I am constantly learning with the grace of God and in the company of the Holy Spirit. In this journey, there is a learning curve, and i don't think the learning ever ends. In God's way of instructing there is much love and gentleness. Please remember, i too am constantly learning.
1) When in the Church, take a bow to the presence of Jesus in the Tabernacle and when entering the Prayer Room/Chapel for Eucharistic Adoration, if unable to genuflect-reverently bow.
Please refrain from any kind of talk near the Tabernacle. Please maintain Holy silence in the direct presence of Jesus.
2) Please do not touch the monstrance.
There was this one time, i was at a retreat, and the Priest had given the charge i think to His people and the lay person, who was in charge told the women to come up and he says, "touch the hands and feet of Jesus". Then he called the men and told them to do the same. They all had their hands directly touching the Blessed Sacrament. I was literally shocked, because I was not open to such behaviour and i don't think that part of me will change. (Sorry! But, i believe there must be a point where we draw the line. No means no. Most lay people have no idea of how they must come in reverence to the Lord. I am of the opinion that people who are guiding others - must be made aware, certain guidelines given - or else we have the blind leading the blind, like in this retreat.) I was the only one who did not go up. That was my first and last retreat.
3) It is inappropriate to cross your legs, (simply because it is disrespectful) especially when: -
- You are in the Church and or participating in the celebration of the mass.
- During the Eucharistic Adoration in the Church or in the prayer room.
- When holding/reading the Bible.
Note: To come in the presence of an earthly King, (not just anybody would be allowed to meet with the King) one is advised on how to behave, and one would need to follow certain protocols-guidelines. There would be no crossing one's leg before an earthly King.
Then pray tell me, why, would you be so disrespectful to a Holy Mighty God, Who is so wonderfully kind!
4) Be decently dressed at the celebration of the mass and in the Prayer room (Eucharistic Adoration).
For e.g. This lady lector during the offertory would bend down to pick the church offering bags. She was wearing mid-thigh skirt, and as such the more one bends, the more upwards, the skirt will go. This happened on more than one occasion. It is not good when this happens. We come to GOD and HOW must we come?
Remember: We are all important, and we set an example to each other.
5) Never eat, drink, in the Church or in the Prayer room.
Don't make it a habit to drink water after you enter the Prayer Room. If thirsty, drink the water and then enter.
The habits we make are because we lack control and we lack reverence to God.
If you are thirsty in between, tell Jesus that you are. Of course, Jesus knows, but there is something else when you share that feeling with Jesus. Give it a try.
6) Cell phones to be on silent mode or switched off.
Never have prayers saved on a cell. It is easy to get distracted and look at the incoming messages and you could forget you are in the presence of God. The same goes for answering calls, whether it is a second or not, it does not matter. When you answer the call in the prayer room/Chruch - you give in to the temptation.
I see people answer the call inside and come out and then continue with the talk on their cells. Who are we fooling? Seeing we do not see, hearing we do not hear. We must be truly blind and deaf!
And i will come straight to the point, you show no reverence to God at all.
7) Please be respectful of the Sanctuary.
There are times when one needs to walk through to the Sacristy. Those are unavoidable for those who assist in the celebration of the mass. But other than that, one must avoid.
I see people walk up and down like there is no tomorrow. It is mostly used as a shortcut. Again, complete lack of reverence to all that is HOLY.
8) Please be respectful of the Sacristy
A sacristy is a sacred space - a room in the church where the Priest gets vested for the celebration of the mass.
The Sacristy must never be an entry point to the Church during off hours, because then people just walk in and enter the Chruch through the Sanctuary and then walk up to the Sanctuary and out of the Sacristy. And this is an ongoing behaviour. Sometimes, children just run through. This is a complete breakdown of reverence to God!
The sacristy is where all objects that are holy and are needed for celebrating the Mass; the Priestly vestments, and the Church sacred vessels including the monstrance are kept. Therefore, it becomes a Sacred – Holy place and must be treated as such.
On a particular occasion in the Church, there were some men helping with the Church display. And on one particular day, i noticed these men were eating wada pav/samosa pav in the Sacristy. It was a bunch of them. That was sad. Many people are not aware of the holiness of the room. These men were giving off their time and actually helping. I don’t think they would knowingly do such things. But still, we ought to know about our Church and reverence to all things that are holy.
My brother was baptized in the Sacristy. This room holds the best of memories.
We are called to be HOLY!
Note: A few months back, a lady came into the Prayer Room, a little before I could leave for the day. She stood by the Blessed Sacrament; she took her folder and brought it into direct contact with our Lord and she kept holding it for a long time. I continued with my conversation with the Lord, not letting it distract me. But i still could see.
I get up when Jesus asks me to come to the door. And I see her answering calls while still in the Prayer Room. When she came out, she sat on the bench outside.
I completed my conversation with Jesus. Strangely without intending to, when passing by, I asked her, can I sit with you.
