Sanctuary

As priests and religious our vision can sometimes be so narrow that we fail miserably in living a normal life - and rightly so!  In times when all around the world there are protests against racism and calls for greater equality in day-to-day life among all, especially giving those coloured due recognition, we religious are more concerned about opening and cleaning the Churches with the easing of the lockdown.  Protestors, in spite of the threat of the Corona virus, assemble to voice their demands for equality and humanity to be recognised.  Rather than join them, we are most concerned with how much hand sanitizer gel to procure and how to clean the church door handles!  

I do not agree with all the forms the protest under the slogan 'Black lives matter' takes on or all the consequences of them.  I do not even approve of that slogan itself - I believe it should rather be 'All lives matter!'  However, one thing I keep asking myself is, if the clergy are not keen and happy to go out to meet the people in their lives, in their homes, in their struggles, in their situations, how on earth can we expect them to come to Church?  Why should they?  We are actually expecting the laity to have a great amount of faith to be able to fight their day-to-day survival and humane battles ALONE and also have a deep faith - again, all by themselves.  How can we religious claim to be 'representatives' of God and not be with them in their everyday struggle?  And then have the audacity to question and reprimand the very same people for not coming to Church even on a Sunday?  

If the clergy cannot be 'outside' the church with the people, we do not have the right to expect the laity 'inside' the church! If the boundary for me as a religious, is the outer wall of the church which I do not (want to?) go beyond, then that very wall can be the boundary, the laity need not cross to get into the church!  The sanctuary in the church is not a sanctuary (refuge) for the religious!