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Inculturation
Dear Editor,
When I worked with the people of Sierra Leone, the need for inculturation in their liturgy
was obvious. Back in my own country where most of the people I work with grew up
Catholic, we tend to accept European liturgical traditions as our own and do not question
their appropriateness. I believe we need to take a close look at our American culture,
choosing the good and avoiding the bad when dealing with specific actions within our
liturgy.
The communion rite in its present practice contains several cultural dilemmas. First of all,
we are given the choice whether to share the Body of Christ by receiving in our hands or
on our tongues. In our culture(and in every other culture that I am aware of) only
infants and the disabled are fed by mouth by someone other than themselves. Within this
context, how can receiving communion on the tongue be more reverent than receiving it in
the hand? Since God made us with all our "2,000 parts," how can the tongue be more
worthy than the hand to receive the Body of Christ?
Perhaps a bigger issue is the form of bread that is used. In our culture, convenience is a
constant common concern, and fast food is often an everyday, readily available solution.
But neither convenience nor fast food has any rightful place in our liturgy. I love to
celebrate Mass in parishes where members have taken the time to bake the bread; it feels
like bread, it tastes like bread, it has the wonderful aroma of bread. No matter which kind
of hosts are purchased (big or small, white or whole wheat) they still feel like plastic, taste
a little less than bread, and smell like absolutely nothing. Taking the time to bake the bread
would be a big sacrifice in already busy lives. But Eucharist means nothing without
sacrifice.
During a recent liturgy committee meeting, one participant recommended genuflecting or
making the sign of the cross after sharing in communion as a sign of reverence. This
attitude suggests our cultural problem is lack of reverence in the total of our lives. Human
life is sacred. The act of eating food to nourish that life is sacred. Being fed Jesus' Body
and Blood sustains in an even more intense way our human lives. Genuflecting or making
the sign of the cross cannot make it more sacred. They are symbols of reverence that have
their place in liturgy, but if we add them to the communion rite, we need to understand
why we do it. A pious action added here may or may not help people recognize the
profundity of themselves becoming Christ by receiving him in the Eucharist.
Another cultural consideration is the time for communion ministers to share communion.
In our culture, it is impolite to put ourselves before others. The ministry of giving Christ
to others under the form of bread and wine is a great privilege, but I don't think that
entitles the ministers to share in communion first.
These are a few thoughts I've had about inculturation in the communion rite. I wonder
what others think about this and about inculturation in other parts of the liturgy.
Josephine Niemann, SSND
St. Louis, Mo.
What do YOU Think?
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or post an entry on the ML Current Issue
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—ML
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