Love’s sacrifice

Music: Rocking

Sermon: Inspirational

Fellowship: Friendly

Allow me to start with a tangent. I’ve long thought the Catholic Church made a mistake when it switched from the Latin mass to local language. The decision was made in the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s, but I think it must have taken longer to implement because I have a vague memory of Latin masses.

Here’s my argument. For hundreds of years, the church had a unifying language. No matter where a Catholic went in the world, the service was the same. I know some people learned the liturgy by rote, phonetically, and it was therefore meaningless to them, but I also know people who essentially learned a second language, Latin, from the service. And Latin is the root for many modern languages including French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Romanian.

OK, so what’s that got to do with El Sacrificio de Amor, which was performed at Summit Christian Church, or more precisely Iglesia Cristiana Summit, the Hispanic branch of Summit?

I enjoyed the Spanish-language musical, like I’d enjoy an opera in another language, but my comprehension of what was going on was pretty limited. I’ve got a fair amount Spanish language study behind me, but it takes time to fall back into the rhythms of the language. Let’s just say that even though I know the story of Jesus Christ’s final days, I’d have been pretty lost were it not for the bilingual introductions before each scene. At any rate, I think the world might be a bit smaller had all those Catholics, even non-practicing ones like myself, had a basis of communication with other countries and religious affiliations. (Summit is a non-denominational Christian Church.)

The evening began with songs by a tight, rocking Hispanic band. Summit has a sound system second to none in the Truckee Meadows. As is often the case in Christian churches, the lyrics flashed up on screens above the stage so that the congregation could sing along. I did so, to my son Hunter’s consternation. Poor kid, don’t they teach them how to clap in rhythm in school these days? The music was followed by a short prayer by the church’s pastor Leo Castro.

El Sacrificio de Amor—Love’s Sacrifice in inglés—was a musical. It was a series of scenes from the days surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which makes sense, since it was performed on Easter Sunday. I was reminded throughout of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar.

It began with Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem in which the Bible says people laid down palm branches and their coats for his donkey to tread upon. As I recall, it’s always celebrated the Sunday before Easter. As a child from Nebraska, I always wondered where they got the palms, and wasn’t it a tad wasteful to kill all those trees just for a church service? But that’s another digression.

The scenes included the Palm Sunday story, Jesus running the moneychangers out of the Temple, Mary Magdalene washing Jesus’ feet with her hair, the arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate, Peter’s denial (the cock-crowing story), the crucifixion with the thieves, the scene at the empty tomb, and ending with a triumphant scene of Jesus risen.

The “service” ended with communion and a short prayer by Pastor Castro.

As far as review, the musical was competently performed by principle actors Cristobal Reyes, Marvin Asuna, Raquel Asuna and Nelson Hernandez. I saw few missteps even among the large cast. I enjoyed the singing and the prerecorded music, and I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for more cultural crossovers like this one. Maybe it’ll help Hunter get a basis for future communications with the other cultures that occupy this planet.