A SHORT LIST OF KEY TERMS
INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC
TRADITION
KEY TERMS
 WORDS
ARE REALLY SOUNDS
 LANGUAGES ARE SYSTEMS OF
SOUNDS
 WE USE THESE SOUNDS TO CAPTURE
EXPERIENCE
 BY SHARING THESE SOUNDS, WE CAN
SHARE OUR EXPERIENCE
 DIFFERENT CULTURES EXPRESS
THEIR EXPERIENCE DIFFERENTLY
METAPHOR
Meta-pharein
 Meta- “after,” “beyond”
 Pharein- “to carry”
 “Meta-pharein” has the sense two people
carrying something over a distance
 Hence, shared experience
METAPHOR
SHARING EXPERIENCE
OR
TRANSLATING ONE KIND OF
EXPERIENCE INTO ANOTHER KIND OF
EXPERIENCE
“CATHOLIC”
 REGISTERS
AN ANCIENT GREEK
EXPERIENCE
 KATA-HOLIKOS


“kata”- a preposition that is roughly equivalent
to the English “through” or “through-out” (or
“together with”
An example: “kata Johannen” meaning (the
good news) “through John.”
“Catholic”
“holos, holikos”
- a noun meaning, the
whole (world), everything,
all

“catholic”
 Jesus
went around the “whole” of Galilee
teaching (Mt 4.23)
 A woman took yeast and mixed it with
three measures of flour until the "whole”
was leavened (Mt 13.33)
 (Jesus’) reputation spread through the
“whole” of the countryside (Lk 4.14)
 (the official) and his “whole” household
believed (Jn 4.53)
“UNIVERSAL”?
 REGISTERS
AN ANCIENT LATIN
EXPERIENCE
 “uni- “- a prefix indicating singularity “one”
(unum)
 “vers-al-is” from vertere, “to turn”
(NB: “vertigo,” “ad-vert” “con-vert” “converse”
 Like
a circle inscribed by a geometer’s
compass, it suggests “to turn as one:
“uni-verse” “uni-form”
TWO HISTORICAL
APPROACHES
GREEK kata-holike
(catholic)






Through the whole
Permeating
Limited only by
medium
Process oriented
Fluid, growing
Living
LATIN: universalis
(universal)






Turning as one
Enclosing
Boundary separates
in/out
Content oriented
Static, fixed
Defined
“TRADITION”
A
LATIN WORD
 GREEK SIMILARS:
 Para-dosis/ para-didomi : “to put, hand
over, allow, grant, offer, share” (Mt 11.27,
25.14,20,22; Rom 5.15, 6.17; 2 Th 2.15, 3.6)

para-theke/ para-tithemi: “to put, lay
(upon, up, in), entrust, commit (maintain,
preserve)”
(1 Tim 1.18, 6.20; 2 Tim 1.12, 14, 2.2)
“TRADITION”
LATIN: trans-dare, tradere,
traditio
trans: prefix “across”
dare: verb “to give”
“To give over or across” (time or
space)
“TRADITION AS --”
A VARIETY OF WAYS THE WORD IS
USED OR UNDERSTOOD
TRADITION AS—
1. LORE
Vestigial relics of a disappearing past as
opposed to the contemporary or modern; the
enemy of progress
“TRADITION AS--”
2. CONTENT (MATTER)


Accumulated material inherited from the past, usually
accompanied by an attitude (+ or -);
What has been passed on in fixed form
(birthday cake; Christmas tree; Thanksgiving turkey
3. PROCESS OF INHERITING/RECEIVING (ACT)
The act (or acts) of inheriting, cultivating, transferring,
practicing, performing
(baking the cake, buying the tree, cooking the turkey)

“TRADITION”
4. THE MEANS OF PASSING ON (FORM)
The techniques by which one passes on or
receives
(using Grandma’s recipe, putting on the
decorations)

5. CANON (A COLLECTION OF…)



Recognized, authorized, normative, official
content to be passed on or received
Guaranteed by history, long practice
Opposed to innovation, fashion, idiosyncrasy
“TRADITION AS BODY”
6. EMBODIMENT (MODE OF PRESENCE
IN)
 The Universe: 16 Billion Years

If 1” = 1 million years: 1331 feet
 The

Earth: 4.5 Billion Years
If 1” = 1 million years: 375 feet
“TRADITION AS BODY”
The material in our bodies is






16 billion years old
The elements developed almost instantly
The have been evolving ever since
The are billions of galaxies
The Universe continues to expand
Completely replaced every 7 years
“TRADITION AS BODY”
Genetically speaking—
 Each of us embodies the
unbroken chain of DNA of our
ancestors
 Yet each of us is unique:
I am not my grandfather
 This is not my grandfather's body

“TRADITION AS--”
7. EXPERIENCE:
Ability to enter into the experience
of our ancestors
sensation-perception-interpretation
language-culture-art-history
“TRADITION AS--”
– “not-forgetting”
 RE-MEMBERING
 RE-CALLING (to mind)
 RE-COLLECTING
 RE-CORDING (lit. “re-heart-ing”)
 RE-TELLING
 RE-PEAT (“to go to again”)
 AN-AMNESIS
“DOXA/GLORIA/GLORY”
The manifest-ation, manifesting of (God’s) creative
power:
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of
power and might. Heaven and
Earth are full of your glory.”
“Give glory to God”
“Ad Maioram Dei Gloriam”
Greek: Soter/ soteria / sozo (“cure,”
“make healthy”
(hagios= “holy” power-ful)
Latin: Salus / Salvus (“salve,”
German: Heil, Heilige
Anglo-Saxon: Hal, Halig
 [Hosanna!
(Aram.) = “save now”]
 Salvation, save, salud, salutary
 Health, healthy, holy, whole, hale
 Wealth, wealthy, (common-)weal
LATIN
SALUS, SALVUS,
SALVARE:
“save,” “salvation,” “safety,”
“salutation,” “salute,” “salve”
 Spanish: “salud”

GERMAN
HEIL, HEILIGE
“hail,” “health, “holy”
ANGLO-SAXON
HAL, HALIG
“health, hale, holy, wealth, weal, whole
KEY PROCESS WORDS
 KERYGMA,
KERYGMATIC
 Proclamation, invitation
 CATECHESIS
 Instruction for practice, experience
 THEOLOGY
 Explanation; search for
understanding
KEY PROCESS WORDS
 KERYGMA-CATECHESIS-THEOLOGY
 ONGOING
ENCOUNTER
 FRIENDSHIP
(EXAMPLE)