Thomas Sunday, a missing "comma", and the Impact of Biblical Criticism on the Liturgy

I was struck today at Mass (EF) that the epistle was taken from 1 John-- and in particular the fifth chapter, verses 4-10.

Why is this so interesting, you may ask?

The key lies in verses 6-8, the only explicit reference to the unity of the Trinity in the whole of Scripture. In the Douay-Rheims, this verse is translated as

This is he that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ: not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit which testifieth, that Christ is the truth.  And there are three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. And there are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three are one.

Never heard of it? Not surprising. This line of Scripture is known as the Johannine Comma, and has been omitted from most modern Bibles.

For instance, here is the usually very reliable RSV, same verses:

This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the witness, because the Spirit is the truth. There are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.

Where is our reference to the Trinity?! It's gone!

Now, it is not my intention to enter into a whole exegesis of the tradition and modern Scripture scholarship on this particular verse-- it is enough to presume that there are variants in the manuscripts. The question is at what point did these variants enter the manuscripts, and what is the constant tradition of the Church regarding this text? Rather than giving a full exegesis, I'll simply be a good faithful Catholic, and defer to the judgment of Holy Mother Church on this particular matter.

The decree of the Holy Office, dated 13 January 1897 deals with the question of whether or not one can call into question the authenticity of the so-called "comma". Here is the text:

To the question: 'Whether it can safely be denied, or at least called into doubt that the text of St. john in the first epistle, chapter 5, verse 7, is authentic, which read as follows: 'And there are three that give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one?" -- the response was given on January 13, 1897: In the negative. (Denzinger 2198) 

Now, with the state of the question of the Comma resolved (that Catholics should indeed uphold the integrity of the passage), how does this impact the liturgy?

As I said in the beginning of this post, this was the reading of the Epistle at Mass today. It is retained in the Novus Ordo Missae for this feast in the year B cycle only. However, it seems that the folks who put together the new Lectionary did not want to make reference to the Triune God-- The verses for the reading stop at verse 6, and so avoid any possible controversy that may ensue over the greater issue, which is in fact the question of the official Latin text of the Lectionary, the Nova Vulgata, promulgated in 1979 and the product of a good bit of modern Scripture scholarship.

How is the use of the Nova Vulgata problematic, you may ask? Perhaps we should look to it to see the whole of the passage in question from 1 John:

Hic est, qui venit per aquam et sanguinem, Iesus Christus; non in aqua solum sed in aqua et in sanguine. Et Spiritus est, qui testificatur, quoniam Spiritus est veritas. Quia tres sunt, qui testificantur: Spiritus et aqua et sanguis; et hi tres in unum sunt.

Where is our key passage?! Even in the Nova Vulgata, the official liturgical Latin text of the Church, the reference to the Trinity (which was upheld by the Holy Office as a faithful transmission of the text) is missing from the text!

In contrast, the 1962 Missal, which is based upon the Clementine Vulgate of St. Jerome, has the text in its entirety:

Hic est, qui venit per aquam et sanguinem, Jesus Christus : non in aqua solum, sed in aqua et sanguine. Et Spiritus est, qui testificatur quoniam Christus est veritas. Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in cælo : Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus Sanctus: et hi tres unum sunt. Et tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in terra : spiritus, et aqua, et sanguis : et hi tres unum sunt.

Here, we finally see the full passage with the two sets of three who give testimony-- one in heaven, and one on earth, and which the Douay-Rheims sets out an accurate translation into English for us.

The title of this post makes the inference that the modern Biblical criticism has had an impact on the liturgy. In my studies, I can't help but observe a certain parallelism in the Historical-Critical movement and the Liturgical Movement in the 20th c., but here is the rub: if we believe in Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, then surely the texts of the Mass which we pray and the Scriptures which are proclaimed have an impact on what it is we profess and believe as Catholics.

And yet, where is our "Comma"? What a text! It was such an inspiration to hear and read the profession of the Trinity found in Scripture during the Mass today.

This verse used in the liturgy, or not, as it were, seems to highlight a number of difficulties which we need to reconcile in the faith and life of the Church today. In continuing to implement the Council, in particular the texts on the Word of God and on the Liturgy, we are utterly dependent upon those great traditions that were handed down to us, "whether by word of mouth or by letter", in order to ensure that what we are professing is in fact the Faith of the Church as constantly believed by the great Saints and Martyrs of our history. If we are to become Saints, then it is most beneficial for us to know and pray the same things which were believed and prayed by all of the other Saints, that by following their example, we too will be guided rightly in our lives of faith toward the heavenly liturgy.

On the Implementation of the New Missal...

I was reading through the USCCB's guide to Implementation of the New Missal yesterday. My colleague and I were talking about how a lot of the spin is really aimed at a small minority of the Faithful.

