My first class in grad school was a summer seminar on Romans, taught by a scholar who had spent his entire academic career studying this one book of the Bible. Yikes! I had been accepted to the program on a provisional basis, since I didn't have a background in theology. To boot, I had only been Catholic for a few years and was still "learning the lingo" as they say. It didn't help that beginning grad school commenced with one of the worst depressions I had experienced. It was so bad that my mother had to pick me up from my apartment once a week and drive me to class while waiting in the commons for me to finish. Every night I had to go home and look words up in the dictionary just to keep my head above water. I finished out the class with an A-. It was to be the beginning of an arduous five year period of grinding through the program while feeling like a complete outsider that didn't speak the language.
I had moved to Philly from Harrisburg, where I worked and ministered in one of the roughest parts of the city, Allison Hill. My neighbors were the drug addicted, the dealers, the working girls. I remember one morning after Mass a young seminarian assigned at the parish across the street was in our rowhouse kitchen; his lexicon was composed almost exclusively of what we would call "church speak." I knew what a "trick," an "eight-ball," and a "john" were, but I didn't know what we he was talking about when he referenced an "alb" or a "ciborium." He was a nice guy, but from a different world.
As Catholics, we tend to seek out and fall in with our own. Like many cultures, we have our own lexicon we sometimes use as proving ground to show how Catholic we are. Msgr Pope has a great post on this here, where he notes,
"One time I proudly announced, “RCIA classes will begin next week, so if you know anyone who is interested in attending please fill out an information card on the table just outside the sacristy door.” I thought I’d been perfectly clear, but then a new member approached me after Mass to inquire about the availability of classes to become Catholic and when they would begin. Wondering if she’d forgotten the announcement I reminded her what I had said about RCIA classes. She looked at me blankly. “Oh,” I said, “Let me explain what I mean by RCIA.” After I did so, I mentioned that she could pick up a flyer over by the sacristy door. Again I got a blank stare, followed by the question “What’s a sacristy?” Did I dare tell her that the classes would be held in the rectory?"
The problem with this kind of "insider baseball" is that it can insulate us from the challenging work of sharing the Good News and making disciples of all nations. Those nations may be pagan, and they may be the places "where men fear to tread" because they are so foreign. In John 4 we see Jesus "had to go through Samaria" (Jn 4:4). He took the direct route north from Jerusalem to Galilee through Samaria, in contrast to most Jews who took the longer, indirect route east of the River Jordan through Peraea because of their hatred for the Samaritans. When I would visit clients for work when I lived in the city, I would cut across the most dangerous parts of the city on my bike because I didn't think to take a roundabout route. As a result, I had a lot of "encounters" that helped open my eyes to an societal underbelly where the Son of God is desperately needed but seen as a foreigner who would never deign to enter into this world if he knew what was good for him.
These places had their own language, their own lexicon, their own code of conduct. I read a lot of spiritual and churchy books, but I try not to limit myself either. One of these underbelly books I would like to read is Pimp written by a man who went by the moniker Iceberg Slim. Without glorifying or apologizing, he details his foray into and decades as a pimp in Chicago. It's a savage world that most of us cannot imagine. Because this was "his world" he writes in a way that many people would have to decipher, the way I would look up church words in the dictionary each night that first summer of grad school. As a result, he includes a "Glossary of Terms" he uses throughout the book. I thought it was interesting to contrast a sample of his gangster lexicon with the 'church speak' we commonly use as reputable Catholics. I'll include a truncated version of each at the bottom of this post.
The thing is, those who most desperately need the grace of God and the ransoming blood of Christ are those often most alienated by the spaces in which they can receive it. The Inquirer ran a story a few years ago about the infamous Kensington section of Philadelphia, and the abandoned churches there. If you've ever been there, it's like a scene from the Walking Dead--a former working class neighborhood that is now Philadelphia's largest open air heroin market. Even for those in the depths of addiction, there is a recognition of the divine and the sacred--even if it feels like a place far, far away:
"Day and night addicted people come and go by the dozens through once-boarded windows. Some get high and collapse onto mattresses. Some come looking for prostitutes. Others have made it a home. Even in the depths of addiction, they are drawn to the familiar, the normal. First, a library lawn, now a church.
