Conference paper
Liturgy and words: contemporary context and possibilities
Pero Aračić
; Katolički bogoslovni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Teologija u Đakovu, Đakovo, Hrvatska
Abstract
In any public speech, we must consider whom we address and who we talk to. When it comes to the language of liturgy, it becomes even more complex, for participants are of different age, education and different level of motivation. In liturgy, we have to see if the rules applied in communication can be applied in preaching. This subject is treated in this paper within three different sections under the following titles: 1) Liturgical scene in Croatia and current issues; 2) Basic rules on preaching; 3) Introduction and conclusion to sermons. The first section brings the results of the investigation on dynamics of participation in liturgical gatherings, starting with regular liturgy on Sundays, and proceeding up to occasional liturgies. This brings about difficulties related to preaching itself. The second part of the article treats the basic approaches to preaching, which are faithfulness to God’s word, to people and to actual reality. The issue of communicative competence is particularly analysed in this section. The third part analyses the question of structure of a sermon, especially its introduction and conclusion. The additional problem of the language of liturgy and liturgy from the aspect of rhetoric consists in the fact that the verbal has prevailed over the other elements of liturgy, although language is not the strongest means of communication. If we measured the proportion of use of different elements in liturgy, we would see that more than half of the celebration consists of the verbal component.
Keywords
Preaching; preparation; faithfulness to the Holy Scripture and people; introduction and conclusion of sermons
Hrčak ID:
40193
URI
Publication date:
30.6.2003.
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