I predict that the new Missal translation is really not going to bother most of the congregation. A five minute talk at the end of Mass on why the new Missal (presumably not the week before), and then the new rules for translation (laid down in Liturgiam Authenticam) calling for a more literal rendering of the Latin, give an example of a new translation of a prayer, compared to an old one, and that should really do it (ex. go look up the collect for the 4th Sunday of Advent... it will blow your mind!).

Here's why I think that this is all it will take. A few weeks back, we were very blessed to host the kids from Wyoming Catholic College, who come every winter to do a week-long winter outdoor experience, and stay at the parish. Part of their week-long routine, of course, is the spiritual component. The campus chaplain comes along for the week, and offers daily Mass. The college has a weekly Mass in the Extraordinary Form, held on Wednesdays when school is in session.

Knowing this, and my own affinity toward the usus antiquior, I made arrangements for them to have the EF on the Wednesday of their stay here. I also invited several parishioners who had never attended a Mass in the traditional form, and we had all of our elementary school kids from the after school program come along, as well.

The response (from the parishioners) was overwhelmingly positive! Though they were a bit confused about some of the differences in the Mass (I had handouts available), they were simply blown away with the noble simplicity of the Roman Rite. It was nothing grand or fancy, just a simple Low Mass, but it truly elevated their hearts to contemplate Christ-- indeed, what Mass should do.This is exactly what the Council Fathers called for when they wrote of the desire for the faithful to engage in a "full, conscious, and active participation" in the Mass. Even our elementary school kids responded very well to it.

Similarly, over Christmas, we travelled home to MN, where we had the baptism of our new baby in the EF, and then a Missa Cantata afterward. All of our relatives, many whom had either not been to a "Tridentine Mass" since their childhood, or never at all, responded very positively.

Now, of course, there was some confusion, but in both circumstances, most all of the folks in attendance said that, with a little bit of repetition, they would be very comfortable with having it offered regularly, and in fact (in the case of the relatives), would love it as an alternative to the uninspiring, protestantized Masses they have access to currently (their diocese is not in very good shape at all).

Now, if good, faithful Catholics, who had never had any experience of the Extraordinary Form, can walk away from a much more complicated form of the Mass, and not know the responses, and still have an intensely personal encounter with Christ, then I don't think changing a few words of the Mass in English is going to be the end of the world.

Which brings me back to the USCCB's guide for implementation... Both myself and my colleague were confused as to why we really need to spend a whole YEAR working on implementation. As I read through the document, I couldn't help but notice the absence of reference to Redemptionis Sacramentum, the document from the CDWDS on abuses regarding the Eucharist. Also noteworthy in this handy guide was the blurring of roles of ministers involved in the Mass-- for example, the equating of an Acolyte and Lector with an altar server and reader. Presuming best intentions possible on the authors, perhaps they were trying to K.I.S.S.,  but still, though lay ministers can be used in the Mass, there is a lot of nuance in Church teaching on when, how, and why, and that should be noted.

The real reason, I think, that there is so much frenzy over this new missal is in the fact that there is still a wrong-headed notion of "active participation," especially among "liturgists," and so all of the effort is on mobilizing the troops, making sure we involve all of the lay ministries.

For "everyone else" (i.e, those not involved in liturgical ministries) it seemed as though the document was trying to do a PR campaign on the Mass to get them on board. Many of these liturgists say that we need to do this, especially in the wake of the new bout of clergy abuse, the people in the pews don't need more upheaval. And maybe there's a fair point-- the Mass, after all, should be a stabilizing factor in the life of a Catholic.

But as I said, I think all that really needs to happen is a short, 5-minute explanation on why, and then to simply allow the Faithful to pray... Indeed, what an opportunity for us to all think about what it is we are praying, perhaps even for the first time.

There were some really very good things in the guide, but I can't help but think as a whole it's a very "Americanist" approach to things.

My advice to anyone involved in implementation of the Missal... do catechesis on the Eucharist. Talk about why we would even bother to come to Mass at all, and whether it makes a difference, anyway. 

Talk about how the Incarnation, God becoming man, has changed everything-- and we can't turn back from that. Talk about how we experience this mystery, the Incarnation, every time we come to Mass.

Once we have had an authentic encounter with Christ, then the words, especially with a more accurate rendering of the prayers in Latin, simply lead us more deeply in to that very mystery. Work on that, and no-one is going to make a huge fuss over words like "consubstantial," or "ineffable".

If we start to cultivate a "eucharistic orientation," then everything else will fall in to place. This new missal is a start--  it's a big deal, but let's not make it a bigger deal than it is, and rather, focus our energies on other things, as well. Like what, you might ask? Well, Pope Benedict has quite a few suggestions...

UPDATE:

Many thanks to the good folks over at ThePulp.it for re-posting my blog. For those visiting, feel free to leave a comment in the combox-- my blog is pretty new, but I hope to be posting regularly about all sorts of things. I hope you'll check back in the future. God bless you, and prayers for you this day!

(For those who haven't found this great site, I'd highly recommend it, especially for those who don't have all day to browse all of the very good blogs and Catholic news sources out there)