Trivializing the sacred

WE have to be most careful with this possibility which,

sad to say, is becoming a common occurrence. We have to distinguish

between the sacred and the mundane, and even if both categories come

from God, there however are distinctive qualities of each one that

should be respected and never confused.

   

            The sacred are those things that are related directly to

God—his words, his sacraments, his Church. We cannot treat them as if

we are simply handling ordinary, worldly things like our work, our

business, our politics, etc.

  

            With the sacred, all we have to do is utmost reverence,

putting all our faith in them, knowing that through natural and human

elements, we are touching the supernatural dimension of our life, we

are touching the very life of God.

  

            This reality should never be lost in our consciousness.

Whenever we get involved in the sacred, as when we attend Mass or go

to confession, or read the gospel, etc., we need to make many acts of

faith, hope and charity to be able to capture the wonderful reality of

being intimate with God.

  

            We have to be careful because nowadays, with all the

galloping pace of our earthly concerns and developments, we can easily

end up treating the sacred things as one more item to be attended to,

often with a cursory attitude.

  

            We need to put all our mind and heart, all our senses and

faculties into the celebration of these sacred things. Our whole

selves should be involved there. We have to be aware with the reality

of who we are dealing with in these sacred acts. We are not dealing

with people only, much less with things only. We are directly dealing

with God!

  

            It therefore stands to reason that before we get involved

in these sacred activities, we prepare ourselves properly. We have to

stir up our faith and devotion, priming our heart and mind to attune

themselves with the reality involved.

  

            That is why we need to spend time preparing ourselves

before the celebration of the liturgy, especially the Holy Mass. This

is especially so with priests. We, priests, have to spend some time in

prayer before celebrating the Mass to see to it that we are assuming

the very name and person of Christ who is both priest and victim, the

one who both offers and is offered.

            It raises some concern to note that some people have

complained about priests treating the Mass as if it’s just one more

item in their daily routine. They seem to see the Mass as one

bureaucratic activity of the priest. They even go to the extent of

saying that some priests have converted the Mass more into a show

rather than the sacrament of the passion and death of Christ.

  

            Of course, it goes without saying that many people have

also lost the sense of the sacred when they go to Mass. They go there

more to meet some social obligation and expectations. There’s

definitely a need for more catechesis regarding the Mass and the whole

issue about how to handle the sacred.

   

            Do we know how to make the sign of the cross, or a most

reverent genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament, for example?