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Does Language Really Matter in a Place of Worship


I have never witnessed such terrible behavior as I did today when I went for Mass at St. Pius Church Kamanahalli, Bangalore. The Kannada choir nearly hijacked the service by constantly singing in the local language. They refused to budge and when Mass was expected to begin at 09.30 they continued singing loudly in Kannada. Okay I get it, language is a touchy subject and people want a Mass in their own language, but that IS happening anyway. So, what is the problem? Most people who arrived for the English mass, were met with taunts of ‘See, the Anglo Indians have arrived’! Seriously, people not everyone wearing western clothes or desiring to participate at an English service is an Anglo Indian! If you so detest the English language, why communicate in the language and/or seek employment at places where English is a necessity? Perhaps it is time to change the discourse and concentrate on working at a place that only speaks the local language! I was sitting next to a couple of girls who were mocking the people coming in and making snide comments that the English mass was going to be a flop. Sorry, people, you forget that God does not cater to a particular crowd and/or language.

The police on duty were amazing and were on their toes to stop the madness from taking over. The nasty folk however went a step ahead and cut the wires so that the priest and the choir were not able to use the microphones. The people disrupting the solemnity of the holy Mass totally forgot about God and gave into their petty nature. Such behavior is not at all befitting of being a Catholic. Dialogue is imperative to achieve a tolerant outlook. We talk about intolerance in the country, how sad that this happens in a place of worship. The very basics of our Christian faith, is that we need to love our neighbor as ourselves. Singing and disrupting another mass does not qualify that one is peaceful. In fact, this pretty much says that the people who were going on this way were creating a new language – the language of discord.

All that I can say is that without the help of the police who controlled the disturbance, we may not have heard Mass today. We crib about the cops but let us remember that without them today, we would not have been able to hear mass in our parish in the language that we were wanted. A big high five to all the parishioners who stood by our parish priest because we gave peace a chance. God bless you! To the people who created chaos and disruption, all that I can say, is that with today being the beginning of Advent, you guys went a step ahead and created something weird for yourselves. We know better, because praise and worship does not have barriers.


XOXO

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