"I know it's probably not the right thing to do," said Josh Green, who is 28 and originally from Kensington. For three months he has been sleeping on blankets in the filth of a lower church office. "But I honestly feel a little more comfortable because I know I am in God's house."
They talked of the church as a safe place – a place they show respect. As proof, Steven said, they rarely shoot up in the main church.
"We wouldn't disrespect it," he said, squeezing his fist tight and injecting his forearm, before falling back onto a mattress."
Across the hall, in what looked to be a former devotional chapel, someone had spray-painted a plea: "Forgive me, father, for my sins."
A former seminarian I used to be friends with and I used to park our cars at the Cathedral in Center City and set off on foot to the "tent cities" with bottles of water and rosaries/Miraculous Medals. We would sit with those on the streets and they would invite us into the "vestibule" of their homes. We would listen to their stories--of struggle and hurt, but also hope--and pray for and with them. That's it. Maybe this is the "field hospital" church that Pope Francis encourages us to be a part of.
One of the greatest thing about charity (love) is that it is a universal language. When we use street talk or church speak, we confine ourselves to our respective worlds and populations. But the Son of God came into the world not to condemn it, but that the world through him might be saved (Jn 3:17), as a ransom for many (Mk 10:45). As our Lord said, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick (Mk 2:17).
GLOSSARY
APPLE, New York City
BANG, injection of narcotics
BEEF, criminal complaint
BELL, notoriety connected to one’s name
BILL, a hundred dollars
BIT, prison term
BITE, price
BLACK GUNION, powerful, thick, dark, gummy marijuana
BOO KOOS, plenty
BOOSTER, shoplifter
BOSS, very good, excellent
BOTTOM WOMAN, pimp’s main woman, his foundation
BOY, heroin
BREAKING LUCK, a whore’s first trick of working day
BRIGHT, morning
BULL SCARE, blustering bluff
BUSTED, arrested and/or convicted
C, cocaine
CANNON, pickpocket
CAN, derriere
CAP, a small glycerin container for drugs
CHILI PIMP, small-time one-whore pimp
CHIPPIED, light periodic use of heavy drugs
CIRCUS LOVE, to run the gamut of the sexual perversions
COAST, somnolent nodding state of heroin addict
COCKTAILED, to put a marijuana butt into the end of a conventional cigarette for smoking
COME DOWN, return to normal state after drug use
COP AND BLOW, pimp theory, to get as many whores as leave him
COPPED, get or capture
CRACK WISE, usually applied to an underworld neophyte who spouts hip terminology to gain status
CROAK, kill
CROSSES, to trick or trap
CUT LOOSE, to refuse to help, to disdain
DAMPER, a place holding savings, a bank, safe deposit box, etc.; to stop or quell
DIRTY, in possession of incriminating evidence
DOG, older, hardened whore, or young sexual libertine
DOSSING, sleeping
DOWN, a pimp’s pressure on a whore, or his adherence to the rules of the pimp game; when a whore starts to work
FIX, to bribe so an illegal operation can go with impunity; also an injection of narcotics
FREAK, sexual libertine
Absolution:
Part of the sacrament of penance. It is the formal declaration by the priest that a penitent's sins are forgiven.
Abstinence:
Refraining from certain kinds of food or drink as an act of self-denial. Usually refraining from eating meat. Official days of abstinence from meat for Catholics are Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Acedia:
A less common synonym for sloth, one of the seven "capital" sins.
Acolyte:
A liturgical minister appointed to assist at liturgical celebrations. Priests and deacons receive this ministry before they are ordained. Lay men may be installed permanently in the ministry of acolyte through a rite of institution and blessing.
Almsgiving:
Money or goods given to the poor as an act of penance or fraternal charity. Almsgiving, together with prayer and fasting, are traditionally recommended to foster the state of interior penance.
Angelus:
A form of prayer said 3 times per day; morning, noon and evening.
