Langage

and Liturgy

Viator Web, No. 70 - April, 2016

Andr Crozier, C.S.V.

General Councilor

The transmission of knowledge and of information, by means of social networks that are
constantly being renewed and upgraded, is available to us at every moment of the day, as
was highlighted in Viator Web No. 69 (January, 2016). We have discovered that technology
has influenced community life. Is there any reason why liturgical language and also
catechetical language should escape from such a possible positive transformation? Do not
some of us use our tablets to pray the Office of the Hours or to follow along with liturgical
readings and prayers in our own language? I had noticed that happening during celebrations
in Saint Peters Basilica in Rome, with translations being made available in various languages.
Without moving toward that quasi-universal practice among the younger generations, we
can conclude that it reveals a desire for greater participation as people listen for and remain
receptive to the Word of God as it is proclaimed and commented upon for the benefit of the
greatest number of people possible. Over and above its transmission, I am thinking of the

meaning of the words, the explanations, and the exhortations. And all of that must take
place within a life context that, insofar as possible, embraces all of the participants. For all of
us, at one time or another, have heard these types of reflections coming from people
young or not so young as they came out of religious celebrations:
Mass is so boring!
Beautiful considerations, but completely beyond our comprehension!
Our everyday concerns are in no way reflected in that kind of language!
But, what world are these preachers living in?
We oftentimes recognize that the language used in our churches has become difficult to
interpret for many people, if not downright esoteric for common men and women. In
virtue of longstanding habits, the choice of words is not always the primary concern for
people who are called upon to proclaim the word and to make it audible for our
contemporaries. There are certain expressions that have always been used. While they are
understood by those who regularly use them, they eventually become tiresome. Repetitions
and inclusions end up weighing down the development of thoughts and helping to distract
the listener. Imaginations take flight. Words and actions that do not need to be explained
if those words and actions are carefully chosen and carried out speak for themselves for
those who hear them and witness them. Gentle words can go far in helping people to
interiorize the message.
In preparing these introductory paragraphs, I recalled the wise advice that Pope Francis gave
on the subject of homilies in his exhortation on The Joy of the Gospel (Nos. 135-138). The
master in that respect is Jesus Christ himself. Through his word, our Lord conquered the
hearts of people, who came from everywhere to listen to him (cf. Mark 1:45). They were
astounded as they drank in his teachings (cf. Mark 6:2). Returning to that reading will be
very profitable, especially if you have to put that difficult exercise into practice. Or if, as
catechists, you have to preach Jesus Christ, as Father Querbes so beautifully put it. And
why would we not have, brothers and sisters, enough simplicity to help one another, to
correct one another, and to challenge one another to become even better in the different
ways that we proclaim the word?
Thankfully, Gods word is not imprisoned in books, be they lectionaries or missals or any
other kind, nor is it restricted to such and such a biblical tradition, no matter how brilliant it
might be. As we affirmed in 1993, we are still Proclaimers of the Word. Modern men and
women, as well as young people and children, have a right to be appropriately enlightened
by us without having any inadequate language interfere with the message!
In the name of my General Council colleagues, I would like to thank all those Viatorians who
were willing to share with us their points of view about or their experiences with this
theme of language. I shall now yield to their voices.
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Language in Liturgy

Sylvain Konan Kouadio, C.S.V.

Ivory Coast

Language is defined as the expressive function of thoughts and communications among

men and women that is implemented by means of a system of vocal signs words and
usually graphic signs writing all of which constitute a language. Language is therefore a
communications tool and an effective means of socialization. Which is to say that, between
society and language, there are links that are so close that we can say that one cannot exist
without the other. That is what is demonstrated by mile Benveniste in his Problems of
General Linguistics (1964) when he summarizes the inseparable character of those two
phenomena in these terms: In positing people in their relationship with nature or in their
relationship with other people, through the intermediary of language, we are positing society,
[since] language and society cannot be conceived of without each other. Whence it follows
that people can exist only through a relationship in which language is the privileged means
of accomplishment, the mediator in a relationship of specific communication, which has
society as its condition and place of expression. As the foundation of social relationships,
language has communication among the members of society as its principal function. What
is the place of language in liturgy? In order to respond to that question, we will try to discover
what liturgy is and then state, through pastoral experience, how we live the bond that exists
between the two.
Liturgy, in its secular and etymological sense, is a public service that is to say, the action of
a people. Taken literally, the word liturgy means public work, public function; in other
words, a service that certain people accomplish in the name of the people and for the people.
Therefore, fundamentally, liturgy is an action, an event, something that is done and not a
discourse. As highlighted by Michel Wackenheim: In liturgy, it is not a question of saying
what we are doing, but of doing what we are saying. It is not a question of speaking about
God, but of acting in such a way that God can speak. Liturgy, therefore, is the place where
God speaks to his people as the God of the Covenant between him and his people.
Additionally, liturgy is the place for celebrating and for renewing that covenant of God with
people and of people with God. That takes place through rituals carried out by the people
and through language as a channel of the expression of peoples thoughts.
Action (urgie comes from the Greek word leitos, which is the adjectival form of laos: people).
2

