It has become rather pertinent for us at this time to talk about the sacred as our world has become remiss of the sacred. In other words, we do not seem to create a meaningful boundary between the ordinary dealings of life and those that pertain to God. It was D. TODD CHRISTOFFERSON that says “The importance of having a sense of the sacred is simply this—if one does not appreciate holy things, he will lose them. Absent a feeling of reverence, he will grow increasingly casual in attitude and lax in conduct. He will drift from the moorings that his covenants with God could provide. His feeling of accountability to God will diminish and then be forgotten. Thereafter, he will care only about his own comfort and satisfying his uncontrolled appetites. Finally, he will come to despise sacred things, even God, and then he will despise himself.” I beg to say that the above captures the events around us in this age and time.

“Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (Ex 3:5). These words addressed to Moses as he approached the burning bush manifest not merely the fact that God Himself is all holy, but even the ground around the area where the Angel of Lord appears is made sacred and worthy of particular respect. This warning is itself a lesson, calling for an external sign of reverence in the presence of the manifestation of God even when realized through the mediation of an angel (cf. Ex 3:2; Acts 7:30-32).

Similarly, when Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of which reached to heaven and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it, and the LORD stood beside him and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.” …He afterwards awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place—and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Gen 28:12ff.)

These passages convey the “sense of the sacred”, that is, the profound impression which man experiences when he encounters the tremendous and awe-inspiring mystery of God’s transcendence, the overwhelming holiness of His Being. Something of this sense is also felt toward His faithful angels due to their perfect participation in the divine nature (cf. 2 Pet 1:4) through grace and glory. Thanks to social media and the interment, we are no longer alien to happenings around us, just have a workable network and data, you will have so many to feed your eyes with. As we feed our eyes, certain dispositions in Churches cannot but make one weep and question if we still have any trace of the sacred in us. Churches these days are hard to differentiate from club houses or event centers. Churches have become simply social centers where people meet and fraternize. One such thing that pose great threat to our active participation at liturgies which become great danger to the reverence and awe that should accompany our worship is our cell phones.

The desire to trend and put almost every of our activities online has made it such that phones are used indiscrimately in Churches, taking videos and pictures. The question that begs for answer is, whom have we come to worship, God or ourselves? If it is God, then all our attention should be on Him and not on ourselves. How can you explain it that you are truly worshiping God and you have your phone on your hand videoing and snapping?

You cannot serve two masters. Our dressing, dispositions, words and actions in Churches do not portray that sincere reverence for the sacred, if truly, God resides in that building we call a Church and it is Him we have come to meet, then it should be treated as such, there should be a significant difference between the Church and the places we visit.

In the second reading of the office of reading on the feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica, St. Caesarius of Arles says “Whenever we come to Church, we must prepare our hearts to be as beautiful as we expect this Church to be. Do you wish to find this Basilica immaculately clean? Then do not soil your soul with the filth of sins. Do you wish this Basilica to be full of light? God too wishes that your soul be not in darkness, but that the light of good works shine in us, so that he who dwells in the heavens will be glorified.”

Fr. Basil Nortz, ORC says the attacks against the sense of the sacred have ranged from subtle to flagrant. Subtler are the humorous presentations of things that are sacred: The puns and jokes that are made by twisting the words of Sacred Scripture or the comical presentation of sacred ministers or sacred rites. Often these are done with such wit and ingenious skill that it is difficult not to be taken in by their cleverness. But at the same time it is difficult to take delight in such things without in some measure losing the sense of reverence which the sacred things of God and His Church deserve. Meditation on the sacred character of the things of God as well as a certain vigilance is needed to avoid being affected by these attacks.

In the area of the celebration of the sacred Liturgy a casualness and carelessness which are diametrically opposed to the attitude proper to this sacred action have been introduced in certain places. In particular, the music that is used, instead of communicating a sense of humble awe, all too often introduces sentimental, sensual or profane associations which are altogether alien to the spirit of the Liturgy.

The lack of discernment in attempts to “inculturate” other elements of contemporary culture into the sacred Liturgy have also had adverse consequences. Pope John Paul II observed this problem and spoke of it to a group of American Bishops: “After the experience of more than thirty years of liturgical renewal, we are well placed to assess both the strengths and weaknesses of what has been done, in order more confidently to plot our course into the future which God has in mind for His Cherished People. The challenge now is to move beyond whatever misunderstandings there have been and to reach the proper point of balance, especially by entering more deeply into the contemplative dimension of worship, which includes the sense of awe, reverence and adoration… [These] are fundamental attitudes in our relationship with God. (Ad limina address to Bishops of Northwest USA, Oct. 9, 1998)

Let us continue to break away from the laxity of the modern word, growing great reverence for the sacred by means of creating significant boundaries and the treatment of the things of God with utmost care and reverence. We can equally enhance this by means of popular piety and devotion. Our meditation on the mystery of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with our devout practices can also lead us to an ever deeper sense of the intimacy of God’s presence among us, particularly in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.