A Living Sanctuary

My son and I were at Cub Scout Camp last week while my daughters were visiting their grandmother. So Sunday morning I went to my mom's and picked them up causing me to miss mass Sunday morning. No, no--this isn't a blog about how I missed mass this weekend. I did miss mass at my home parish but I went to the 6pm mass at St. Gabe's. It's a teen mass and I always enjoy it. Everything is still liturgically correct. The music are the same songs and everything, is just a little more contemporary, which I realize for come people may be too much.

During communion, the choir--actually more of a band--goes up first and while they were there one of the members stayed beyond and sang this wonderful, prayerful song while playing the piano:

"Lord, prepare me, to be a sanctuary; pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I'll be a living sanctuary for you."

This slow, reverent song being repeated really struck a chord with me It's a prayer I'd like to remember but it was especially meaningful after I was made to feel like Jacob, who wrestled with God, at mass the week before. It was a reminder for me of what God wants us to be and what we actually are right after mass.

The tabernacle, or sanctuary, is where the consecrated hosts are placed in-between masses. It's normally a golden object placed at the front of the church (unless of course your church has been built in the last forty years then they may be hiding Jesus) An interesting thought though is that right after mass, we are actual tabernacles. At that moment, the consecrated host resides in us. It is the closest we will ever physically be to Jesus. That's why we shouldn't be playing bumper cars trying to get out of the parking lot after mass! Everyone we see is another living sanctuary.

So this song speaks to us in a very literal way. "Lord, prepare me, to be a living sanctuary." We will all literally be little walking, talking tabernacles. I think the song speaks to us in a spiritual way also. We should always be living tabernacles for Christ even long after mass is over. We should always allow him to live in us. People should always be able to see Him in us and Him working through us. After all, we are challenged with taking God out into the world. We have more of a responsibility than going to church one hour a week. We are to take what we are and what we are transformed into out into the world. We have to be that tabernacle with Jesus in us and take him to our workplaces, to our schools, stores, streets, where ever people may be so that they can follow him also.

This prayer/song was a reminder to me that I need to be that person that people can see Christ in and who leads people to Him and not scare away. That seems to be a huge task. It seems to be very daunting. It's a thought that had me "sweating from my eyeballs" as my wife, Abby put it. But I realize that I just need to shut up and be the sanctuary and let Jesus, who is with me do all of the heavy lifting.