Absolutizing the relative

Some years ago, hearing that there was no resident priest in a certain municipality, I volunteered to go there and officiate at the Holly Week services. That was my first visit to that pueblo, and I found the people friendly and hospitable. But I ran into a problem on Good Friday.

I had heard confessions on Holy Thursday, and it was announced that I would also hear confessions all morning on Good Friday from 8 to 12. Many people came, both from the pueblo itself and from the hills.

We started with confessions promptly at 8:00 a.m. on Good Friday, and there was a steady stream of penitents. But shortly before 9:00 a small group (mostly women) came into the church to recite their traditional prayers. They said them in a loud voice, interspersed with many hymns sung at the top of their voices.

The church was not large and the singing made confessions impossible. Priest and penitent could not hear each other.

I sent word to the group, asking that they omit the singing, and to recite the prayers in a lower voice. Back came the answer: it was impossible to make any change; they must recite and sing as they were accustomed to do. Tradition must be followed.

I sent a more urgent message. "Tell them the priest begs them to omit the singing." (Naghangyo ang pari.) Back came the same answer: "Impossible. Tradition must be followed."

I sent a third message, this time strongly wordd: "Tell them the priest order them to omit the singing." (Nagsugo ang pari.) Back came the same answer: "Impossible. The traditional way must be followed."

Confessions were impossible under those conditions. I told the long line of penitents that I was sorry but confessions were impossible.

That incident of course was unusual. I don’t think the people of any other town in the Philippines would refuse to obey the priest in such circumstances. But the incident is an example of a fairly common occurrence, both in the Gospels and in real life – namely, the tendency to absolutize things that are merely relative.

In 1962 during the first session of Vatican II, the great debate concerned the language of the liturgy. For enarly 2,000 years the Mass and other sacraments were celebrated in Latin. It was proposed to allow their celebration in the vernacular languages. The traditionalists were horrified. Latin (they said) must be kept at all costs. The Church would disintegrate (they said) if Latin was replaced by other languages.

The Mass had been celebrated in Latin because for many centuries Latin was the common language of Europe. Learned people still spoke Latin. Copernicus, Linnaeus, Newton and other scientists wrote their scientific treatises in Latin. But by the 20th century many people no longer understood Latin. It was important that the liturgy be celebrated in a language the people understood.

There is an incident in Robert Bolt’s play A Man for All Seasons in which the Spanish ambassador says of Latin, "It is good to hear again this holy language." Thomas More replies, "Latin is not holy. It is merely old." Thomas More spoke and wrote Latin. He was a well-known humanist. But he did not absolutize Latin. He recognized its purely relative value.