Liturgiam Authenticam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Liturgiam Authenticam - Essay Example This means that the Sacred Council identified inculturation to be the two-sided process requiring mutual actions and flexibility both from the Church and the Roman liturgy and from the recipient cultures. Whereas diverse autonomous cultures are expected to embrace Christian traditions and be integrated into a global community based on faith and universal dogmas; the Church is to incarnate Christian liturgy traditions in certain sociocultural backgrounds and soften all rough edges in order to make Christian tradition more comprehensible and close to the cultures. The Gospel is believed to enhance and strengthen peculiar cultural values and traditions and â€Å"restore them in Christ† (IRL,  § 4), when penetrating into a culture. Moreover, Christian traditions are expected to integrate and enrich other cultures, being also enriched by their wisdom. Inculturation as a process has preserved its aim since development of Christian tradition: its aim is to encourage and deepen peoples’ understanding on the message of Christ and find a better expression of it in local liturgical traditions and other areas of spiritual life of the Church. For this, the Holy Scriptures and liturgical texts have to be transformed into a form comprehensible for other cultures, especially those in the mission territories, i.e. they have to be translated wisely into local languages. The process of inculturation has its roots in ancient times when the story of salvation had just begun. The earliest forms of inculturation were practiced by the Israelites, the people believing that they were chosen by God and witnessed his love and actions (IRL,  § 9). The people of Israel borrowed some traditions and forms of worship from other peoples, yet â€Å"digesting† and modifying them in accordance to their fundamental faith in God. In other words, these borrowings were absorbed by Israeli religious traditions and practices in order to enhance celebration of the God’s deeds and memory. The next