010.
You can check out the new translation of parts of the Mass and find many helpful documents concerning the Roman Missal project on this page of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s web site: http://usccb.org/liturgy/missalformation/index.shtml.
Fr. Paul White
Director of Liturgy
