ACCENT REDUCTION AS A MISSIONARY RESPONSIBILITY

Posted on August 13, 2024 by franksantucci

I take occasion in speaking of this to recommend that you greatly insist on our Canadian Fathers, correcting their accent and taking as a model the pronunciation of the English with whom they live. They are young enough to succeed in this if they willingly pay attention to this matter. How many of our people from the provinces have corrected their accent while living at Paris.

Letter to Bp. Bruno Guigues, 15 September 1848, EO I n 102.

The zeal of the Missionary Oblates knew no limits. Yet it was not sufficient to dive headlong into a missionary situation – one had to be prepared and the learning of the language of the people was essential. Here Eugene adds the important element that is was not sufficient to know the grammar and vocabulary of a language, but that the missionaries had to learn the pronunciation of the language as it was used by the local population.

REFLECTION

We Oblates pride ourselves on “being close to the people.” In these days of international multi-cultural communities we prove that we have a genuine love and concern for the people we minister to when we take the trouble to immerse ourselves in their cultural expressions to the best of our abilities. People judge us according to our goodwill when we show that we are trying our best.

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1 Response to ACCENT REDUCTION AS A MISSIONARY RESPONSIBILITY

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Lay Oblate Associate says:
    August 13, 2024 at 13:43

    Sometimes there there can be an arrogance towards others who do not understand our version of the language, or may be a fear that we might appear ignorant or uneducated because we don’t understand what the other might be saying.
    I marvel and thank God for people like St. Eugene who demanded not from a perspective of power, but rather of love as we greet and share with each other and with all we meet.

    I am reminded of the invitation to come and learn who we are in the eyes of God. If we love and see through the eyes of the crucified Saviour – then we will see and become loving. How we treat all others will depend on how truly we love them, respect them… We need only think of Eugene’s beautiful 1st Lenten Homily in the church of the Madeleine as spoke to some of the most abandoned in French society.
    For all of us who are sent; whether it be to our brothers and sisters, those we teach, those we walk with, those we love…

    A light comes on, emanating from my heart as Chiara’s words take on a deeper and lived reality: “Like another Eucharist, let yourself ‘be eaten’ by your neighbors.” This is who we are meant to be. That is the gift of evangelization. We speak the language of all those we are sent to share our hearts with. It is then that we are able to recognize and realise the beauty and dignity of all.

    Reply

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