Waiting as if for a movie

I just came from a "simbang gabi" Mass at my parish. I arrived quite early because I was supposed to catch the earlier 6:30pm Mass but I got caught in really bad traffic and aside from that I desperately needed to fill my gas tank. So in the end, I arrived at the Parish at 7:15. What's 45 minutes wait?

As I wait...

As I waited, I took the opportunity to "pamper" my prayer to God by actually praying -- conversing with God in the tabernacle -- and not being in a hurry. But as I tried to pray, people started pouring in the Church: children, manangs, young and old professionals. As they filled the Church, praying became doubly hard because people, after their initial 1-minute prayer to God, started to chat with each other. Children started to run around the Church, moving from one pew to another until they were satisfied.

A group of people behind me started to chatter as well. It was bugging me so I transferred to the next pew. But the side of the Church I was seated started to become unbearably noisy. So, again, I moved to the other side of the Church which was relatively more quiet than the other. As I observed the people on the "other half" they looked like as if they were inside a movie house, waiting for the movie to start.

Boy did I feel bad for God who is inside the tabernacle! Basic thing: The Church is a house of prayer. It is a place to pray. A place to talk to God and not to talk to one another as if you never talked outside the Church. Inside the Church, our disposition should be to talk to God, or at the least, to just accompany God in the Holy Eucharist. It is the Eucharistic Year and yet people do not know how to show respect Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The Church is not a movie house. The Holy Mass is the commemoration of Christ's crucifixion on Calvary. That is why on the altars, there is always a crucifix present directly on top or on the side or wherever. It is supposed to remind us that the Mass is the same sacrifice on the cross. So, if we are early for Mass, how should we behave? We are waiting for the Mass, ayt? We are then waiting for Jesus Christ to be crucified. How then should we behave if we are like those people on Calvary (imagine Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ") waiting for Jesus Christ to reach the top and we want to witness this sacrifice? Are we going to chit chat? We are, instead, going to prepare ourselves to see Jesus Christ on the Cross!

This is sad.

Not a lot of people do not understand the real meaning and value of the Mass. I see people holding on to their devotion booklets (all bundled in a special little bag) and reading them from page 1 to the last. And as soon as the Mass starts, they leave the Church satisfied with their little devotions.

The Holy Mass is the greatest prayer one person can say!!! We don't need all those devotion booklets to ask for our petitions! The Holy Mass is the best devotion! Haaay... It is the most complete prayer. There, we already invoke the help of Mother Mary, the Holy Trinity, some saints, the holy souls... What more can we ask for? The Mass is the most complete! Above all, it's free!