Putting Things in Perspective

Today at Mass many of the petitions I heard were about European immigration and Christians in the Middle East. Pray Tell has reported before on the dire circumstances of Christians in the Middle East, and today I felt the need to call our attention to the situation once again. Yesterday I read a report by Vatican Insider on the Monastery of St. George in Mosul. The monastery of St. George is one of many Christian churches that has come under attack from extremist forces.

The black ISIS flag now flies from the bell tower of the monastery. Statues have been overturned, sacred items taken, and murals daubed in paint. The Christian cemetery next to the monastery has been destroyed, but it appears that the monastery is still standing. However, this house of worship has now been turned into a den of thieves, as ISIS operates a detention facility out of the monastery.

Christians all over the world experience persecution or the prospect of death for holding their beliefs. Religious persecution, and the persecution of Christians in particular, is just one humanitarian cause being overlooked in our world today. With so many legitimate and ill-legitimate newsworthy events, it can be hard to keep things in perspective.

Here is what made the headlines today:

  • A shooting at a Tunisian museum
  • Iranian nuclear negotiations
  • Putin’s celebration of the first anniversary of Crimea’s return to Russia
  • Protests in Frankfurt over anti-austerity policies
  • Uber’s ban in Germany
  • and France’s consideration of a skinny model ban

With all the issues and non-issues the world is facing, it is easy to forget about our Christian brothers and sisters facing persecution.

Perhaps here at Pray Tell we are not much better, fighting over translations, the proper celebration of the liturgy, and the Pope’s Holy Thursday plans. While these are important issues, it is important that we keep them in perspective. We are lucky to live in countries where we are free to talk about our faith and the best way to express it. I think we often take that freedom for granted.

So as we converse with each other about liturgy, debate the quality of a given liturgical translation, and inquire about the next papal surprise, we should remember our Christian brothers and sisters who are less fortunate than us, for whom how the liturgy is celebrated is not as important as whether it will be celebrated at all. For me, part of keeping our liturgies grounded in reality and in social justice entails remembering how lucky we are to be celebrating them.

So please join me in keeping things in perspective, advocating for our Christian brothers and sisters being persecuted, taking concrete steps to relieve their pain, praying for them in their time of need, and creating liturgies that are rooted in social transformation.

Nathan Chase

Nathan P. Chase is Assistant Professor of Liturgical and Sacramental Theology at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, MO. He has contributed a number of articles to the field of liturgical studies, including pieces on liturgy in the early Church, initiation, the Eucharist, inculturation, and the Western Non-Roman Rites, in particular the Hispano-Mozarabic tradition. His first book The Homiliae Toletanae and the Theology of Lent and Easter was published in 2020. His second monograph, published in 2023, is titled The Anaphoral Tradition in the ‘Barcelona Papyrus.’

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3 responses to “Putting Things in Perspective”

  1. Jean Romains

    In all sincerity, thank you for the reality check. This year is the 25th anniversary of the “Pale Blue Dot” http://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/earth/pale-blue-dot.html

    Carl Sagan may have been an atheist, but he believed that we all have a responsibility to deal more kindly with one another. (What is unfortunate is that he also believed that “there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.” Let us all remain hopeful in our God.)

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  2. Doug O'Neill

    Thanks for this. Sometimes we become preoccupied with “first-world problems.” Rather than saying that liturgy is rooted in social transformation, I prefer to think that social transformation emanates from, and contributes to, the liturgy. Whether we are doing Gregorian propers or topical congregational song, if we are doing our jobs right and focusing on the gospel, then social justice will follow.

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  3. Doug O'Neill

    Related to this – there will soon come a time when English is the minority vernacular in American Catholicism. More and more professional jobs in music and liturgy are desiring Spanish language skills. For all the hand-wringing about the English Missal, the Spanish Missal and Lectionary are just as much, if not more, problematic, and there’s more opportunity to actually do something about it. There is the occasional comment regarding Spanish issues on this blog, but they tend to get overwhelmed by other things.
    I’m certainly no expert, and my Spanish skills are atrocious, but is it possible that we need to shift our priorities a bit?

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