The sense of the sacred which our ancestors had, has been lost in many regions of the planet, especially in the secularized occidental world. Claret perceived this already in his time and taught the priests to recover something so beautiful like “trembling” before the divine. Even during Eucharistic adorations, sometimes one perceives a certain atmosphere of indifference and insensitiveness.
Participation in liturgical celebrations could become a social act, thus notably losing its dimension of encounter with God. Do you not notice that one of the reasons for the decadence of faith is the loss of the sense of the sacred?
To recover it, the church needs persons with a profound experience of God. That experience is not difficult when we have the Eucharist where we enjoy the quality presence of the Lord in our midst. He is at the centre of the Church, in the midst of his people. If we make ourselves aware of this, aware of this “startling” immediacy, without doubt, we will be able to remain there in deep silence and veneration.
The experience of “the sacred outside” in the temple would infuse in us the sense of “the sacred within” us, of our transcendent dimension, also of our own body as the temple of the Holy Spirit. (cf. 1Cor 6, 19) in which a different form of Eucharistic presence is encountered.
From there, we will gradually begin to appreciate the sacred in others, to respect them as a place of encounter with God. Finally, the cosmos would become a place for the manifestation of the divine. He who encounters God in himself, in others and in the cosmos can experience him more intensely in ritual celebration.
Do you conserve and bear witness to the sacred import of others, of human life, of creation, of history? What means do you employ to recover or enrich it?