IMPARTING A MESSAGE

IMPARTING A MESSAGE

There are several ways of imparting a message: Through letter writing; through shouting as to a neighbor; through the use of loudspeaker; through specially delivered communication; through the pulpit inside the Church; through the modern Power Point presentation as is commonly used now in different occasions.

The purpose of a message is to let the intended recipient understand clearly what the sender wants to say. Used the proper way, any method of message sending is effective if the intention of the sender is appropriately received by the intended recipient.

Sometimes the sound system is so defective that instead of understanding what is said it results to more disturbance if not outright confusion. More often the acoustic of the place is so defective that you hear nothing but echoes and re-echoes of what is being said. What is worst is when all the above defects are playing a role during the delivery of the speech.

A priest with a baritone voice could easily impart his homily directly from the pulpit. It is clearly heard by a quiet audience. A moderately controlled sound system is more effective to a bigger audience. A Power Point presentation is effective too if it is seen clearly by everyone and if the acoustic is correctly adjusted. More so if what is being presented is not repeated so often to the same audience while other activities are going on.

What almost appeared to be a ‘mortal sin’ is when the officiating priest used the different methods all at the same time possibly with the intention of sending his very important homily across. What if the unconcerned acolyte adjust to the maximum the volume of the loudspeaker at the roof of the Church.

When I attend a Sunday Church Mass I want to clearly understand the readings, the Gospel and the Homily but with my mildly impaired hearing, the defective acoustics of an old church and the overuse of the many modern technologies I often go home unsatisfied that sometimes I’d rather participate in a televised Mass except that I cannot receive communion.

Honestly, in my house I could clearly hear the homily through the very loud trumpet speaker at the roof of the Church except that we could hardly have a good conversation due to its deafening sound. I once heard a Chinese explaining that a house in front or opposite the church is not good. Of course I didn’t believe him but now I am convinced why. But who Catholic cares? The Moslems are also doing that.