As I write this the 115 Cardinals of the Roman Church who have been assigned the task of selecting a new Pope are sequestered inside the Sistine Chapel at Vatican City. Media outlets have shown images of these officials gathering in and around Rome over the past week. There have been interviews with some. There was even the comical story of an impostor attempting to sneak in and pass himself off as a potential participant in the proceedings. On Sunday there where reports of Cardinals celebrating Mass and praying for God's guidance in the process that would convene this week. And as this day began, the Conclave party entered into it's holy endeavor amid the sounds, sights, and smells of liturgical pageantry.
Some will say that this religious spectacle exposes an institution that is unaware of it's faults, it's hypocrisy, even it's negligible relevance in today's world. There is much cynicism about the celebratory practices of religion these days. Wearing robes and funny hats, chanting phrases in foreign (dead?) languages, lighting candles and burning incense: these things seem antiquated to many modern observers. They must be trying to cover something up. It's all just for show! Look at those silly people propping up a long deceased superstition!!!
Indeed, celebration is lost to many of us in the busyness of our lives. We don't have time for it...or, more correctly, we don't take time for it. Holidays are a rush of commercial pursuits and frenzied travel plans. The words expressed on special occasions are relegated to the sentiments of a Hallmark card - or a Facebook post. Life transitions are marked by a cake in the office break room. I've done weddings during which the bride has pulled up the laced sleeve of her dress to check the time - presumably to assure that the party is not yet late in arriving at the reception hall (for which they have paid much more than they intend to tuck in an envelope and slip into my hand after the "I do's" are completed).
So even though I am not a Roman Catholic and have no real stake in the proceedings at Vatican City this week, I was glad to see (again) the attention to liturgical celebratory detail. Because it shows that some of what we do in this world is still intentionally slowed, and honored, and ritualized. Some may call this pageantry silly. But I say it is a reminder that there is something in this world that we don't control and which directs our lives in a way that our selfish desires cannot. That Something is worth a few minutes of our time - and a funny robe and hat - and an ancient word uttered in holy awe.
Some will say that this religious spectacle exposes an institution that is unaware of it's faults, it's hypocrisy, even it's negligible relevance in today's world. There is much cynicism about the celebratory practices of religion these days. Wearing robes and funny hats, chanting phrases in foreign (dead?) languages, lighting candles and burning incense: these things seem antiquated to many modern observers. They must be trying to cover something up. It's all just for show! Look at those silly people propping up a long deceased superstition!!!
Indeed, celebration is lost to many of us in the busyness of our lives. We don't have time for it...or, more correctly, we don't take time for it. Holidays are a rush of commercial pursuits and frenzied travel plans. The words expressed on special occasions are relegated to the sentiments of a Hallmark card - or a Facebook post. Life transitions are marked by a cake in the office break room. I've done weddings during which the bride has pulled up the laced sleeve of her dress to check the time - presumably to assure that the party is not yet late in arriving at the reception hall (for which they have paid much more than they intend to tuck in an envelope and slip into my hand after the "I do's" are completed).
So even though I am not a Roman Catholic and have no real stake in the proceedings at Vatican City this week, I was glad to see (again) the attention to liturgical celebratory detail. Because it shows that some of what we do in this world is still intentionally slowed, and honored, and ritualized. Some may call this pageantry silly. But I say it is a reminder that there is something in this world that we don't control and which directs our lives in a way that our selfish desires cannot. That Something is worth a few minutes of our time - and a funny robe and hat - and an ancient word uttered in holy awe.
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