When did the concept of diversity became so despised and rejected? Where in the simple command to love each other in the example of Christ is the restriction to only pray with those whose words exactly match yours, who sing the same songs and discuss only what is allowed? Over our history as a Christian people, we have not acted with great kindness to non-Christians. Tolerance and welcome come with spiritual maturity, perhaps. But more perplexing is the intolerance we direct toward each other. We are, after all, of one faith. We profess this emphatically at baptism. But then something goes wrong and some of us regrettably start hurling theological and liturgical hoarfrost, each side claiming to be the “true” church, staking claim to knowledge of the “sense” of one council or the other. Attitudes get out of control and power is abused, leading to such nonsense as banning songs with the word “diversity” in the text.

More troubling is the insistence on using language that is as unintelligible in English as it is in the Latin from which it is translated. Bishop Donald Trautman, chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy, spoke of his concern over the proposed changes in the liturgical translations by ICEL. He says that “the new translations do not adequately meet the liturgical needs of the average Catholic,” and he “expressed fears that the significant changes in the texts no longer reflect understandable English usage.” He feels that “the proposed changes of the people’s parts during the Mass will confuse the faithful … and will contribute to a greater number of departures from the Catholic Church” (remarks at the meeting of the Catholic Academy of Liturgy in Toronto, Canada [Jan. 4, 2007]). He may very well be right. Forcing uniformity on a diverse people may insure a more “pure” liturgy, but it will be a much poorer liturgy for the effort. God formed us as a people of many tongues with just as many ways of offering prayer. This diversity need not lead us to despair, nor should division necessarily be our undoing. We can be divided without necessarily being repressed and still celebrate “authentic liturgy.” We embody the light of Christ, and even when that light is divided it is not necessarily cast into darkness. History has taught us that much. Let us pray that Rome recalls that history.

Reflecting on that past and how we have been divided without being undone is George Gilmore. He takes us on a guided tour of diversity in theology through history and how disagreement need not always lead to violent dissent. Scott O’Brien discusses the evolution of liturgical piety and the nature of prayer as pure gift. This interpretation has sometimes dwelled in tension with the understanding of faith as obligation, another point of division. On a practical note, John Vogelpohl and Karen Kane-Vogelpohl share their expertise in the area of real flame. They offer their combined years of experience with candles, incense, and the new fire along with the ritual items that contain them. They literally help to keep the flame burning brightly. Considering some of the ways that it is possible to live an actively contemplative life amidst the bustle of the everyday world, I offer some examples of how to banish darkness by deliberately expecting the presence of God.

We are a tradition rich with powerful imagery, and the Easter candle offers us an abundance of meaning. The single flame lighted from the new fire is almost immediately divided, but this division spreads the light as each believer carries it to every dark corner of the world. That Easter light has a power that gives us the courage to not only welcome the flame of faith but accept and bear it on behalf of others. Increasing the light as it spreads, joining it to the eternal light borne by the communion of saints, we proclaim that this is the night when the chains of death are destroyed. In that light and in that company, surely diversity is no enemy.

Accept this Easter candle,
a flame divided but undimmed,
a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven
and continue bravely burning
to dispel the darkness of this night! ML

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