Have we Lost Sight of the Sacred?

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These glimpses of heaven are gifted to us in different instances of Scripture:

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In Isaiah 6: 1-3: “I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, with the train of his garment filling the temple. Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they hovered. One cried out to the other: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts! All the earth is filled with his glory!'”

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While Jacob in a dream is gifted with a divine vision: “A stairway rested on the ground, with its top reaching to the heavens; and God’s messengers were going up and down on it. And there was the LORD standing beside him and saying: “I, the LORD, am the God of your forefather Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you are lying I will give to you and your descendants…” (Genesis 28: 12-13)

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The implications of these are tremendous. Where the LORD GOD is, is where the Kingdom of God is. This further unpacks the mystery of Jesus’s words, “The coming of the kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or, ‘There it is.’ For behold, the kingdom of God is among you.” (Luke 17: 20-21) it makes logical sense then for Jesus is God, and walking among the people. The people did not realise it back then, but Jesus becoming man through the mystery of the Incarnation, brought visibility to the invisible GOD, and walking among us, gives us a glimpse of our future with GOD, as how Adam and Eve walked freely in the presence of GOD, as GOD intended it to be. (cf. Genesis 1 and 2)

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There is a certain misconception these days that the LORD GOD is only present in the consecration of bread and wine, and we forget that all the time we are in the Church, the LORD GOD is quietly sitting in the tabernacle. St. John Chrysostom writes eloquently, “The whole sanctuary and the space before the altar is filled with the heavenly Powers come to honour Him who is present upon the altar.” Again, in another part of the sermon, “Think now of what kind of choir you are going to enter. Although vested with a body, you have been judged worthy to join the Powers of heaven in singing the praises of Him who is Lord of all.”; “Behold the royal table. The angels serve at it. The Lord Himself is present.” (cf. Daniélou, 1952, St. John Chrysostom, 1977)

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We are ambling about with a kind of spiritual blindness, and seeing only the form of the bread and wine, fail to see the Sacred Species in the bread and wine. Faulty formation and catechesis has to take some part of the responsibility of this spiritual blindness. For a long time, catechism had been taught by volunteers, who did not have the charism to teach, and who made catechesis rote and mundane. A number of these, rather than teaching passionately about the faith and making the Faith come alive, had resorted to merely screening video after video in their catechism classes. Some of these, were all too eager to leave the church compound upon the completion of their weekly ministerial function, for other things which held their thrall, like golf matches, and hi-tea. Parents feature greatly in our upbringing and our perceptions of the Eucharist and the Sacraments – for some of these,  Church had been a place of social standing – a place to catch up on the latest gossip, and a place to flaunt their wealth, while for others, going through the motions, they were dragging themselves and their children as a means of religious obligation, and were often the first ones to leave hurriedly after the reception of the Eucharist. While some remnant of the Faithful remain, those truly graced to see the sacredness they were partaking in, the majority were happy to set their sights on other things.

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Church architecture also has a role in leading all to contemplate on the sacred mysteries. The Church Building should be in fact representative of the Kingdom of God, just as how the Ark of the Covenant was. In the wake of the 50s and spilling into the 80s, there was a trend for architecture to take on very stark, utilitarian, boxy, and ugly forms. Known as Brutalist architecture, the trend was to build buildings that reflected the ethos of a post-war industrial era and came to symbolise the state of modernity which was drowning in its urban decay and economic hardship. Unfortunately, many Churches during that time were designed in like manner. The Memorial Cathedral for World Peace  (Assumption of Mary Cathedral) in Hiroshima, is an example of such a utilitarian approach to modern design, that presents the starkness and the emptiness following World War II. Boxy in appearance, the cathedral is reminiscent of a Japanese gravestone, that is at once bomb shelter, and homage to the factory-aesthetic of the industrial age.

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In Taiwan, where the streets are built along shrines to temple deities, there is a curious case of cultural denigration and familial persecution should a person convert to Christianity. For many in Taiwan, the forsaking of ancestral worship and rites is a big taboo, and the young who convert are often outcast and ostracised by their own family members as they are perceived to have abandoned their family duties and filial allegiances. In the wake of such strong cultural opposition, despite how in Taiwan there is a freedom to evangelise, churches have resorted to blending into their surroundings or disguising themselves in buildings that give little clue of the treasure they hold within. For instance in Taipei, there is a church built into a repurposed office space, that posits it besides a 7-11 and a whole host of amenities, one which would be easily missed if the casual passer-by is simply walking by without the intention of finding the church.

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The reality of such architectural conundrums is that on one hand the church building is meant to give an insight and invitation to gaze upon the beauty of GOD, on the other, such ugly church architecture and buildings do little for the dwindling numbers of Faithful. Ironically, a parallel Catch 22 situation is found in the European churches of great beauty, but which remain empty and void, museums to an age and era that once was.

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However, church architecture is the least of our worries. The people are most problematic. For them, the Worship hall, is a place to chat and talk about pedestrian and profane issues.  I recall a particular Eucharistic Celebration, where a chatter of people were blatantly on their phones and chatting to each other throughout the entire Eucharist, and yet another, where a lady (bless her heart) was changing her child’s soiled diaper as the Eucharistic celebration commenced.

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If we carefully consider the ministerial duties that different angels have in the Heavenly Banquet, we would soon come to realise that there is a purpose to sacred liturgy. What is done on earth at the Eucharistic Celebration is a visible sign and efficacious reflection of the heavenly liturgy carried out by invisible angels. Theodore of Mopsuestia (c. 350 -428) reflects, “You must realise that there is an image of the invisible Powers in this service that the deacons are charged with now, as they bear the offering for the oblation . . . And when they have brought it in, it is placed upon the holy altar by the angels for the perfect fulfillment of the Passion. The deacons who spread the cloths upon the altar recall the burial linens; and those who, once the sacred Body has been produced, stand on either side and fan the air around it, represent the angels who remained by Christ all the while He was dead, to honour Him, until they had seen His Resurrection.” (McLeod, 2008) If we only understood this wondrous gift that had been given to us! We have been partakers of this mystery and joining in the songs that had been reserved exclusively for the heavenly beings. St. John Chrysostom writes that the Gloria in excelsis is the song that the lower angels sing, to which the catechumenate is permitted to join in, while the Sanctus, is the song of the Seraphim – leading into the very sanctuary of the Holy of Holies, where GOD Himself is, thus is a song that only the initiated, the baptised may sing (Daniélou, 1952). We are therefore not and cannot be mere spectators.

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Have our senses become so dulled or have we become so numbed that we fail to see the Divine before us? Or are we taking for granted, the humility of GOD found in the ordinary forms of bread and wine? If so, then for these people, there is no difference between the consecrated Body and Blood of Christ, with an individually packed Ribena drink and a biscuit sealed in a disposable container. This is something which makes me sad.

Daniélou, J.  (1952). The Angels and their Mission: According to the Fathers of the Church. Sophia Institute Press.

McLeod, F. G. (2008). Theodore of Mopsuestia. Routledge.

St. John Chrysostom. (n.d.) An Exhortation on Attending Church.

St. John Chrysostom. (1977) Six Books on the Priesthood. (N.  Graham. trans). Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press