Make a Joyful Noise
The Sunday before Ascension, our church hosted the seven parishes of our 联谊堂区 liányì táng qū (cooperating church district) for our fifth annual combined Mass. This has always been celebrated during the Easter season and is offered to pray for vocations.
联谊沐洪恩，齐心助圣召
liányì mù hóng'ēn, qíxīn zhù shèng zhào
"In Fellowship receiving Grace, together to help vocations"
(I think. This was really hard for me to translate because I was unfamiliar with the use of the word 沐, which in the first online dictionary where I looked was defined as part of an expression meaning to wash one's hair. In my Pleco I found listed after "to bathe" and "to cleanse" the definition "to receive." I understood the gist of the banner, but my translation was much clumsier than that of a better student of Chinese.)
We weren't even inside the gate when we heard the drums beating. At first, I thought maybe the drums were coming from somewhere else, like the public park behind the church. But there they were in the large plaza between the gate and the church door. Not only drums, either, but 锣鼓 luógǔ, gongs and drums.
This was incredible. We were just so incredibly jazzed by this. The leader was just something to watch, using only two batons with colored fabric streamers to signal to the drums and gongs the changes.
I have a new goal, to join a Catholic 锣鼓 group.
The sanctuary was packed. There was even overflow seating outside, watching the Mass on the closed-circuit TV.
Our Mass was concelebrated by twelve priests and Bishop Li. We usually see him at a Mass at the seminary sometime during the spring and again in the fall. His presence only added to the
In his homily, I heard the Bishop talk about 圣召 shèng zhào, vocations. Fortunately I knew that vocations would be his main point. Otherwise, I would have been lost the second or third time he said, "圣召." As sometimes happens.
The Chinese words that Catholics use to mean "vocation," by the way, are really interesting to me. The two characters, 圣召, literally translated are "holy summon." In English we use a word that can be also have a secular meaning, as in having some internal drive or particular talent to pursue a profession. A person can have a vocation to be a teacher or a botanist. Vocations outside of the Church are 职业 zhíyè, an occupation. The way we distinguish in Chinese a genuine calling from God expresses what uniquely happens for priests, brothers, and sisters. There is no mistaking they are responding to something a little stronger than their own desire, 圣召.
After Mass, the 锣鼓 started up again. I thought maybe I was a bit ridiculous being so pumped-up by this, but everyone was clearly enthused, lingering until the drummers were done. It was a very hot almost-noon by then, and most of the visitors had arrived at our parish by chartered buses and had some distance to get back to their neighborhoods. Yet a large number of people remained until the 锣鼓 were completely done. Two of the priests from the other parishes even joined in on the drums.
Some seminarians distributed the latest issue of their in-house publication 天宴 Tiān yàn (Banquet of Heaven) and a prayer card commemorating the special Mass. On the reverse was the Chinese translation of a Prayer for Vocations by Pope John Paul II.
One thing I really love about my experience as a Catholic in China is that the special occasions never fail to be extraordinary. That Sunday was just one of those exceptional mornings that I wonder how on earth we got to be so blessed to witness it.
联谊沐洪恩，齐心助圣召
liányì mù hóng'ēn, qíxīn zhù shèng zhào
"In Fellowship receiving Grace, together to help vocations"
(I think. This was really hard for me to translate because I was unfamiliar with the use of the word 沐, which in the first online dictionary where I looked was defined as part of an expression meaning to wash one's hair. In my Pleco I found listed after "to bathe" and "to cleanse" the definition "to receive." I understood the gist of the banner, but my translation was much clumsier than that of a better student of Chinese.)
We weren't even inside the gate when we heard the drums beating. At first, I thought maybe the drums were coming from somewhere else, like the public park behind the church. But there they were in the large plaza between the gate and the church door. Not only drums, either, but 锣鼓 luógǔ, gongs and drums.
This was incredible. We were just so incredibly jazzed by this. The leader was just something to watch, using only two batons with colored fabric streamers to signal to the drums and gongs the changes.
I have a new goal, to join a Catholic 锣鼓 group.
Also before Mass a small band assembled from the seven parishes played a few hymns.
The sanctuary was packed. There was even overflow seating outside, watching the Mass on the closed-circuit TV.
Our Mass was concelebrated by twelve priests and Bishop Li. We usually see him at a Mass at the seminary sometime during the spring and again in the fall. His presence only added to the
In his homily, I heard the Bishop talk about 圣召 shèng zhào, vocations. Fortunately I knew that vocations would be his main point. Otherwise, I would have been lost the second or third time he said, "圣召." As sometimes happens.
The Chinese words that Catholics use to mean "vocation," by the way, are really interesting to me. The two characters, 圣召, literally translated are "holy summon." In English we use a word that can be also have a secular meaning, as in having some internal drive or particular talent to pursue a profession. A person can have a vocation to be a teacher or a botanist. Vocations outside of the Church are 职业 zhíyè, an occupation. The way we distinguish in Chinese a genuine calling from God expresses what uniquely happens for priests, brothers, and sisters. There is no mistaking they are responding to something a little stronger than their own desire, 圣召.
After Mass, the 锣鼓 started up again. I thought maybe I was a bit ridiculous being so pumped-up by this, but everyone was clearly enthused, lingering until the drummers were done. It was a very hot almost-noon by then, and most of the visitors had arrived at our parish by chartered buses and had some distance to get back to their neighborhoods. Yet a large number of people remained until the 锣鼓 were completely done. Two of the priests from the other parishes even joined in on the drums.
Some seminarians distributed the latest issue of their in-house publication 天宴 Tiān yàn (Banquet of Heaven) and a prayer card commemorating the special Mass. On the reverse was the Chinese translation of a Prayer for Vocations by Pope John Paul II.
One thing I really love about my experience as a Catholic in China is that the special occasions never fail to be extraordinary. That Sunday was just one of those exceptional mornings that I wonder how on earth we got to be so blessed to witness it.
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