Humor Mgr. I. Suharyo, Pr

Pernah dengar cerita Mgr. I. Suharyo, Pr, Uskup Keuskupan Agung Jakarta, yang ketika menyampaikan sambutan dalam sinode para uskup tahun 2012 di Vatikan membuat para uskup lain tertawa terbahak-bahak? Begitu lucunya sampai muncul istilah "heartfelt laughter" untuk mendeskripsikan bagaimana para uskup itu tertawa. 

Sambutan Mgr. I. Suharyo, Pr tidak panjang. Tidak lebih dari lima menit, sebab konon jika lebay, tepat pada menit kelima microphone akan dimatikan oleh operator. Sambutan beliau singkat saja. Yang menarik, alih-alih menggunakan bahasa teologis yang sulit dicerna akal budi, Mgr. I. Suharyo, Pr, menggunakan bahasa yang ringan, sederhana, dan mudah dipahami.

Berikut isi sambutannya. Kalau cermat, Anda pasti bisa menunjukkan bagian mana yang membuat audiens meledak dalam tawa.

I would like to share with you a simple experience I had during my visit to a parish where I met a local catechist.

I asked him, “How many catechumens do you have?”.

I was surprised to hear that he had more than ninety catechumens. It was quite a lot. I asked him further, “Have you ever asked your catechumens why they wish to be baptized into the Catholic Church?”.

He answered, “Many of them said that they were touched by the way Catholics pray during public events such as wedding feasts or funeral services”.

The prayers are so touching to their hearts, because in those occasions the invocations and benedictions are delivered in their vernacular mother tongue so that they readily understand the content, whereas before they usually heard prayers recited in a foreign language, as Muslims pray in Arabic.

The Church’s evangelizing activity is – as we all understand – an act of communication which entails two basic components, namely the communication content or message – God’s revelation and faith in Jesus Christ – and the communication medium – means and language within a faith community context.

As far as language is concerned, translating one liturgical text to another – and any text for that matter, often prompts us to face delicate challenges or even problems. There is on the one hand, the demand for literal translation. On the other hand, we all understand that literal translation is not always possible, because of the diversity and complexity of languages.

For example when the priest addresses the people, “Dominus vobiscum”, and the people are to reply “Et cum spiritu tuo”. The word “spiritus” as translated into “roh” in our language could readily evoke the idea of “evil spirit”, thus “et cum spiritu tuo” means for some communities “with your evil spirit”.

My wish – I hope that I am not alone – is that the translation of liturgical text ought not always to be done literally, rather seriously take into account the diversity of the cultural background.

Could the principle of subsidiarity be applied in the task of translation and even in other areas of the life of the local Church? – Subsidiarity being the spirit of Vatican II.

In this way we keep our “fidelity both to the message whose servants we are and to the people to whom we must transmit it”, (EN 4), particularly with respect to the young who live in a mass-media culture, the Church must strive to convey her message in a language that touches their hearts.

In this way, the local Church will become more communicative and expressive and as a result the faith of the people will be more energized and more relevant to their Catholic lives and engagement both in the Church and in the world.

Fine