Some years ago, a couple of cradle Catholics I knew visited our Anglican Use parish. Both commented on how much it reminded them of Mass when they were young. Of course, it wasn’t anything like the old Mass: it was in English, the hymns were from protestant traditions, the Rite II liturgy itself was virtually identical to a Novus Ordo, except for using the Roman Canon. It was the spirit of worship, however, and the focus on God, not the gathered community, that they experienced. That’s what all this furor is about, not English. It’s the meaning of worship, not the form, at the heart of this debate.
Maybe we should use 1611 English. I remember hearing a radio preacher telling his on-air congregation that the King James Bible was the only proper Bible because it was the Bible that Paul and Jesus used.
In the days of the Soviet Union, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi was walking along the street saying his prayers in Hebrew, when he was stopped by a Soviet soldier:
“Hey, old man, why are you bothering with that dead language? Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?”
“well, sir, you see, I’m praying in Hebrew, because that is the language of heaven. So at the end of my life, when I go to heaven, I will be able to converse with the Lord and the angels.”
Some years ago, a couple of cradle Catholics I knew visited our Anglican Use parish. Both commented on how much it reminded them of Mass when they were young. Of course, it wasn’t anything like the old Mass: it was in English, the hymns were from protestant traditions, the Rite II liturgy itself was virtually identical to a Novus Ordo, except for using the Roman Canon. It was the spirit of worship, however, and the focus on God, not the gathered community, that they experienced. That’s what all this furor is about, not English. It’s the meaning of worship, not the form, at the heart of this debate.
I agree with Words Matter.
However, I used to tell my Gaelic students that sibilant and melodious Scottish Gaelic was the language spoken in Heaven.
Maybe we should use 1611 English. I remember hearing a radio preacher telling his on-air congregation that the King James Bible was the only proper Bible because it was the Bible that Paul and Jesus used.
In the days of the Soviet Union, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi was walking along the street saying his prayers in Hebrew, when he was stopped by a Soviet soldier:
“Hey, old man, why are you bothering with that dead language? Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?”
“well, sir, you see, I’m praying in Hebrew, because that is the language of heaven. So at the end of my life, when I go to heaven, I will be able to converse with the Lord and the angels.”
“Heaven! Well, what if you go to hell?”
“in that case, I already know Russian.”