is it really "just words?"

 

The Catholic Church has just changed it's Roman Missal...again, to more closely reflect the translation it had when the Mass was said in Latin. Words such as "consubstantial" flood the responses. Phrases such as "Father I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed" have been changed to "Father I am not worthy to have you in my house..."

Now...I much prefer the former to the latter. "I am not worthy to receive you." To me, this means to receive our Lord within my heart. To not be worthy to have Him in my house would, to me, imply that He is not worthy to enter to any or all that reside in my house. Do you see the confusion?

I think about Jesus who, when the scribes and Pharisees were always trying to trip Him up, would have a swift comeback that usually would silence them. To Him, as well as to me, I don't see how mere words will suffice. Oh yes, words can inspire or wound, depending on how they are used. But when one micropicks apart each and every little word and then tells the congregation that "this is YOUR response"....I am so sorry but I have NO idea what "consubstantial" means!!!! (Even my spell check is having a hard time with it!)

How can I be sincere when I don't even feel it within me to say it?

To me, being Catholic is also being catholic, small "c". It is being universal, which is what catholic is. You should be able to set foot in a Catholic Church in Ireland and know exactly what it is saying there as well as in the Philippines or France or anywhere. In this climate today where faith is such a fragile thing, do we really want to change words and thus, meanings? Or is it more important to do the Word of our Lord, rolling up our sleeves and getting in there, being an example of what Jesus was? Yes, Jesus was in the temple, teaching others. But He also taught by his own example, and He did it so very much better healing the sick and comforting the lonely. I don't think He used big words to do it. Thus His habit of telling parables. A parable is a story that is related to the audience's thinking, something they can relate to. Thus stories of sheep, shepherds, vineyards, wine, olive branches, etc. These things brought comfort to the people and created a bond, a form of trust. Once He had that trust, He could now be about His business and move on. To me, that is a very comforting thought.