I attended a college commencement ceremony recently. The event involved approximately 2000 graduate and undergraduate students and it was held at a football stadium. The event featured a mistress of ceremony (MC). Besides providing a general sense of what was to happen, the MC spoke during \/ over the music accompanying the opening procession. She informed those of us who had assembled that the faculty marshal studied endocrinology. She described the symbols of the presidential office that were in the procession. She talked about the university seal and its motto. She briefly described some of the accomplishments of the commencement speaker. She identified by office each of the different deans and vice presidents in the procession.<\/p>\n
Perhaps she was given a text from which to read or maybe she was speaking extemporaneously. In either case, the drone of words undercut the elegance and dignity of the procession which, of course, speaks without words in a language all its own. Nor was the MC the only one who over-spoke. During the ceremony, persons who were called up on to perform functions (e.g., to present the students for the conferral of degrees) departed from their function to talk to the students about what their education can or should mean for their future.<\/p>\n
A basic dictum of ritual theory holds that there is a time for speaking and a time for silence\u2014or at least a time that should pass without spoken words. Though there are unfortunate exceptions, generally speaking the Catholic liturgies I attend observe the dictum. Still, I would hope to have more silence between \u201cLet us pray\u201d and the beginning of a prayer, more silence between the first reading and the psalm, between the psalm and the second reading, and between the second reading and the gospel. And more silence after communion to ponder what Katharine Harmon has described as the \u201clong moment of consecration,\u201d a \u201cmetaphor for our long pilgrimage toward the Christ-life\u201d to which we commit ourselves again and again when we say our \u201cAmen\u201d to the Body of Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A basic dictum of ritual theory holds that there is a time for speaking and a time for silence\u2014or at least a time that should pass without spoken words. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[17,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liturgical-spirituality","category-presiding"],"yoast_head":"\n