Friday, February 8, 2008

Touching the sacred


For just a few hours, parishioners in this parish were united today with those who are preparing for the celebration of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress. The Congress will take place in June of this year in Quebec City, but for the past year or so, the Ark of the New Covenant, an artistic representation of Noah's ark which was created two years ago, has been travelling across Canada.

Within minutes after the arrival of the Ark, parishioners began to trickle into the church and continued to arrive for the next few hours. As I watched the growing number of people who entered the church, I couldn't help thinking that this was very good news. Perhaps without even realizing it, people welcome the opportunity to touch the sacred in our lives, and seek out opportunities to do so.

Awareness of the sacred is experienced and appreciated when the soul is allowed to sing. For some, this happens through music, for others through silence, and for still others through a variety of activities and experiences. What is most important is that we find occasions to allow the sacred to change our hearts.

Those who facilitate this process are perhaps the most to be appreciated, for they are often the angels who continue the promptings of the heart that draw us ever closer to union with God.

No comments: