GIGGLING….] “Shhh!” Debbie’s sister snapped at her.
“Mommy’s at it again …,” she said trying to control her
laughter.
“I know, but she likes to pray that way,” her sister Zia also let out a soft snort.
“… but it’s funny and my classmate said it’s superstitious.”
“Of course not,” Zia said.
“Like how not?”
“Well, when you buy things you do check the brand first, right?”
“Yeah … so what?”
“… and you also try out what you’re about to buy? Like the Havaianas you’re wearing, or the iPod you’re using and McFlurry you’ve just taken.”
“I don’t get it!” Debbie asked. “How does that connect with Mom making-pahid the statue of Mama Mary?”
“I guess it’s one way to understand that we don’t only know our faith, but we kindda live it by wearing it or in her case, touching it.”
* * *
Zia expresses a lot of human and supernatural sense by saying that our faith is more than just knowing something. Somehow we have to touch it too. This is nothing new, and in fact, in our now hypersensorial world there is so much emphasis on engaging life with the full works of one’s senses: sight, sound, smell, touch and taste.
Unfortunately, people overindulge in their senses to the point of becoming numb to the nourishing and indispensable value of spiritual realities and practices. Thus, we understand why more and more people are finding it hard to pray, reflect and recollect because the excess of material comfort and indulgence hampers the development of their spiritual muscles.
This, however, does not make man’s sensible powers bad in themselves. If this were so, God would not have redeemed us by taking upon Himself our nature. This divine initiative demonstrates that sensible realities as well as man’s physical existence is a path that can and ought to help commune with God. Our Lord, therefore, became the most perfect and effective sign for us to follow and imitate—even materially through one’s senses—if we wanted to grow in our spiritual life.
The entire life of Christ from conception, birth, death and Resurrection is filled with many human and material details. From His Incarnation, Jesus’ presence was already physically felt by Mary. When He was born, Mary embraced the Word of God made flesh in Her arms, fed Him with milk, clothed and washed Him. Mary was living her spiritual life in such a material way because God allowed Her so with His Incarnation.
Later, during our Lord’s public life, we witness numerous occasions—they would be too many to enumerate—where Jesus made use of material things to help those who were in need, sick and dying (e.g. making wine from water, mud mixed with spittle, touching the eyes of the blind, holding and blessing the loaves and the fish, and using bread and wine as the supreme signs of His historically transcending love and redeeming action in man’s life).
Jesus’ teaching, especially His parables, teemed with many material examples: the seed sowed on good ground, the lost sheep, the wedding feasts, the light of the world and the salt of the earth, etc. Moreover, there were people filled with faith, who longed to see and touch our Lord (even just the hem of His garments) in order to be healed or converted.
In the Acts of the Apostles, the early Christians continued with this endearing material sense of living their spiritual life. We are told that when St. Peter visited the early Christian communities, the people “carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.” (Acts)
Even after St. Peter’s death, the Christians continued to “materialize their faith.” J.E. Walsh interestingly narrates that when pilgrims during the sixth century went to visit St. Peter’s tomb, they would piously touch a piece of cloth to the Apostle’s tomb in order to “draw from it divine power” if he or she prays devoutly and fasts. (“The Bones of St. Peter,” Sinag-tala Publishers, Inc, Manila, August, 1987, pp. 38-39.)
All these demonstrate how God doesn’t disdain man’s use of his senses as long as they help to integrate him and unite him more to God and others. He understands how much we need the help of things we could see, touch and smell if only to reinforce in some way or to water the seed of our faith so that it may bloom. This is why we too cannot belittle the role of sensible things that help to concretize how we live and express our faith.
It is nothing strange, therefore, if we continue today such wonderful practices of piety if only to further reinforce our faith in a childlike way. Similar gestures would apply when we say the Rosary using the beads, when wearing or kissing a Crucifix or some image of our Lady or our favorite saint similar to how we treasure photographs of our departed loved ones, when we dip our finger in Holy Water to receive God’s blessings and protection, etc.
In such practices, as long as we do not wrongly attached silly superstitions to them, our faith is fortified and bears fruit.
* * *
“Zia?” Debbie asked.
“What?”
“Can you place my iPod on Mama Mary’s feet?”
“Are you silly, dude?”
“I’m not …,” she replied.
“Why your iPod?”
“I want it to touch Her, because I want it to be my offering …,”
“You’re going to leave your iPod here?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then what?”
“To tell Her that I won’t use it for the whole season of Lent.”
“Cool! Then can I use it instead?” Zia winked at her younger sister.