SHALOM

Recently I had the opportunity to lead a workshop on how liturgy can benefit from some of the ideas used by theatrical directors. One discussion concerned the Rite of Peace and I was reminded that Jesus would probably have said "Shalom". 

That in turn reminded me of the song of that title from the show "Milk and Honey". You might find these lyrics useful and even want to teach the song to some of your parishioners. The song is simple enough that it might be possible to use a children's choir as part of your preaching [including applause for them], even though the song is a solo in the show.

Shalom, Shalom,
You'll find Shalom
The nicest greeting you know;
It means bonjour, salud, and skoal
And twice as much as hello.
It means a million lovely things,
Like “peace be yours,”
“Welcome home.”
And even when you say “goodbye,”
You say goodbye with Shalom.

It's a very useful word,
It can get you through the day;
All you really need to know,
You can hardly go wrong,
This is your home as long as you say:
Shalom,
The nicest greeting I know;
Shalom,
Means twice as much as hello.
It means a million lovely things,
Like “peace be yours,”
“Welcome home.”
And even when you say “goodbye,”
If your voice has
"I don't want to go" in it,
Say goodbye with a little "hello" in it,
And say goodbye with shalom.

“Milk and Honey”Music: Jerry Herman
Lyrics: Jerry Herman
Book: Don Appell
Premiere: Tuesday, October 10, 1961

THEO-BABBLE

"That 53-word sentence,

[The collect which follows the Isaiah 54 reading in the Easter Vigil
(Roman Missal, third edition, Vox Clara translation of 2010]

makes sense if one has the leisure to study it and perhaps to draw a diagram. But the person in the pew does not have that luxury. She or he will hear this prayer once a year at most. An individual word or phrase may ring a bell. But the essential meaning of the prayer will be lost. As an act of oral communication, a text such as this cannot but fail for the vast majority of Catholics. Like so many of the newly translated prayers, it will come across as theo-babble, holy nonsense."

Commonweal source article

I may adopt "theo-babble" instead of "glittering generalities" to describe sermons which deliver true statements without any application to living as a Christian in the present world.  


Some of those sermons are similar to MS-speak, where everything MicroSoft tells you on the screen is true but nothing is useful to you in solving the problem which brought up the screen.

The Homily  No. 65.
The homily is part of the Liturgy and is strongly recommended,63 for it is necessary for the nurturing of the Christian life. It should be an exposition of some aspect of the readings from Sacred Scripture or of another text from the Ordinary or from the Proper of the Mass of the day and should take into account both the mystery being celebrated and the particular needs of the listeners.


Number 391.
It is up to the Conferences of Bishops to provide for the translations of the biblical texts used in the celebration of Mass, exercising special care in this. For it is out of the Sacred Scripture that the readings are read and explained in the homily and that psalms are sung, and it is drawing upon the inspiration and spirit of Sacred Scripture that prayers, orations, and liturgical songs are fashioned in such a way that from them actions and signs derive their meaning.  Language should be used that can be grasped by the faithful and that is suitable for public proclamation, while maintaining those characteristics that are proper to the different ways of speaking used in the biblical books.

General Instructions of the Roman Missal [2002]