After listening to the cacophony prior to Mass beginning, it occurred to me to write a post about not being able to listen to God in His own House. Would it be rude to point out to people that God is present in the Church? My son complained that he can't hear God speaking to him. No wonder.
The worse transgression happened during our Holy Hour of Adoration the other evening. My family and I were alone in the Adoration Chapel. A lady soon joined us. Then her cell phone started ringing. I must admit it took a lot of effort to recollect myself and to remind myself Who was in front of me. The worse part is that she took two calls in that one hour.
Well, I don't have to write a post after all because someone has done a terrific job of putting to words what I have been feeling.
Adoro de Devoto - The Scandal of Silence
Prayer is not even honored in our own churches. We are bullied into singing, we are bullied into applauding, and we are bullied away from the reverence due Christ in order to misplace that reverence on the altar of self-esteem of whoever-might-be-in-the-spotlight.
Silence is sacred and reveals the sacred to those who are willing to listen. Can't we please have a single place in this world where we can come to kneel in silent awe before Our Lord and not be disrupted by the spirit of the age?
A big mahalo to Fr. Daren for pointing the way to that post.
5 comments:
We seem to be losing more and more a sense of the Sacred.
I dont know how many time I am in prayer and hear people bellowing at each other ie:
*waves* 'hiya Matilda how is little Susie doing? I heard little Sam scored a goal etc.' Then the person also bellows across the pews to respond to the friend.
Church is becoming more of a social club than a place of Worship and much of this lay with the Priests and Nuns. They tend to go on about 'community spirit' to the detriment of the Holy Spirit.
Church is NOT a 'social club or gathering. It IS a place of Worship!!!! As for mobiles...Dont even START me on that!!!!!!
Peace, JOY & Love to you Esther:)
Marie xoxooxoxoox
I couldn't agree more - so many transgressions when in the house of the Lord.
And even when the Blessed Sacrament isn't exposed there is a growing lack of reverence and even awareness of the presence of the invisible God.
I know Marie. It's like they are catching up on the weeks goings on with each prior to Mass.
V., I've also noticed as an EMHC, people pass right by the Precious Blood at Holy Communion without any acknowledgment.
Thank you for the link!
While I haven't always been a good Catholic (um...actually barely so if even for a period in my life), I always knew silence was proper. I've often by shocked by the behavior of people before and after Mass.
If they KNEW what they were doing...they wouldn't do it. If they believed in the True Presence...they wouldn't dare speak. We should ALL be on our faces in silent adoration. And even we who know don't do that. What does that say about us?
A Catholic University near me has a program in Sacred Music...and it's basically indocrination in Lateral Theology; that Mass is all about one's neighbor. They think that ad orientum means that people are being ignored. They don't see the logic in it. They don't understand the older architecture, having bought a new philosophy that is based on man..not ascent to God.
People are literally being taught that they must love neighbor BEFORE God, that our faith is a cross...and Mass is the lateral portion of the cross.
NO! Mass is the vertical...to teach us how to conform to Him...and our lives OUTSIDE of Mass comprises the vertical!
We have so much work to do to help people understand this. How do we convey the message?
Adoro, people in the pews must be taught. It may be out of ignorance that they fail to recognize our Lord present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in our Catholic Churches. One way we can teach them is by example. Those of us who are aware must genuflect when passing the Blessed Sacrament. Our focus should be on Him while we kneel at our pews, etc.
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