Reverence (The Absence of) : A Cry for a Sacramental Life

Stuff... stuff... and more stuff.  Honestly, why is there so much stuff?!  I have to admit that after moving my family from PA to SC I came face to face with exactly how much "stuff" we had.  And the monstrous amount  that I'm speaking of is AFTER we pitched, donated, sold, or otherwise attempted to thin our stuff collection. And after we were moved, completely unpacked, and ready to relax... I sat in my chair, looked around the room and thought to myself... "How much of this stuff do we "Actually" need.

The answer?  Almost none of it.  Sure we need some clothes ("some" being the important word there), and only enough food and water (we NEED only a fraction of what we consume regularly), and depending on where you live... a little shelter and warmth.  That's it.  So why the incessant desire for more and more and more?

I posit the decline of Reverence as the main culprit to this problem (well, that and the Industrial Revolution).  One of the personal vows within the Pedes Dei devotion is "Reverent Simplicity".

Reverence
1. a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration.
2. the outward manifestation of this feeling: to pay reverence.
3. a gesture indicative of deep respect; an obeisance, bow, or curtsy.

Simplicity
1. the state, quality, or an instance of being simple.
2. freedom from complexity, intricacy, or division into parts: an organism of great simplicity.
3. absence of luxury, pretentiousness, ornament, etc.; plainness: a life of simplicity.
4. freedom from deceit or guile; sincerity; artlessness; naturalness: a simplicity of manner.

Pedes Dei encourages us to analyze our life, our priorities, and our possessions.  It encourages us to take a close look at where our desires are.  Are we too attached to our "stuff", or is our focus on that which is sacred?  If you haven't guessed, it should be the latter.  In Catholicism, we are lucky to be immersed in a Church that has "Sacraments" on the brain.  It's literally the center of the Church.  For those who are not aware, the Catholic Church has 7 Sacraments which are "efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions."  They are...

1. Baptism
2. Confirmation
3. Eucharist
4. Penace or Reconciliation
5. Anointing of the Sick
6. Marriage
7. Holy Orders

For some great reading, St. Thomas Aquinas discussed the biblical justification for the Sacraments in Summa contra Gentiles and Summa Theologica.

The church also has what are called "Sacramentals" which are sacred signs that signify effects obtained through the Church's intercession. While all of the seven Sacraments are Christ-instituted and always do exactly what they signify ex opere operato  ("from the deed done"), sacramentals are usually Church-instituted (though some are Christ-instituted). They work through the power and prayers of the Church (ex opere operantis Ecclesiae) and, subjectively, ex opere operantis, that is, through the pious disposition of the one using them. Sacramentals drive away evil spirit, and when piously used, remit venial sin and prepare the soul for grace.   Sacramentals can be material things (blessed objects, such as scapulars, Rosaries, Crucifxes, medals,  Holy Water, etc.) or actions (the Sign of the Cross, genuflection, prayers, the washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, etc.).

I believe wholeheartedly that a life built upon the Sacraments and Sacramentals of the Church, with a Reverent disposition towards the material things that aren't considered as such (aka, our food, shelter, heat, clothes, tv's, computers, etc...) encompass the concept of "Reverent Simplicity".