Fr. Alexander Roman sx
This Sunday is the solemnity of “Our Lord Jesus Christ Universal King”, this feast is designed to give special recognition to the dominion Christ our Lord has over all aspects of our universe and lives. This solemnity coincides with the last Sunday of the liturgical year.
Now begins the season In Makeni, where I have been living for more than a year and a half. When I checked my agenda, I saw that I had to prepare the homily for the celebration of “Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe." Then I wondered: what kind of communication Jesus Christ used to convey his message effectively in a context of different cultures?
For this homily I will take as references an article entitled: “Listening to the air” by Erin Meyer and the encyclical of Pope Francis: “Fratelli Tutti”.
If a kingdom is working well, it can be for two things: first, communication must be very good and, second, listening, good listening. From the king and the people of the kingdom it is important to reach a single understanding and give a good report of everything that has been done during the year. Communication is first thing it. Erin Meyer, was giving a lecture, where she was explaining the levels of communication to learn and to better understand different cultures. At that moment a Japanese man stood up and said: “In Japan, we implicitly learn, as we are growing up, to communicate between the lines and to listen between the lines when others are speaking. Communicating messages without saying them directly is a deep part of our culture, so deep that we do it without even realizing it. To give an example, every year in Japan there is a vote for the most popular new word. A few years ago, the word of the year was “KY.” It stands for kuuki yomenai, which means “one who cannot read the air”—in other words, a person sorely lacking the ability to read between the lines. In Japan if you can’t read the air, you are not a good listener.” (Erin Meyer)
For a Japanese it is very important to understand what is not said explicitly in a message. For example, in the first reading, Ezekiel presents the Lord in an oracle as the Shepherd of his people; the image of the shepherd is well known to the Israelites, and they understand what it means to them: it is something that gives security, hope and everyone yearns to be heard in their own language. Pope Francis says: We need to communicate with each other, to discover the gifts of each person, to promote that which unites us, and to regard our differences as an opportunity to grow in mutual respect. (FT 134). Our Xaverian Constitutions in 70 say: “it requires a cordial acceptance of this new world, a serious study of the local reality and the language attention to the particular urgencies of the mission…” (constitution 70). I think prophet Ezekiel is successful in his mission, because he knows very deeply the Israelite culture.
In the Gospel many very important images appear, but I am going to take the image where the Son of Man cares about the most vulnerable: "I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me." The Catholic Church translates this image with works of charity: If you want to go to heaven, you must practice works of charity. so also those who want to learn Japanese culture have to learn to listen to the air. Our king not only listens to the voice and the work of the little ones, he not only listens to the wind, but also listens to all creation, but the most important thing our King listens to, is the heart of the human being, and understands that man needs to be saved. Have a nice Sunday.
Fr. Alexander.
This Sunday is the solemnity of “Our Lord Jesus Christ Universal King”, this feast is designed to give special recognition to the dominion Christ our Lord has over all aspects of our universe and lives. This solemnity coincides with the last Sunday of the liturgical year.
Now begins the season In Makeni, where I have been living for more than a year and a half. When I checked my agenda, I saw that I had to prepare the homily for the celebration of “Our Lord Jesus Christ King of the Universe." Then I wondered: what kind of communication Jesus Christ used to convey his message effectively in a context of different cultures?
For this homily I will take as references an article entitled: “Listening to the air” by Erin Meyer and the encyclical of Pope Francis: “Fratelli Tutti”.
If a kingdom is working well, it can be for two things: first, communication must be very good and, second, listening, good listening. From the king and the people of the kingdom it is important to reach a single understanding and give a good report of everything that has been done during the year. Communication is first thing it. Erin Meyer, was giving a lecture, where she was explaining the levels of communication to learn and to better understand different cultures. At that moment a Japanese man stood up and said: “In Japan, we implicitly learn, as we are growing up, to communicate between the lines and to listen between the lines when others are speaking. Communicating messages without saying them directly is a deep part of our culture, so deep that we do it without even realizing it. To give an example, every year in Japan there is a vote for the most popular new word. A few years ago, the word of the year was “KY.” It stands for kuuki yomenai, which means “one who cannot read the air”—in other words, a person sorely lacking the ability to read between the lines. In Japan if you can’t read the air, you are not a good listener.” (Erin Meyer)
For a Japanese it is very important to understand what is not said explicitly in a message. For example, in the first reading, Ezekiel presents the Lord in an oracle as the Shepherd of his people; the image of the shepherd is well known to the Israelites, and they understand what it means to them: it is something that gives security, hope and everyone yearns to be heard in their own language. Pope Francis says: We need to communicate with each other, to discover the gifts of each person, to promote that which unites us, and to regard our differences as an opportunity to grow in mutual respect. (FT 134). Our Xaverian Constitutions in 70 say: “it requires a cordial acceptance of this new world, a serious study of the local reality and the language attention to the particular urgencies of the mission…” (constitution 70). I think prophet Ezekiel is successful in his mission, because he knows very deeply the Israelite culture.
In the Gospel many very important images appear, but I am going to take the image where the Son of Man cares about the most vulnerable: "I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me." The Catholic Church translates this image with works of charity: If you want to go to heaven, you must practice works of charity. so also those who want to learn Japanese culture have to learn to listen to the air. Our king not only listens to the voice and the work of the little ones, he not only listens to the wind, but also listens to all creation, but the most important thing our King listens to, is the heart of the human being, and understands that man needs to be saved. Have a nice Sunday.
Fr. Alexander.