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Celebration Of Catholic Liturgy Through The Lenses Of African Culture
Dr. Jarlath Uche Opara Jarlathuche@gmail.com
The thought started long ago, it got me thinking at some point, feeling the richness of that culture which its values can’t be questioned by any standard , the African culture .
Have you thought through the rich cultural heritage of Africa? Its top-notch sense of love, brotherhood, sacredness of life and deep sense of worship? If you have not, I urge you to spare some thoughts on it.
By doing that it would open a deeper and new vesta of knowledge of what valuable heritage left atrophy for a long time in Africa due to cultural and religious colonisation.
At creation God created us in his image and likeness. His spirit directing us on godly paths . Many of our fore fathers who never heard the Gospel of Jesus, lived a life one would say fore-shadowed the morals the good news of the scriptures epitomized.
Their lifestyles reflected in great dimension the summary of the commandments, love of God and love of neighbour.
Homogeneity is equally a culture so intrinsic in Africa culture, so also the deep sense of charity and hospitality.
The corporal works of mercy is integral too in African culture. Feeding the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, give shelter to travellers, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, and to bury the dead.
These were rooted in the African culture before the advent of Christianity. Even the slave trade was an infiltrated bussiness sense by the Europeans not an African cultural thing.
Yesterday during my Parish Harvest Thanksgiving celebration, the cultural dance displayed by Idoma, a community from Benue state set the church agog. Very energic dance with the rhythm and lyrics that made people hold their breath in awe and admiration. Imagine what the liturgical celebration would look like if the songs sang etc reflect nothing but the culture of our African heritage. The bread shared speaks deeply to our cuisine as Africans and the wine used on the Eucharistic altar the natural wine of African source and taste, taped from palm tree with its whitish colour, signifying purity.
Palm wine isn’t just a wine, it is a wine with natural ingredients that heal and restore vision. Imagine its substances etc which resonate with the very nature of Christ.
Imagine rendering songs that speak about God in a manner that people could easily relate with from their traditional backgrounds.
Though I have nothing against English or Latin songs, the truth is, there is this kind of uncensored feeling of palpable ecstacy when songs weaved with the raw of native dialect are sung than when rendered either in English or Latin. The latter comes with flamboyant words though may strike some deep spiritual chord but not as much as it would strike when rendered in vernacular.
Take it or leave it, Catholic liturgical celebration is more enjoyable with a deeper sense of concentration when rendered in vanacular. Think about the agog status the church assumes whenever Zumtamata choir animates any part of the liturgical celebration.
The atmosphere in the church is always charged with an unusual focal raptness until they are done and dusted.
I would want to see more of such energy in the liturgical celebration. Imagine having the “Ohafia dance”, the Anambra “Aku na echi enyi” dance, the Mbaise “Abigbo” dance, the Idoma and other cultural dance with deep cultural rhythm and lyrics animate the procession, the offertory and the recession of the liturgy. How awesome and alive the liturgy would be?
Imagine having ,Our Father, the Creed, Gloria etc render in warri pidgin. These are cultural flair that would no doubt give the liturgy the kind of uniqueness never seen before, while maintaining its sacredness.
I would want an altar designed and decorated in a way that showcases nothing but our deep cultural heritage.
Think about a Ciborum, Chalice etc made of calabash. Religion is cultural and for one to intimately get into it, the liturgy must be deliberate in showcasing the cultural values of the congregation.
Back to the root, dusting those traditional songs and practices that portray nothing but positivity, using them in a very unique way that would aid a better animation of the liturgy for full congregational participation and delight should be a deliberate project to be applauded.
In as much as one is not advocating for full scraping of English and Latin during liturgy, there is a way our culture can be weaved around them to achieve a unique liturgical celebration that would still project our culture and values , while upholding the sacredness and sanity of the liturgy .
I have said this before and would want to reiterate it again for emphasis, our forefathers before the advent of Christianity had a deep sense of worship, adoration and fellowship. They had a deep sense of God the almighty with an allegiance that was total and reverential. What the missionaries did was to write off all the religious practices of our fore fathers as paganistic. If the had taken time to understudy and understand the values, the sacredness and sanctity of what the branded paganism, we would have had a church that is home made, touching the very core of our cultural values without this tag and profile of them as paganistic.
It could be aggiornamento, it could be inculturation, it could equally be acculturation, whatever it is, the focus should be on trying to home grow our liturgy and spirituality to wear the comfortable garment of ones tradition and culture. By the way the church’ tradition as it is, was an adaption from a culture as seemingly paganistic as ours, but was adapted and improved upon. Ours can equally go through such process.
This uncensored yearning and predilection for anything foreign should be minimised. Jesus by the way is African!