On Piety

From "In the Spirit of Transparency"
September 11, 1998

“Keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary. I am the LORD” Leviticus 19:30.

Several of our brothers and sisters recently observed that our community does not consistently exhibit the sense of the sacred inside the church of our worship. They noted that many of us usually engage in social and community talk before as well as after our corporate worship, thereby creating noise and commotion that disturb the recitation of the rosary and the holding of intercessory prayers and Word Sharing Circles. Several times, the announcer had to exhort the assembly to silence, only to find his voice lost in the din. A class shepherd reported that a couple of new ME graduates were turned off by what they considered to be impious behavior inside the church that they stopped attending our worship.

“The church- the house of God- is the proper place for the liturgical prayer of the community and the privileged place for adoration of the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament” (CCC 2691). The Blessed Sacrament resides in the Eucharistic tabernacle and therefore deserves the greatest honor and adoration from the faithful. Before, during and after our corporate worship, at all hours of the day and night, Christ in His Eucharistic presence remains in our midst. His Eucharistic presence symbolizes both His sacrificial death and His endless love for us. We must honor and respect the presence of the Lord.

The above observations underline the need for us to live up to our community norm of piety. Our Covenant of Communion defines the norm of piety in terms of its forms: daily prayer and Scripture reading, active sacramental life, faithful attendance of our corporate worship, Living Word Groups/Word Sharing Circles, teachings and community assemblies, Fasting for the Poor, submission to pastoral authority and care. But piety is more than form; it is an attitude of the heart.

Piety is of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2-3). It enables us to apprehend our rightful relationship to God: that He is our Creator and we are His creatures; that He is our Savior and we are His redeemed; that He is our Sovereign Lord and King, and we are His servants; that He is the Divine Providence, and we are the recipients of His blessings. The gift of piety develops and nourishes the attitude of the heart that enables us to reverence God and to obey His will, from which springs the gifts of worship and discipleship.

We request everyone to conduct themselves prayerfully from the moment we step into the house of the Lord until we depart from it for our community fellowship. Our ushers, praise ministry and announcers will call us to silence from time to time. Let us heed the call of the psalmist: “Praise the Lord in His sanctuary!” Psalm 150:1