Respecting sacred places

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WITH recent cases of sacred places being desecrated, we need to remind ourselves that it is our duty to give these places due respect since they hold deep cultural or religious significance, and they also arouse strong emotional connection with the people. We are reminded of this duty in that gospel episode where Christ drove away those who turned the temple into a market place. (cfr. Jn 2,13-22)

In this regard, we have to be mindful of the rules and customs associated with these sacred places and respect them, like dressing in a way that is respectful of the place and its significance, keeping a respectful demeanor, avoiding loud noises, disruptive behavior or disrespectful actions.

We have to be most careful with our tendency to trivialize sacred places, items and events. 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 align ourselves 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.

We need to develop a sense of the sacred. When we pray, for example, we should see to it that the words really spring from the heart, a heart already filled with faith and love for God, since out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The lips and the heart should be in harmony. And when many people pray together, the prayer should form a lovely symphony.

What can help is that when we pray, we should think to whom are we talking, what are we saying, how should we say it, with what sentiments should accompany it, what resolutions should come from it.

I remember that as a kid I saw old women in the church praying, and I could not help but be moved to see their faces brighten and darken as they prayed. I understood then that they were talking to God, and what they talked about was reflected on their faces. That is clearly having a sense of the sacred.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com