Homily
Nicene Creed and the New Translation
30 October 2011
Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time
Malachi 1:14b-2:2b,8-10; Psalm 131:1,2,3; 1 Thessalonians 2:7b-9, 13; Matthew 23:1-12
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As I hope you all know by now, the English translation of the mass has
been revised and we will begin using it on the first Sunday of Advent.
‘Translation’: that’s the important word we need to keep in mind. We
call ourselves ‘Catholics’, but that’s a little imprecise. We are Roman
Catholics, that is, Catholics who follow the Roman Liturgical Rite. And
the native language of our Rite is Latin. It does not matter whether we
are personally native speakers of English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese,
Arabic, or any of the other languages heard in the Church, we are all
Roman Catholics and our mother tongue is Latin.
I appreciate celebrating our liturgy in English and, since I know very
little Latin, I think it’s wonderful that the Church permits us to translate
the Latin into the vernacular. But, the translation matters.
Almost every Sunday, we make our profession of faith, and almost every
Sunday we profess the Nicene Creed. It is a fundamental statement of
our beliefs, not only as Christians, but as Roman Catholics. And the
Church believes that our profession should be marked by a unity of
expression regardless of the tongue that speaks it. Careful translation is
very important in this case.
As I talk about the creed, you may want to refer to the cards in your
pews, especially if you haven’t yet read the new text.
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“Credo …”, begins the Latin. “I believe …” is the exact translation. It is the
form of the creed that is most personal and very baptismal in nature. An
individual profession, even when said together in community, makes us
take ownership of the Creed.
If you remember back to grade school, the Pledge of Allegiance is also a
personal profession: “I pledge allegiance ...”
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“Of all things seen and unseen” has also been made a little more precise
with the change to “visible and invisible”. Visible things can be unseen.
When I can’t find my ipod it’s because I can’t see it and I don’t
remember where I set it down. It’s still visible. If it were truly invisible,
I’d never find it.
Angels, on the other hand, are invisible.
We don’t see them -- even when they gather with us around the altar.
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The Christian insight that God is a Trinity of persons is the core belief of
our faith and the fundamental proclamation of the Creed. And the new
words “The Only Begotten Son of God, born of the father before all ages,”
professes that belief more precisely. Jesus was fully human. He began
life in the womb, as all of us do. He was fully divine as well, and existed
with the Father before time began. It’s not something we understand,
but it is a wonderful mystery and we need to proclaim it.
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I always chuckle and shake my head when I hear people get excited over
the change from “one in being” to “consubstantial”. They mean the same
thing, and both express what is, after all, a mystery. The word is not
difficult so say, or to spell, and I think we are all educated enough to deal
with it … but the idea behind it is quite hard to comprehend. There’s no
denying that.
In any case, the word consubstantial is also a Trinitarian term. The Latin
word is almost identical: consubstantialis, which means “of one
substance.” It, in turn, is a translation of the Greek word homoousios,
meaning "of the same kind of stuff as."
Behind the Greek term was one of the great controversies of the Church.
Centuries ago, people sacrificed everything to defend their belief in
Christ’s divinity against the Arian Heresy. Some bishops who defended
the idea were exiled, other people were attacked or lost property and
homes. Consubstantial: it’s a term I can live with, and I think I owe it to
those early Christians who fought the good fight against the heresy.
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Jesus was certainly born of the Virgin Mary. But his life didn’t begin with
his birth. Every mother knows that. Jesus’ life began some nine months
before he was born.
When the Father sent the Son to live with his people, he chose the very
way he used in his plan of creation. Jesus was conceived in Mary’s
womb. The preexistent Son took human form through the power of the
Holy Spirit. It was both miraculous and so ordinary.
There is an English Christmas carol that begins:
There is no rose of such virtue
As is the rose that bare Jesu;
For in this rose contained was
Heaven and earth in little space.
It describes the incarnation, which means “given flesh” and it’s what we
will declare when we say in a few weeks: “… by the power of the Holy
Spirit he was incarnate of the Virgin Mary.”
One of the great heresies of our time is the denial that human life begins
at conception. The new translation proclaims what we have always
known, … and what God affirmed in the incarnation of his only begotten
Son: life begins at conception.
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Here I am, only a third of the way through the Creed, and yet it’s time to
wrap up this homily, so even though I will skip some other changes,
allow me to jump to the end.
We presently conclude with the words “We look for the resurrection of
the dead, and the life of the world to come.” That’s a rather noncommittal statement. It’s true enough, but don’t you think it lacks
enthusiasm?
Our faith wouldn’t mean much if God became man, suffered death and
was buried and rose again on the third day, if that was the end of it and
nothing really changed. Everything that has happened in salvation
history was for our benefit, because God loves us. Jesus’s death and
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resurrection opened the gates of heaven for us once more. Death no
longer has the final word.
No one has said it better than the poet John Donne:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not …
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more.
“I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world
to come.” … Amen!
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The new translation of the Nicene Creed is very well done. We have a
strong creed and now we have a profound and more precise translation.
It is a profession of our faith that we can take to heart -- and to prayer.
Study it in the coming weeks and let’s profess it confidently and
enthusiastically this Advent.