Lost in the Translation

I like to read what's going on with the Dominican Sisters of Bethany.  The Mother House is in Europe, so the blog posts have to be translated.  Sometimes the translations make you laugh.  You just can't translate word for word.  The concept has to be grasped; then you'll get the idea.

Which reminded me of a scary translation.  My friend and favorite priest use to end his emails with:  "Come Jesu, anch'io ti amo fino a morire."

I couldn't make sense of the translation.  Father is an Italian missionary, so I asked an Italian in my parish.  He said, "I would love to see you dead, like Jesus."

WHAT!!!!

What is this?  Some kind of mafioso comment?

It couldn't be.  But it bothered me.  Why does Father want me dead?

Finally, I just confronted Father and asked him what it meant.  He wrote back:

"Like Jesus, I will love you to my death."

Beautiful.  Words can't truly express love.  No wonder the phrase couldn't be translated.

He loves like Jesus loves.  That's untranslatable.