Michel Wackenheim, First Questions About Liturgy, Descl de Brouwer, Paris, 2011, page 7.
Viator Web No. 70 - p. 3

The ecclesial assembly consists of people who are invited by God to come together around
his Word and his Eucharistic Table and who respond to that invitation. Liturgy is the service
that the people brought together by God render unto him, but especially the service that
Christ the Mediator renders to the holy people by presenting their prayer to God. Thus,
liturgy is the expression of the spiritual experience of a Christian community. And all of that
takes place in relationship with the culture and the language of the people with whom God
establishes a covenant in the liturgical assembly. Liturgy therefore becomes a place of
encounter between God and his people. It is liturgy that unites individual spiritual experiences
with that of the community. It is in liturgy also that everyday life and faith encounter one
another. But, what can we do so that what is lived in our liturgical assemblies will become a
place of genuine encounter and of covenant with God? In other words, how can we, as
pastoral ministers, through our way of preparing for and celebrating the Eucharist, truly
become signs of Gods presence for the people with whom we are participating in the
celebration?
Liturgy is the place par excellence where we find the fundamental situations of language
that is, naming, confessing, promising, blessing, giving thanks, preaching, praying, and so
forth. The two realities have a very tangible bond in the sense that liturgy cannot exist without
language. Paul de Clerck notes that: Every language action is accompanied in the liturgy
with a gesture, such as opening ones arms, looking, taking, giving, holding, posing, not simply
saying, with every word that is spoken being inserted within a particular situation where it
finds meaning and to which it gives meaning.
As a priest in a rural parish on the outskirts of Bouak, a city situated in the central part of
the Ivory Coast, we notice the link that exists between language and liturgy. In fact, celebrating
God with the people and for the people to whom we are sent implies that we learn the
language through which these people express themselves and that we understand their
culture. The people to whom we minister apostolically are the Baouls, with the addition of
a certain number of Tagbanas, Burkinabs, and Malinks. In order to understand and to help
these holy people to live their faith, we must become immersed in their cultures so that the
celebrations that we are called upon to live with them will be places where they can encounter
God and their brothers and sisters. Therefore, we are attentive to the language that we use
to address the liturgical assemblies with which we live the Eucharistic Mystery. And we must
do that in order to avoid any disparity between the culture and the liturgy that we are living
together. We believe that what is important in every action of evangelization is the
development of a certain kind of creativity on our part as pastors and the invention of a
liturgical expression that faithfully translates the way in which our Baoul parishioners
experience the mystery of Christ. Whence the judicious choice of words, expressions, and
gestures to genuinely assist those Christians who are listening to us, be it in catechetical
assemblies, prayer gatherings, or liturgical settings.
In conclusion, my experiences as a priest over the past two years enable me to say that
language has an important place in the liturgy and that every Viatorian must make an effort
to learn the language and to espouse the culture of the people to whom we minister. It is
in this way that everyone will be, for those people, a genuine witness of the presence of
Christ and will help them to actively participate in liturgical gatherings.
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Language in liturgy
and in Catechesis
France Lepage
Canadian Associate

