Dilemma

It was raining rocks yesterday evening! Well... hailstones, to be exact. :-) But I didn't know it at that time because they were tiny and came down with the rain. It was the first major rainfall after so many months.

Meanwhile, I am preparing myself today for the Sunday's Mass celebration as I shall be the main celebrant and also giving the homily - and all this in Italian! I am in the midst of cracking my head with the translation of my English homily I done up the night before to the Italian version so that it won't sound totally gibberish to the congregation later.

As I reflect on this I am brought to consider a dilemma I am facing - nothing major, but a thought that nibbles at the back of my mind. As a priest celebrating any Mass, doing this in one's own language and culture is certainly an experience that is personal and for the congregation an engaging experience. You can just feel for what is going on and get in touch accordingly with the moment that is at hand - within the settings of the liturgical celebration, of course.

Since arriving here and still struggling with the language, this setting has become a little alien to follow and its flavour strangely abstract. Every morning, when we take turns to celebrate/concelebrate the liturgy, which is all in Italian, the whole celebration becomes somewhat remote and mechanical for me. I do make a point to be with the whole celebration, but whenever I say those prayers in Italian, I can't help but feel very mechanical about it all... :-P My brother priests may be going through that phase too. Most, if not all, of our Masses, are done in a manner that seems to want to get it over with it all. They and I have not acquired the expertise and intricacies of the language yet, to appreciate fully what we are always reminded to experience in a celebration such as this. *sigh*