Anointing:
A symbol of the Holy Spirit, whose anointing of Jesus as Messiah fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament. Christ in Hebrew - Messiah means the one anointed by the Holy Spirit. Anointing is the sacramental sign of Confirmation, called Chrismation in the Churches of the East. Anointings form part of the liturgical rites of the catechumenate, and of the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Orders.
Apostasy:
The total repudiation of the Christian faith.
Apostolate:
The activity of the Christian which fulfills the apostolic nature of the whole Church by working to extend the reign of Christ to the entire world.
Ascension:
The taking up of Jesus into Heaven forty days after the resurrection and witnessed by the Apostles. Ascension Thursday is celebrated forty days after Easter.
Assumption:
The taking up of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, into Heaven. Celebrated on August 15.
Beatification:
The first step in the process by which a dead person is officially declared to be a Saint.
Beatific Vision:
The contemplation of God in heavenly glory, a gift of God which is a constitutive element of the happiness of heaven.
Beatitude:
Happiness or blessedness, especially the eternal happiness of heaven, which is described as the vision of God, or entering into God's rest by those whom he makes partakers of the divine nature.
Benediction:
A short service in which the consecrated Host is placed in a monstrance where it can be seen and venerated by the people.
Bishop:
From the Greek word "episcopos" meaning "overseer". A bishop is in charge of the Church in a local area. One who has received the fullness of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, which makes him a member of the episcopal college and a successor of the Apostles. He is the shepherd of a particular Church entrusted to him.
Blasphemy:
Speech, thought, or action involving contempt for God or the Church, or persons or things dedicated to God. Blasphemy is directly opposed to the second commandment.
Blessed Sacrament:
A term Catholics use when referring to the consecrated Host-especially when it is reserved in the Tabernacle. A name given to the Holy Eucharist, especially the consecrated elements reserved in the tabernacle for adoration, or for the sick.
Breviary:
A book containing the prayers, hymns, psalms and readings which make up the Divine Office (a form of prayer said by the Clergy.)
Calumny:
A false statement which harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.
Canon of the Mass:
The central part of the Mass, also known as the Eucharistic Prayer or "Anaphora," which contains the prayer of thanksgiving and consecration.
Canonization:
The solemn declaration by the Pope that a deceased member of the faithful may be proposed as a model and intercessor to the Christian faithful and venerated as a Saint on the basis of the fact that the person lived a life of heroic virtue or remained faithful to God through martyrdom.
Catacombs:
System of tunnels used by early Catholics as hiding places when they were being persecuted.
Catechism:
A popular summary or compendium of Catholic doctrine about faith and morals and designed for use in catechists.
Catechist:
Someone who teaches Christian doctrine, especially in Parish or School.
Cathedral:
The official Church of the bishop of a diocese. The Greek word cathedra means chair or throne; the bishop's "Chair" symbolizes his teaching and governing authority, and is located in the principal Church or "cathedral" of the local diocese of which he is the chief pastor.
Celebrant:
The one who presides at a religious service. The priest at Mass is referred to as the Celebrant.
Chalice:
The cup used at Mass to hold the wine.
Charism:
A specific gift or grace of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefits the Church, given in order to help a person live out the Christian life, or to serve the common good in building up the Church.
Chastity:
The moral virtue which, under the cardinal virtue of temperance, provides for the successful integration of sexuality within the person leading to the inner unity of the bodily and spiritual being. Chastity is called one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Chrismation:
The name used in the Eastern Churches for the sacrament of Confirmation, from the "chrism" or "myron" used in the anointing.
Ciborium:
A bowl or chalice-shaped vessel to hold the consecrated Hosts for the distribution of Holy Communion.
Clergy:
A term applied to men who have been Ordained for ministry within the Church. Bishops, Priests and Deacons are members of the Clergy.
Cloister:
A place of religious seclusion.
Commandment:
A norm of moral and/or religious action; above all, the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses. Jesus summarized all the commandments in the twofold command of love of God and love of neighbor.