Does the language of the Church, especially in catechesis and in liturgy, escape from that
evolution? In that simple question, there are two words that intrigue me: catechesis and
liturgy. For me, catechesis is the experience of an encounter with the Jesus who became
human [and] therefore the experience of our faith in the risen Jesus Christ. Catechists,
therefore, must be well versed not only in theology, but also capable of expressing their
relationship with Jesus, both human and divine.
So the liturgy, for me, is more mystical and brings forth the question: To what extent do we
want the liturgy to be accessible to people? The dictionary definition of liturgy strikes me
as being a little bit unclear: public worship instituted by a church. I searched on the Web
under the rubric of liturgical theology. It is there that we find the marvelous nature of the
liturgy, which, as the Catechism reminds us, is divine worship, proclamation of the Gospel,
and charity in action (cf. CCC, No. 1070). It is God himself who acts and it is we who are
attracted by Gods action so as to be transformed in him.
All of us, at one time or another, have certainly heard people, young or not so young, reflecting
negatively, as they came out of church, that the language used in our churches has become
very difficult for mere mortals to understand. By virtue of deeply-ingrained habits, the
choice of words is not always the first concern for certain pastors.
In my work (since September, 2002) as a pastoral minister and as a youth catechist (responsible
for teaching the faith to children aged 0-17), language has been vitally important for me. I
want people to understand that I am preaching Jesus Christ today by using ordinary and
understandable words. The different levels of catechesis, besides being adapted in such a
way that parents and young people will recognize themselves, must also be reviewed at the
end of each year, since catechesis must be alive in order to remain contemporary.
In family celebrations, my preaching is enlivened by the young people and their participation.
In recent weeks, we have had to explain mercy to our young people. In doing so, we used
the theme of opening the door of mercy along with the text from Good Samaritan Sunday.
The dcor, therefore, consisted of a door and four keys with the words: astonishment (which
could be translated by wow), acceptance (translated by OK), presence (you are there),
and hope (prayer). While explaining, I asked the young people seated on the ground around
the altar what they understood from the text. Then I arrived at the locked door, which
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represents our attitudes with respect to certain situations while introducing the days parable.
How do we in our lives, like those priests and levites, cross over to the other side and ignore
the wounded? Is that because of their pride, their egoism, their racism, or their indifference
toward the unfortunate? By leaving the young people talk about what they do or do not
understand, I am able to better understand the text with them, since the text speaks to each
of us in a different way. I am confident that the Holy Spirit will guide me in my words. I
believe that the most important thing is to understand the audience and, since we always
have refreshments after our family celebrations, I try to see what the members of the
community have understood so that I can make any necessary adjustments. I do not want to
hear myself speaking, but to have the Word of God resounding loudly and clearly.
A Family Mass requires a great deal of preparation and I have the good fortune to be supported
by a brother from the Viatorian Community and by a team of catechists who share the same
vision of enabling young people to grow in their faith as they are capturing the essential part
of Gods message.
In closing, I would like to share some of the positive results of these catechetical journeys
over the fourteen years that I have spent with the Saint Beatrice Community. Many young
people and parents have become volunteers by serving as catechists, lectors, altar servers,
and Communion ministers or by accomplishing more manual tasks. For me, it has been a
grace to see families loving their Christian community and finding their place in it.
I hope that you will find in the foregoing lines my belief in giving the widest possible berth to
the Word that is alive in us through the Holy Spirit. That grace is given to us in baptism and
not through any great words of wisdom. Here are some photos.
Photo (previous page : Opening Mass

Toward the Gospel

Mass of Mercy
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Culture and language

in liturgy
Claudio Ros Saavedra, C.S.V.
Chile

Is the language of che Church, especially in catechesis and in liturgy,

exempt from todays cultyural evolution?

