The words "God said" appear ten times in the creation account. In this way the creation narrative anticipates the Ten Commandments. This makes us realize that these Ten Commandments are, as it were, an echo of the Creation; they are not arbitrary inventions for the purpose of erecting barriers to human freedom but signs pointing to the spirit, the language and meaning of creation; they are a translation of the language of the universe, a translation of God's logic, which constructed the universe. |
Furthermore, as everything Catholic is, by its very nature, Christocentric, then Christ in the Incarnation is the translation par-excellence. In Christ, the Word, we have the divine language of love in human language and in human flesh. Jesus said "He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?" (John 14:9). Here we have see what every translation ought to aspire to be: not only a honest reflection of the source document, but such a true (and in Christ's case, living) reflection of the source; to be consubstantial with the source. In other word, a translation should not merely be a means or a pale image of the original, but rather a translation should be so faithful to the source that it becomes, as it were, one and the same with the source. As Jesus, the Divine Translation, said, "I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
To me, as a translator, this gives a very high value to the art of translation; indeed, it exalt the work we translators (and interpreters) undertake for it is a collaboration in the work of God. We translators (and interpreters), swear an oath to be true and faithful to the source. In this we are echoing "Jesus Christ the faithful witness" (Revelation 1:5). Hence in undertaking this work of translation, we ought to not only convey meaning from one language to another, but also, more importantly, communicate God's love to our fellow human beings. Indeed, is it not this communication of God's love our duty in every work and action?