Communion:
Holy Communion, the reception of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. More generally, our fellowship and union with Jesus and other baptized Christians in the Church, which has its source and summit in the celebration of the Eucharist.
Conclave:
The meeting of the Cardinals in complete seclusion, when they assemble to elect a Pope.
Concupiscence:
Human appetites or desires which remain disordered due to the temporal consequences of original sin, which remain even after Baptism, and which produce an inclination to sin.
Confessor:
A Priest who hears confessions.
Conscience:
The interior voice of a human being, within whose heart the inner law of God is inscribed. Moral conscience is a judgment of practical reason about the moral quality of a human action. It moves a person at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. An examination of conscience is recommended as a preparation for the reception of the Sacrament of Penance.
Consecration:
The dedication of a thing or person to divine service by a prayer or blessing. The consecration at Mass is that part of the Eucharistic Prayer during which the Lord's words of institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper are recited by the priestly minister, making Christ's Body and Blood his sacrifice offered on the cross once for all sacramentally present under the species of bread and wine.
Contemplation:
A form of wordless prayer in which mind and heart focus on God's greatness and goodness in affective, loving adoration; to look on Jesus and the mysteries of his life with faith and love.
Contrition:
Sorrow of the soul and hatred for the sin committed, together with a resolution not to sin again. Contrition is the most important act of the penitent, and is necessary for the reception of the Sacrament of Penance.
Convent:
The place where a community of Nuns live.
Conversion:
A radical reorientation of the whole life away from sin and evil, and toward God. This change of heart or conversion is a central element of Christ's preaching, of the Church's ministry of evangelization, and of the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.
Council:
An assembly of representatives from the whole Church called together by the Pope to make decisions.
Creed:
A brief, normative summary statement or profession of Christian faith, e.g., the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed. The word "Creed" comes from the latin credo, meaning "I Believe," with which the Creed begins. Creeds are also called symbols of faith.
Crucifix:
A cross with the figure of the crucified Jesus upon it. Used by Catholics to bring to mind the sufferings of Christ.
Deanery:
Several parishes form a Deanery. This unit is administered by one of the Priests' of the Deanery who has the title; 'Dean'.
Devil/Demon:
A fallen angel, who sinned against God by refusing to accept His reign. Satan or the devil, the Evil One, and the other demons were at first good angels, created naturally good, who became evil by their own doing.
Diocese:
A "particular Church", a community of the faithful in communion of faith and sacraments whose bishop has been ordained in apostolic succession. A diocese is usually a determined geographic area; sometimes it may be constituted as a group of people of the same rite or language. In Eastern churches, an eparchy.
Disciple:
Those who accepted Jesus' message to follow him are called his disciples. Jesus associated his disciples with his own life, revealed the mystery of the kingdom to the disciples and gave them a share in his mission, His joy, and his sufferings.
Dispensation:
Exemption from a Church law in a particular case for a special reason.
Divine Office:
The Liturgy of the Hours, the public prayer of the Church which sanctifies the whole course of the day and night. Christ thus continues his priestly work through the prayer of his priestly people.
Doctrine/Dogma:
The revealed teachings of Christ which are proclaimed by the fullest extent of the exercise of the authority of the Church's Magisterium. The faithful are obliged to believe the truths or dogmas contained in divine revelation and defined by the Magisterium.
Doxology:
Christian prayer which gives praise and glory to God, often in a special way to the Three Divine Persons of the Trinity. Liturgical Prayers traditionally conclude with the doxology "to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit"; the final doxology of the Lord's Prayer renews the prayer's first three petitions in the form of adoration and praise.
Ecclesiastic/Ecclesiastical:
Pertaining to or of the Church (Greek/Latin: ecclesia). Hence ecclesiastical government is Church government; an ecclesiastical province is a grouping of Church jurisdictions or dioceses; an ecclesiastic is a Church official.
Ecumenism:
Promotion of the restoration of unity among all Christians, the unity which is a gift of Christ and to which the Church is called by the Holy Spirit. For the Catholic Church, the Decree on Ecumenism of the Second Vatican Council provides a charter for ecumenical efforts.