It is evident that our society has evolved in the fields of information and of the transmission
of knowledge through the intermediary of increasingly sophisticated social networks and
has today attained a degree of efficiency never previously experienced. However, does the
human quality correspond to that rhythm? It seems to be contradictory that, in a world that
has attained such technically advanced levels of simultaneous communication, isolation,
solitude, and individualism are more prevalent than ever before (cf. DA 35).
That is why, in our world, all those elements that constitute our very complex cultural reality
including, among other things, language, in its dimensions of both understanding and
transmission are perceived and projected by means that lack any unified meaning (cf. DA
36).
The evolution in communications (images, networks, technology, and so forth) has an impact
and facilitates the transmission of knowledge, sentiments, emotions, and experiences. But,
at the same time, is that evolution able to demonstrate the integral meaning of all the factors
that compose the reality? If we imagine a startling video about human poverty, does not
that video produce more than emotions in me? Does it not permit me to connect with
reality and invite me to practice greater solidarity (cf. DA 38)?
Today, in order to establish communications, it is indispensable to have the best and the
most specific information possible. Therefore, the lack of information is resolved by more
information, thus increasing the anxiety of the person who perceives the world in an opaque
and incomprehensible manner.
It is for that reason that many recent studies have maintained that these changes in the
cultural reality have created, potentially, a crisis of meaning that affects our entire culture,
including that very deep nucleus constituted by religious experience. What has resulted is a
situation in which it is very difficult to transmit religious meaning through education or
through the beauty of so many other cultural expressions (cf. DA 37).
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That is why to try to reduce this communication crisis in liturgical language to a public work,
to a service on the part of and on behalf of the people (Leitourgia, Leitos, Ergon) through the
use of any given language, means, or tendency, would be to err in our response to be made
to the problem at hand.
If we go to the root of this crisis of meaning, we will perhaps be able to discover certain
paths that throw light on our work as missionary disciples whose charism implies liturgical
experience.
On this subject, our Constitution (No. 8), when it says that we are to preach Jesus Christ and
his Gospel and to raise up communities where faith is lived, deepened, and celebrated,
provides us with a rule that I consider to be applicable to our questioning. Those words of
the Constitution mean that we are TO LIVE, TO DEEPEN, AND TO CELEBRATE!
Liturgy is Life!
We Christians need to share in Christ, to share in contemplating the one who has revealed to
us, in its mysteriousness, the fullness of the accomplishment of the human vocation and its
meaning. We must become docile disciples so that, by following Him, we can learn about
the dignity and the fullness of life. At the same time, we need to be marked with missionary
zeal so that, being at the heart of modern culture, we can project that unifying and complete
meaning of human life that neither science, nor politics, nor economics, nor any means of
communication can offer. In Christ, the word and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:30), culture
can once again re-discover its center and its depth and thus look at reality with the totality
of all its factors, discerning them in the light of the Gospel and giving each one of them its
place and appropriate dimension (cf. DA 43).
Liturgy Teaches and Helps to Discover
No one loves what he or she does not know. Above all, the authentic meaning of liturgy
cannot be reduced to rites or to ceremonies. As Pope Benedict XVI said in his opening discourse
at Aparecida: only the person who recognizes God knows the reality and can respond to it
in an adequate and genuinely human way.
Liturgy Celebrates
The various dimensions of life will always offer us reasons for celebrating. We celebrate
what is important in our lives; we invite other people to participate in a special event; we
invite people to celebrate together. Genuine celebrations are infused with life and are lifegiving. A celebration is the vital action par excellence wherein God becomes present by means
of love, joy, and friendship. We, as Christians, also look forward to a celebration as being an
action in our lives; we do that through family-like gatherings with those who constitute the
community and with the Risen Christ. What characterizes a celebration is the fact that
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everyone participates. All must be active participants in the celebration. The same thing
happens in the Eucharist: it is not only the priest who celebrates, but the celebration is the
task of everyone. We must fight against being passive; the assembly cannot be reduced to
questions and answers.
A celebration is a vital activity, a way of being that is inserted into reality and into our
relationship with reality. A person who has a festive spirit irradiates joy and a desire to live,
which in turn promote and create a festive atmosphere.
Is the language of the Church, especially in catechesis and in liturgy, exempt from todays
cultural evolution?
No, it cannot be exempt! As we mentioned previously, religious experience and everything
involved with it is part of the fundamental nucleus of the human person. But we must
remember that we are invited to evangelize culture and human cultures not superficially
as with a coat of varnish, but in a vital way that reaches down into the deepest roots (cf. EN
18-20).
In the field of liturgy, it is urgent that our educational work respond to the demands that are
being made of us. It is insofar as we are able to re-capture the true meaning of our missionary
vocation that each and every one of our actions, including catechesis and liturgy, will respond
to the proclamation of the Gospel of salvation (cf. CL 44).

