One of the first things taught in a comparative religion class is the idea of the sacred. The contrast is the mundane, the everyday, the worldly things that don’t speak directly of or lead our souls to a “higher being.” The sacred is other-worldy, set aside apart and above the normal things of the world. Eating, sleeping and drinking are mundane. Worship, praise, prayer and mediation are all human actions to reach beyond and transcend our mundane lives. A further contrast is the profane – the antithesis of the sacred, that which shows contempt and irreverence for things considered to be sacred. Profanity besides the standard things can include a disregard or lack of respect for the sacred.
The contrast between scared and mundane is sometimes difficult to nail down. In Catholic liturgies, the line has been blurred: a priest is cold and distant (according to some) if he begins Mass with “In the name of the Father… the Lord be with you” instead of “Good morning, Everyone!” Obviously, one is a sacred statement, the other a mundane statement in the context of the sacred.
I was thinking about these things because we have a new associate pastor (Parochial Vicar in the Arlington “Orthodox = Us!” Diocese) and I’m surprised to hear the comments. Fr. X was educated in Rome (eyes roll). Fr. X does things “by the book” (eyes roll again). Fr. X is young (heaven forbid a celebate man who has had 6 years of graduate studies in theology, scripture and Catholic spirituality is only 30 years old! Maybe he’ll “mellow” as he gets older and start saying “Good morning!”)
What do we need besides Jesus in the Eucharist? It’s an interesting question because there’s more to the eucharist than the eucharistic prayers and the consecration.
I’ll leave that where it is today and come back to it another time. How about some comments, people?