She said yes. And then she asked me is it because of the calls in the prayer room? I said no.
Then she asked me is it because of the folder. I said no.
Note: I asked her to think and answer, what would her behaviour be, if she were in the presence of a King or the President? I asked her would you eat fruits before a King or the President. Her answer was no. Then I lovingly showed her Jesus, I said here we are before a King, before the Son of God. She immediately kept her fruits in the bag. Then I pointed the note on the glass and on the wall Reading-Do not touch the monstrance. And I also gently advised her to never make calls or answer calls from the Prayer Room.
But sadly, she is not the only person to do so. I have seen so many people answer calls and speak from inside the Prayer room and then come out and speak. There is a total lack of reverence to God!
One woman comes to the prayer room only to answer messages as they come on her cell in the comfort of the A.C. It does not bother her in Whose presence she is. I wish she would sit in front but no, she will sit on the last seat.
For the good of their souls, I think people should leave their cells at home. But you know, I think people would die if their cells were not with them.
I am not hooked on to my cell and that is the grace of God. Honestly i could do without it. At one time, i wanted to shut it down completely. But my cousin put sense into me. I never carry my cell to Church ever. I don't wear a watch to the Church. When i enter and when i leave i look at the office watch-that is how i keep track of time. I am not saying Cell phones are bad, but when one comes to God one must leave the extra baggage at home (that is the cell) or either keep it on silent and forget about it until you are outside.
They are distractions to keep us from giving our all to God.
GOD IS MY ALL!
3rd of October 2023 A schoolgirl enters the prayer room. I am happy to see her. But even a child knows the Ac switch.
Later on, I saw this lady and i thought she was praying. Her mouth moved so much. And then minutes later, i saw the other lady-the same movements. And i realized, they were having a talking session in the prayer room in the comfort of the AC. (09.00 a.m.-09:30a.m.)
4th of October 2023 Same three ladies come at the same time as yesterday. They try switching on the AC but there is a problem. After 10-15 minutes of their talk time, I know, i can't stay out. So, i go in and sit. I am there two minutes, and they leave. I reach out to that lady's hand and say this is God here. She replies i know. I say yes, there is a difference in knowing and behaving.
The problem is our lack of discipline, our lack of reverence in the Church and Prayer Room.
There are quite a number of people who only come because they can sit in an AC room for free. (As per what i have seen - A woman or A man in the prayer room come and switch on the A.C and either one sits for an hour--This is just an example.) Imagine most of the time the A.C runs for one person alone. And then if there are like these more people coming in solo, what happens?
Truthfully speaking, there must never be any comforts when one prays.
There is a lack of reverence to God. This kind of behaviour has crossed the line a long time back.
The cat closes its eyes when it sips milk from the bowl. Just because it has its eyes closed, the cat believes nobody else can see it.
We behave as if God is not present. Because we can’t see Him, we behave like He cannot see us. How truly blind we are. We have to believe He is! He watches over the sparrow; He watches over me. He knows the number of hair on my head. He knows everything about me.
Because there is one thing, I am sure of - nobody who answers the calls in the Prayer room are running the country. So, what is the hurry?
And even if they were, one has to set time aside to be with the Lord.
God has set His time eternally for us. We need to be like our Wonderful God! We need to imitate Jesus!
And when you pray, and you want to be heard-and you want to be answered, let your body feel the pain.
When you pray, comfort should be the farthest thing. It is good to make a sacrifice. It is good to be humble like our Lord. He does not sit before us in His Sovereign position, He is there as a Host held in a Monstrance. The Lord of Lords, The King of Kings waits for us to come to Him. How must we come; how must we behave? Certainly, we do not keep the AC for our Lord. God Himself sits as a wafer of Bread and we want the AC on. We can't leave our comforts. But He leads by example and we are so blind, not to want to see and understand.
For 33 years, Jesus lived being one of us.
He worked with Joseph His father, as a Carpenter. Jesus lived a life of Sacrifice even unto His Death. Even now Jesus is waiting for us! But we want our cells, oh and the A.C.
What i have written here, is all that i have seen. If i do not write, after knowing the truth and what God has made me understand then i become a part of all that is wrong. And that will do harm to my soul. I hurt for Jesus and i wish to help. But all i can do is write and pray. And then it's off my shoulders.
If we don’t learn now, PURGATORY will be a lifetime of learning.
We need to make amends to our lives. We need to understand what our reverence to God must be and how it in turn, turns our life around. With our lack of reverence to God, Purgatory will be a long-long time destination, with no A.C.
Desiring the best for each one of us, I would humbly ask that we learn it here and now, when there is still time. Later will be too long.
*Please remember-remember we are called to be Holy.
Lack of reverence to God will keep us in Purgatory for a very long time.
Let us help each other to build a stairway to Heaven!
Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make my heart, like unto Thine!
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