Enclosure:
That part of a convent or monastery to which outsiders are not permitted.
Encyclical:
A pastoral letter written by the Pope and sent to the whole Church and even to the whole world, to express Church teaching on some important matter. Encyclicals are expressions of the ordinary papal magisterium.
Eparchy:
A "particular Church", a community of the faithful in communion of faith and sacraments whose bishop has been ordained in apostolic succession. A diocese is usually a determined geographic area; sometimes it may be constituted as a group of people of the same rite or language. In Eastern Churches, an eparchy.
Epiclesis:
The prayer petitioning God to send the Holy Spirit so that the offerings at the Eucharist may become the Body and Blood of Christ and thus the faithful, by receiving them, may themselves become a living offering to God. In every sacrament, the prayer asking for the sanctifying power of God's Holy Spirit is an "epiclesis".
Epiphany:
The feast which celebrates the manifestation to the world of the newborn Christ as Messiah, Son of God, and Savior of the world. The feast of epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the wise men, magi, from the East, together with his Baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast of Cana in Galilee.
Episcopal/Episcopate:
Pertaining to the office of bishop Greek: episkopos), hence episcopal consecration, the episcopal college, episcopal conferences. Episcopate is a collective noun referring to all those who have received sacramental ordination as bishops.
Epistle:
From the Greek word meaning "letter," This word refers to the 21 books in the New Testament that were written as letters to instruct and encourage the members of the early Church.
Eremitical Life:
The life of a hermit, separate from the world in praise of God and for the salvation of the world, in the silence of solitude, assiduous prayer, and penance.
Eschatology:
From the Greek word eschaton, meaning "last." Eschatology refers to the area of Christian faith which is concerned about "the last things," and the coming of Jesus on "the last day": our human destiny, death, judgment, resurrection of the body, heaven, purgatory, and hell all of which are contained in the final articles of the Creed.
Eucharist:
The ritual, sacramental action of thanksgiving to God which constitutes the principal Christian liturgical celebration of and communion in the paschal mystery of Christ. The liturgical action called the Eucharist is also traditionally known as the holy sacrifice of the Mass. It is one of the seven sacraments of the Church; the Holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. The Sunday celebration of the Eucharist is at the heart of the Church's life.
Euthanasia:
An action or an omission which, of itself or by intention, causes the death of handicapped, sick, or dying persons sometimes with an attempt to justify the act as a means of eliminating suffering. Euthanasia violates the fifth commandment of the law of God.
Eve:
According to the creation story in Genesis, the first woman; wife of Adam. God did not create man a solitary being; from the beginning, "male and female he created them". Because she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, Jesus Christ the "new adam," Mary is called the "new eve," the "mother of the living" in the order of grace.
Examination of Conscience:
Prayerful self-reflection on our words and deeds in the light of the Gospel to determine how we may have sinned against God. The reception of the Sacrament of Penance ought to be prepared for by such an examination of conscience.
Excommunication:
A severe ecclesiastical penalty, resulting from grave crimes against the Catholic religion, imposed by ecclesiastical authority or incurred as a direct result of the commission of an offense. Excommunication excludes the offender from taking part in the Eucharist or other sacraments and from the exercise of any ecclesiastical office, ministry, or function.
Exorcism:
The public and authoritative act of the Church to protect or liberate a person or object from the power of the devil (e.g., demonic possession) in the name of Christ. A simple exorcism prayer in preparation for Baptism invokes God's help in overcoming the power of Satan and the spirit of evil.
Expiation:
The act of redemption and atonement for sin which Christ won for us by the pouring out of his Blood on the cross, by His obedient love "even to the end". The expiation of sins continues in the mystical Body of Christ and the communion of saints by joining our human acts of atonement to the redemptive action of Christ, both in this life and in Purgatory.
Fasting:
Refraining from food and drink as an expression of interior penance, in imitation of the fast of Jesus for forty days in the desert. Fasting is an ascetical practice recommended in Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers; it is sometimes prescribed by a precept of the Church, especially during the liturgical season of Lent.
Filioque:
A word meaning "and from the Son," added to the Latin version of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, by which the Latin tradition of the Creed confesses that the Holy Spirit "proceeds from the Father and the Son".
Font:
A basin or bowl in a Church used for the Baptismal water.
Fornication:
Sexual intercourse between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. Fornication is a serious violation of the sixth commandment of God.
Free Will:
Human experience which governs our actions and gives us the freedom to make choices regarding our full expression of God's love.
Genuflection:
A reverence made by bending the knee, especially to express adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Godparent:
The sponsor of one who is baptized, who assumes a responsibility to assist the newly baptized child or adult on the road of Christian life.
Guardian Angels:
Angels assigned to protect and intercede for each person.
Habit:
The distinctive form of dress worn by members of religious communities.
Hail Mary:
The prayer known in Latin as the Ave Maria. The first part of the prayer praises God for the gifts he gave to Mary as Mother of the Redeemer; the second part seeks her maternal intercession for the members of the Body of Christ, the Church, of which she is the Mother.
Heresy:
The obstinate denial after Baptism of a truth which must be believed with divine and Catholic faith.
Hermit:
One who lives the eremitical life. Through silence and solitude, in prayer and penance, the hermit or anchorite vows, although not necessarily publicly, to follow the evangelical counsels out of love for God and desire for the salvation of the world.
Hierarchy:
The Apostles and their successors, the college of bishops, to whom Christ gave the authority to teach, sanctify, and rule the Church in his name.
Homily:
Preaching by an ordained minister to explain the Scriptures proclaimed in the liturgy and to exhort the people to accept them as the Word of God.
Homosexuality:
Sexual attraction or orientation toward persons of the same sex and/or sexual acts between persons of the same sex. Homosexual acts are morally wrong because they violate God's purpose for human sexual activity.
Hope:
The theological virtue by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the grace we need to attain it.
Host:
The wafer of consecrated bread which Catholics receive at Holy Communion. It is usually disc-shaped and thin for convenience and there are two sizes; the larger is used by the Priest at the altar.
Hypostatic Union:
The union of the divine and human natures in the one divine Person (Greek: hypostasis) of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Iconoclasm:
A heresy which aintained that veneration of religious images is unlawful. Iconoclasm was condemned as unfaithful to Christian tradition at the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 787 A.D.
Idolatry:
The divinization of a creature in place of God; the substitution of some one (or thing) for God; worshiping a creature (even money, pleasure, or power) instead of the Creator.
Indulgence:
The remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sin whose guilt has already been forgiven. A properly disposed member of the Christian faithful can obtain an indulgence under prescribed conditions through the help of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. An indulgence is partial if it removes part of the temporal punishment due to sin, or plenary if it removes all punishment.
Inerrancy:
The attribute of the books of Scripture whereby they faithfully and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to have confided through the Sacred Scriptures.
Infallibility:
The gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church whereby the pastors of the Church, the pope and bishops in union with him, can definitively proclaim a doctrine of faith or morals for the belief of the faithful. This gift is related to the inability of the whole body of the faithful to err in matters of faith and morals.
Inquistions:
Official investigations by the Church of suspected heresies.
Intercession:
A form of prayer of petition on behalf of others. The prayer of intercession leads us to pray as Christ, our unique Intercessor, prayed.
Intercommunion:
Participation or sharing in the reception of the Eucharist or Holy Communion by Christians who are not fully united to or in full communion with the Catholic Church.
Irreligion:
A vice contrary by defect to the virtue of religion. Irreligion directs us away from rendering to God what we as creatures owe him in justice.
IHS:
three letters from the Greek name, Jesus.
INRI:
the initial letters form the Latin inscription written on the cross: Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum, (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews).
PX:
a monogram of the first two Greek letters for 'Christus'.
Justification:
The gracious action of God which frees us from sin and communicates "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ" (Rom 3:22). Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.
Kyrie EleiSon:
Greek words meaning; "Lord have mercy". Sometimes said or sung in Greek during the penitential rite of the Mass.
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