Growing Up Catholic

Laudate Dominum omnes gentes
Laudate eum, omnes populi
Quoniam confirmata est
Super nos misericordia eius,
Et veritas Domini manet in aeternum.

Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper.
Et in saecula saeculorum.
Amen.

This hymn, based on Psalm 117, was sung at a wedding we recently attended. It was a good moment, because it is a song our children learned while attending Catholic school in Los Angeles during our training. Seeing and hearing the children singing so enthusiastically, it was a good moment to pause and reflect how far they have come, how much they have grown up, since we began our mission. Our children are gradually adopting Cameroonian turns of phrase, and even certain attitudes and behaviors.  And yet, they are sometimes utterly and hopelessly American. Hearing a Latin hymn we learned in Los Angeles at Mass in Cameroon really underlines the whole "universal" aspect of the Church.

Praise the Lord, all nations;
Praise Him, all people.
For He has bestowed
His mercy upon us,
And the truth of the Lord endures forever.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and forever,
and for generations of generations.
Amen.

-Eric

 

 

Los Angeles 2013