The Culture of Entertainment Vs The Sense of the Sacred

Every Simbang Gabi in December, every Church and every parish seem to have the same problem: the phenomenon of the so-called simbang labas (a common variation would be simbang ligaw, meaning taking the mass as a dating opportunity). The problem isn't so much the people having to hear mass outside. After all, that time of the year our churches are filled to the rafters and bursting at the seams with mass-goers. The problem is many people, mostly the young ones, go there not for the sacrifice of the Holy Mass, but for reasons that have nothing to do with it. They treat it as gimik or an opportunity to be with their girlfriends or boyfriends or barkada. They talk, joke around, make chismis, and wander around like the mass wasn't going on. Moreover, it seems that the problem gets worse every year.

I would dare say that this problem is not the real problem here, but more of a symptom of a bigger problem. The real problem, in my opinion, is the loss of the sense of the sacred.

This video has been making the rounds in social media lately. I agree, the Madrigal Singers have done this country a great service and brought honor to our nation many, many times in the past. But we have to call a spade a spade, and what they did here was totally lacking any sense of the sacred.

We can all ask what the organizers were thinking by making the Madrigal Singers do this inside a church. Usually, public places like malls and parks are used for flash mobs. Who would have the audacity to suggest a flash mob that has nothing to with praise, prayer, religion, or God. Quoting from this report:

CCP artistic director Chris Millado said the performance, which he referred to as a “random act of culture,” is aimed at making “art matter to every Filipino.”

There you go.. IT WAS A RANDOM ACT OF CULTURE. Nothing to do with praying whatsoever. In fact, if you take a close look at the crowd in the video above, you will notice not a few people irked by the performance. They came their to pray, but their prayers were interrupted by the random act of culture.  However, some of the people joined in the singing and dancing. They took pictures and videos too. The sense of the sacred was lost, replaced by total entertainment.

Let's take a look at the spectacle they made in the sanctuary

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Honestly, before I found this picture, I was going to ask why this random act of culture was allowed to be staged inside a church no less. Only for me to see - gasp - a priest joining the fray! I guess I found the answer.

Let's not kid ourselves. We have lost the sense of the sacred. With the media and social media bombarding us with so much noise from movies to songs to TV shows to blogs, it is quite difficult to find people who would cherish and uphold the silence and sacredness of the Church. Where the Blessed Sacrament is. Where Jesus is. His Real Presence among us!

But nobody seems to appreciate that fact anymore. We're all emo when it comes to life's purpose, what is life, who we are, what's our identity, where is God - when He is physically present during Communion and right there in the tabernacle when the mass is not being said. But people seem to miss these points, resulting in a loss of the sense of the Sacred.

These are the things I have observed that led to the loss of our sense of sacred:

1. "Innovations" inside the Holy Mass -  Good worship boils down to correct worship, after all. I have said it before, and I do say it again: the burden of proof lies on those who say that their liturgical dance will lead people to greater appreciation of the mass. On the other hand, the mass, by itself, without any of the mumbo-jumbo, feel good, song-and-dance routines being perpetuated by catechists and liturgists, have already produced hundreds of saints.

I am not clowning around. This is an actual clown mass. Because small liturgical abuses lead to bigger ones.

2. Not observing the dress code inside the church - People can no longer distinguish what they can wear when they are at the mall and when inside the church. Ergo you have boys wearing shorts and crocs, and ladies wearing very revealing dresses. Ever heard of the term "Sunday Best"? I guess you haven't heard that term for a long time. Yep. That's because it's been ages since we wore our best for the Lord especially during Sundays. It pains me to say that I wish I could say that only the laity are guilty of this; how many times have we seen our priests not wear the proper vestments? I distinctly remember one Sunday when I noticed that the sacristans and the lay minsters were impeccably dressed, only for the mass to begin and see that father so and so was wearing jeans and dirty rubber shoes. Ack.

3. Failure of Parents to act as First Educators - The family is a child's first experience of the Catholic Church. The parents are supposed to be the primary educators of the child especially in matters of the faith and in morals. Godparents should be helping out in this matter too. Many parents, however, think it is the role of the teachers and the school to do this. I have the utmost respect for parents who take time to learn their Catholic faith in order to pass it on to their children. Sadly, this has not been the case for many. Unfortunately, in many cases too, there has been a disconnect with what the teachers and the catechists teach and what they see and hear from their parents.

4. Sense of Sacred being replaced by Culture of Entertainment - It is all around us. Mass media, social, media, the internet, books, magazines, comics, songs, shows, film. We live from one distraction to the next. We must have see that latest movie, check out that latest MTV, and read that latest book. We wake up, we open the TV. We listen to music going to work. At home we check out our mail and/or Facebook. There is simply no time nor space for God. Everything has to appeal to our senses. And this need to saturate our senses sometimes carry over to the church. We complain that father so and so's homily was too long, too boring, and completely devoid of any visual or powerpoint presentation. We complain that the mass takes forever and that the church is too quiet. This is when catechists, parish priests, and liturgists begin to say, "hey, let's put some dancing in the mass, to make it more appealing" or something to that effect.

These 4 are just what I have in mind. Feel free to add to the list by commenting in the comments section. Let us do our part in restoring the Sense of the Sacred.