Words Matter
I worked at CNN at a time when Ted Turner had an active role in the network’s day-to-day operations. His involvement in global affairs prompted him to issue a decree that no employee should ever use the word “foreigner,” either in news copy or in conversation. He believed “foreigner” had carried negative connotations. Instead, we were to use more politically correct terminology such as “international visitors.” Turner knew the power of words and believed how we spoke about people determined how we thought about them. He believed that not using “foreigner” would broaden our perspective and that of our viewers.
Those who translated the 3rd edition of the New Roman Missal also know the power of words and believe that how we speak about God in the liturgy will determine how we think about God. Therefore, there will be many words and phrases in the revised translation that we don’t hear every day. Here’s a glimpse of a few of them, and their meanings, as defined by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:
Consubstantial: The belief, articulated in the Nicene Creed, about the relationship of the Father and the Son that “in the Father and with the Father, the Son is one and the same God.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 262).
Incarnate: The Son of God assumed human nature and became man by being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The use of this term in the Nicene Creed means that Jesus’ birth has a significance beyond that of any other human birth.
Only-Begotten Son: This title “signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God his Father." This phrase is found in both the Gloria and in the Nicene Creed.
Let us pray that as these words will help broaden our own perspective of a God whom we could never call “foreign.” AMEN.
