WORDS FROM FATHER YOHANES: Creating a Sacred Space — Isaiah’s Two Tasks and Ours

By Father Yohanes Akoit

The first reading of the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time speaks about how the Lord brings foreigners into His house, the temple. This act of welcoming becomes the reason why the Lord instructs the prophet Isaiah, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people” (Isaiah 56:1, 6-7).

In carrying out this command of the Lord, the prophet Isaiah had two responsibilities. First, he had to show the people that the temple is the place to encounter the Lord. This first task concerns his personal faith: his prayer discipline, his respect for the temple, and his sense of responsibility toward the house of God. He had to do all this because the Lord is present in the temple. And Isaiah truly fulfilled this personal task. We see it through his own experience of encountering the Lord in the temple: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty, and the hem of His robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).

Second, the prophet Isaiah had to share his personal experience of encountering the Lord so that it could become the experience of all the people. He had to create an atmosphere where people could feel the presence of the Lord in the temple. At the same time, he taught them how to worship and praise God: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways” (Isaiah 2:2-3). And since this instruction came from the Lord, every temple, or the church, became a place where His presence dwelled. In that presence, the church became holy, a fountain of grace, where people who came to worship could truly encounter the Lord. From this encounter, believers carried the peace of God back to their families, neighbors, and into the journey of their daily lives.

As we gather as God’s family to worship Him in St. Julian and St. Anthony, the church echoes again the same message and task given to prophet Isaiah. The church reminds us of our personal call to meet Jesus in the temple, and our duty to create an atmosphere where people can feel the presence of God as soon as they enter the church. We carry the same two tasks of the prophet Isaiah. First, we must always remember that the church is the house of God and the house of prayer. That disposition should be present in our mind and heart. We should tell ourselves, “I am going to the house of God to pray and worship Him, and to bring home the peace of God for my life and for others.”

Second, we must remember that we do not come to church only to satisfy our own spiritual hunger. There are other people, like us, who also want to encounter God. Therefore, we must place ourselves in such a way that we do not become a stumbling block for others. And this disposition must be echoed in our hearts through a personal question: What should I do so that others can encounter God through their prayer in the church? From this inner question, I should keep good timing and avoid being late for Mass, because it distracts those who are already praying. I should resist the temptation to talk during Mass, and I should avoid anything that becomes an obstacle for others who are trying to pray and encounter the Lord.

Therefore, our reflection for this week is: First, what should I do to encounter God when I come to attend Holy Mass? Second, what obstacles do I create for others in the church that may disturb them when they come to pray?

Father Yohanes Akoit is pastor of St. Julian and St. Anthony Catholic churches in Kentucky.