A blogger in Africa has some thoughts on what it means to take part in the celebration of mass in that corner of the world — and it sounds like something amazing:

The Catholic Mass in places like Malawi absolutely blows the American Catholic Mass out of the water. Mass is a fusion of the traditional Catholic liturgy – prayers, blessings, readings, the homily, more prayers and blessings, the Eucharist – and local cultural tradition, manifesting itself, usually, in the form of traditional music styles and dance. The result is a masterpiece, intricately woven of both threads, seamlessly enough that the outside observer can easily follow the Catholic quality of the liturgy, even if they’ve only been in the country for two days and know nothing of the language or culture. At the same time, the entire community is involved in the “production” of the mass celebration (in Malawi, everyone sings, and loudly – even if they’re tone-deaf…the children dance between the pews, the older kids guiding the younger kids, the mothers guiding them all…community leaders go around taking up the collection for their individual communities). The masses that I attend each week are wholly Catholic, and yet uniquely Malawian. It’s a beautiful thing – emphasizing the global aspect of faith, while embracing local customs and cultures, really sells the idea of universal brotherhood. This is something that religion is supposed to do, if we’re to believe the warm words usually offered by leaders of the world’s religions, and yet, we rarely see it in action.

He goes on to disagree with what he perceives as the pope’s criticism of such celebrations, and adds this closing note:

If anything, I feel that the masses here greatly improve “genuine internalization” of the symbolic language of the liturgy, by shifting those symbols slightly to better fit the local culture. Look, the liturgy was formed in a specific environment, in a particular place, time, and culture. The liturgy that Pope Benedict is comfortable with, is the one whose symbolic language he feels most at home with. His preferred liturgy presents words and symbols structured in a way that facilitates understanding and “internalization” for his cultural background.

Is it really such a galloping shock that not every culture, that not every person in today’s Catholic Church, views their faith through the very same symbolic lens as this 81-year-old Bavarian?

UPDATE: The always-interesting John Allen has this colorful description of mass in Cameroon:

Without any doubt, Africans know how to stage a Mass. Quite aside from its spiritual significance, the liturgy at Amadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundè on Thursday was a blast. It featured some of the most infectious singing, dancing, and music I’ve ever witnessed, along with the sensation of being among 40,000 people who were genuinely happy just to be in one another’s company.

The depth of faith felt in that stadium was remarkable.

I was reminded of a similar experience I had in Mexico City, during the canonization Mass of Juan Diego, which also featured exuberant local music and dance. One hard-bitten agnostic from network TV who was hanging out with me in the press area whispered: “If they did it this way every Sunday, even I would show up!”

To be sure, African rhythms of worship can take a little getting used to. Organizers positioned the press corps adjacent to some of those lucky enough to draw seats close by the papal altar. One minute, they were chiding us for talking too loud and telling us to put out our smokes; the next, they were gyrating and singing so loudly we couldn’t hear ourselves think. Before long, however, we got the hang of it.

Here’s a rave review: The first bus back to the hotel for the press corps during a papal Mass leaves right after the homily, since that’s usually the “newsy” part of the event. Generally people get antsy to leave because they have stories to file, but in Yaoundè, the Mass was so entertaining that a few of us lost track of time and almost missed our ride.