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The importance

of language

in liturgy
in order
to help transmit the faith

scar Areitio Badiola

A teacher recently began his religion class by asking this question: Between a word and a
picture, which do you think is better? And he went on: A picture? A picture is worth more
than a thousand words, but a word suggests a thousand pictures.
The best, he concluded, is both of them together, as happens with reading, with watching
television, or with using the Internet. Words and images are not opposed to one another,
but complement and complete one another. The differences between words and images are
just as clear as between concepts and sensations. The universe of images is dynamic, while
the universe of words is static. Television puts more emphasis on sensory, visual, and auditory
gratification, while books promote reflection.
If words and images have something in common, it is that they are or can become symbols
of the encounter with the God of Jesus Christ.
It is clear that Christianity began by being a narrative community whose symbols were very
close at hand. However, contacts with the Greek world led it to lose its narrative innocence.
In the Greek culture, narration, identified with myths, remained submitted to reason, to
logos. What a shame that was, since Christianity is, above all, the narration, the announcing
of Good News!
,
The language of narration possesses a transformative force that we must re-discover. In the
philosophy of language, that is called the performing force and Pope Benedict XVI spoke of
that force in this way: That means that the Gospel is not only a communication of things
that a person can know, but a communication that implies facts and that changes life (Spe
Salvi, No. 2).
Jesus used very few concepts and many images, symbols, and metaphors. His language
suggests, attracts, fascinates, challenges, and encourages; it calls us to a new form of life that
is rooted in daily life. We can think of the sower who is accustomed to sowing seed here and
there, of the landowner who is looking for laborers in the town square, of the priest and
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levite who are traveling toward the Jerusalem temple, of young children running around, of
shepherds caring for their sheep. That is how Jesus spoke and that is the example that we
must follow in our celebrations, in our catechizing, in our churches, and on our streets. Life,
without embarrassment and without any complexes, must always be our starting point. Jesus
used language to suggest, to evoke, and to make it possible for Gods being to be present in
everyday life.
Nevertheless, in the majority of catechetical sessions and celebrations, language that is
conceptual, abstract, boring, and disconnected from life continues to dominate. It is curious
that liturgy, which is so symbolic, has let itself be taken over by so many words and concepts.
We must place new emphasis on the value of poems, personal testimonies, metaphors,
chants, hymns, affective greetings, and symbols when it comes time to speak about God.
Why symbols? Because they offer some very important traits for a religious experience.
Symbols are able to make what is absent, present; what is invisible, visible. Additionally, in
symbols, that which is signified transcends that which signifies. Thus, the lion is the symbol
of bravery; the cross, the symbol of Christianity; the flag, the symbol of the nation. What is
clear is that symbols express an indirect knowledge; symbols are mediums through which
other realities become present.
How are symbols to be used in the liturgy? If symbols are presented at the Offertory, for
example, they do not have to be explained. It is not a question of speaking about symbols,
but rather letting symbols speak for themselves. And if a commentary is made, it should
conform to the rule of the four Cs: clear, concise, concrete, and complete. An announcement
should draw attention to something, a preparation for and not a summary of the homily
or the readings that will be proclaimed. In many cases, it is more appropriate to use a symbol.
Symbols can also be incorporated into homilies, thus avoiding an abuse of words and of
concepts. Communications, especially today, take place with images, gestures, attitudes,
looks, voices, tones, and times of silence.
It is necessary that we integrate words and images, that we reconcile rationality and sensitivity,
that we present concepts with narratives and icons, that we speak with images. As Pope
Francis has written: An attractive image helps a message to become familiar, close, possible,
tied in with life. A successful image can help people like the message that is being transmitted,
[since] it awakens a desire and engages the will in the meaning of the Gospel. A good homily,
an old teacher once told me, must contain an idea, a sentiment, an image (Evangelii
Gaudium, No. 157).
The same can be said about catechesis. Today, we have available many books that contain
dynamic stories and narrations with drawings, images, and symbols that are very well adapted
to young people and their world. But those materials must be interpreted. At present, while
there are many writers in that field, there are very few good directors who know how to
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manage all those materials. The challenge is not to entertain young people, nor to bore
them, but indeed to truly evangelize them.
Besides having good materials, we must venture into the symbolic universes of children,
adolescents, and young people. We must become familiar with their favorite characters,
cartoons, and so forth. And, more than anything else, we must act in the way that they do.
We must enter into their world, pray as they do, discover their lived experiences and not
[just] doctrine. We must begin with life, with symbols, with their interests, with their concerns,
and with the discoveries that they make where they live. But when it comes
time to speak about God, attitudes are more important than pedagogical techniques. Being
close to them, gentle with them, knowing how to listen to them and to welcome them as
they are, calling them by their first name, knowing their dreams and what they want to
become, teaching them to be in solidarity and to share, not to be capricious nor egoistical
all of those are more important when speaking of the God of Jesus Christ than are the words
and concepts that we use.
But everything does not find its solution in symbols. Language corresponds to a form of
religious life. If there is no experience of faith, if the Gospel is not known, meditated upon,
and adopted, even if we change or modernize the symbols of liturgy or of catechesis, we will
obtain very little. It is in this sense that it is important to offer opportunities to meet Jesus.
In that way, by associating profound and life-giving experiences of persons with the symbols,
images, and words of the God of Jesus Christ, we will be able to help faith be communicated
in a more believable and meaningful way.

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