Mary van Balen

In today's online New York Times, columnist David Brooks wrote about Poetry in Everyday Life," an interesting reflection on the use of metaphor to "capture what is going on." I am in favor of metaphors. Of poetry, too. However, the new translation of the Roman Missal may be, shall I say, "throwing the baby out with the bath water."

In the same NYT edition, an unrelated article questions about the new translation are raised by priests around the globe. For New Mass, Closer to Latin, Critics Voice a Plain Objection."raises questions about what some proponents claim is a more poetic translation, one literally faithful to the older Latin Mass. Metaphors are indispensable, frequently used when human beings grapple with the Divine, but they must connect with those who read or hear them, and they must make sense in today's world. Read More 

PHOTO:MARY VAN BALEN
Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.”
Jn 7, 45-50

Something exists in the Roman Catholic Church called "sensus fidelium,” or “the sense of the faithful.” It is not something we hear much about, but it means that the affirmation of a particular doctrine or teaching being in keeping with the deep understanding of our faith is in keeping with the resides not only in the intellects and knowledge of theologians and church authorities, but also in the hearts of ordinary faithful Christians. Their acceptance of the teaching is evidenced by the incorporation of it into practice. When a doctrine or teaching is not accepted or when it is actively resisted the magisterium should review it: It may not be in keeping with our faith and experience of God, or the doctrine may have been poorly communicated, blurring the truth it attempts to express.

I am reminded of sensus fidelium when I hear the Pharisees question the temple police in this reading. Read More