Defrosting Christmas : Locating the liturgical year in Aotearoa New Zealand

The northern hemisphere-focussed liturgical calendar is uncomfortably dislocated in Aotearoa New Zealand on account of inverted seasonal conditions and unique geography which diverge from the calendar’s contextual origins. Inculturation of the liturgical year into Aotearoa New Zealand is essential in order to weave the northern hemisphere-formed Christian cycle of feasts and seasons into harmony with the natural world as experienced by New Zealanders, and thus to enable them better to make sense of the incarnation and its salvific message in their time and in their place.
Utilising appropriately applied insights from mātauranga Māori (knowledge of indigenous New Zealanders) and mātauranga Pākehā (knowledge of non-indigenous New Zealanders) , this thesis proposes to assist the Aotearoa New Zealand church to ground celebration of the liturgical year in the Aotearoa New Zealand context.
In addressing the problem of a dissonant liturgical year, this thesis considers Māori and European calendars, examines theologies of place pertinent to Aotearoa New Zealand and offers some steps toward an Aotearoa New Zealand theology of place in order to undergird inculturation of the liturgical year.
Taking a methodological lead from the work of poet-theologian James K. Baxter, this thesis proposes that adequate inculturation of the liturgical calendar for the Aotearoa New Zealand church can only take place by deepening mātauranga Pākehā which entails being guided by te whenua/ the land (Creation as experienced in Aotearoa New Zealand), te tangata whenua /the people of the land (wisdom from Māori people) and constant connection with te Kotahi anō Hāhi tapu /the one Holy Church.
After analysing various methodologies of inculturation (from Aotearoa New Zealand and elsewhere) and concluding that the methods of Filipino liturgical theologian Anscar Chupungco OSB are most effective for addressing the question of how to inculturate the liturgical year into Aotearoa New Zealand’s seasons, this thesis seeks to find a balance between localised expressions of faith and universal ecclesial understandings. Application of Chupungco’s method demonstrates that there is a way to detach observance of Christmas from northern hemisphere accoutrements and mindsets.
Engaging in a case study of Matariki (a traditional Māori midwinter festival) enables exploration of how its themes can be interwoven with existing themes from the Christian liturgical year as explicated in four possible Matariki liturgies.
Defrosting Christmas, and inculturating the liturgical year so that the seasons of Aotearoa New Zealand harmonise with those of the universal church is possible, and this thesis asserts that there is an urgency for the work of liturgical inculturation to be undertaken in order for the people of Aotearoa New Zealand to receive the Gospel more deeply in their time and their place.
 

This work © 2024, Michael Wallace.