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Daily Scripture

+ 5th Week in Ordinary Time

It still has meaning.

1 Kings 8:1-7, 9-13 Psalm 132:6-7, 8-10 Mark 6:53-56

The priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary, the holy of holies of the temple. There was nothing in the ark but the two stone tablets which Moses had put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel. [1 Kings 8:6, 8]
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In recent years there has been much discussion in liturgical circles about the proper location of the tabernacle in the worship space. The directives implementing the Constitution on the Liturgy by the Second Vatican Council prescribed that the tabernacle be located in prominent location in the church or chapel, preferably in a chapel dedicated to the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament and appropriate for veneration. In any case, it was not to be located on the altar table used for the celebration of the Eucharist. As a result in many churches renovations, the tabernacle was moved to the ‘side altar’ previously used for the veneration of the Blessed Virgin or St. Joseph and in some churches, it was placed on the old altar previously used for Mass. In situations the old altar was replaced with a permanent pedestal on which the tabernacle was placed.

In liturgical matters, nothing is simple. Those of a more conservative disposition insisted that the location of the Tabernacle on the side altar reduced the status of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist thereby diminishing its meaning in the devotional life of the faithful. Others of a more liberal persuasion opined that in fact, the location in a separate chapel within the church assigned to the sacrament greater prominence thereby increasing the devotional aspect. Moreover, in as much as an emphasis of the ‘action’ of the Mass as the repetition of the “Lord’s Supper” was promoted by the Council, it seemed to liturgists that the location of the tabernacle in the main sanctuary behind the free standing Eucharist table would compete with the ‘action’ of the Mass as a sacred meal.

The most recent prescriptions in the United States provide that the tabernacle be located in the main sanctuary on suitably ornate pedestal. It is ironic that in the major basilicas including the basilica of St. Peter in Rome, the tabernacle is located on a side altar that is not very prominent.

Whatever the location, it should not be a bone of contention worthy of a liturgical battle. The public and private devotion to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is rooted in the long tradition of the Church and should not be disparaged. In the same way in which the tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments was symbolic of God’s presence in the temple, so too, the reservation of the Eucharist Bread has been one of the longest-standing practices of the devotional life of Catholics. It is intended to extend the meaning and the effects of the Eucharistic celebration into the life of the faithful who continue to spend time in prayerful meditation on the mysteries of the life of Jesus not the least of which is his faithfulness unto death on the cross for the salvation of the world. The two aspects of Eucharist need not be in competition. The ‘Mass’ continues to be considered a “sacrificial” meal. But we need to be clear that its connection with the passion and death of Christ even as the lamb of God is not to suggest that his death was mandated to satisfy and angry God. That in my opinion is not an appropriate application of Old Testament sacrifices. No, Jesus sacrificial death was the completion of his entire sacrificial life of unqualified and indiscriminate love in the same way as the sacrificial love of partners in marriage offer their sacrificial love to one another or in the manner that Mother Teresa offered her live in sacrificial service to victims of poverty in the streets of Calctta. It is in this sense that devotion to the Eucharist in the tabernacle takes its extended meaning.

During the celebration of the Eucharist, we become what we eat. Through our devotion to the Eucharist reserved in the tabernacle, we are reminded that the Eucharistic presence in our mind, heart and soul extends into all the good works of our lives with the hope that we too will always think and act with the same sacrificial love as did Jesus in his earthly life.

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'B'

Sunday August 16, 2009

Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Children below the age of seven or eight do not have the ability to deal with abstract notions when it comes to spiritual realities. They concretize abstractions. For example, they image God as a person and when we refer to God as ‘Father’, they associate God with their earthly father or more likely as a grandfather. Due to their early catechetical ‘training’ many adults do the same and have difficulty moving beyond the literal meaning of words that deal with deep theological realities. Ultimately, God is beyond definition.

When instructing children about the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, they hear the words but tend to think of Jesus as somehow literally inside the white wafer and when they listen to the gospel passage for this Sunday, they find it difficult to grasp the notion that the bread and wine are transparent symbols of a hidden reality that words fail to explain.

I have heard a child inquire whether or not the host will bleed if it is chewed. Most of us recall the days when we were told not to chew the host! In our effort to explain the ‘real presence’ we need to avoid simplistic or overly pious stories about bleeding hosts. And when we so emphasize the words of consecration we risk excluding the importance of the entire context of the sacred liturgy.

The earliest description of what took place at the Last Supper may be found in chapter 11 of St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians written in 56 AD. Paul quotes the words of institution but the context of Paul’s words is also important and helps us to move beyond the literal to the deepest meaning of the words. The Eucharist must be understood within the context of a communal meal in which our own personal stories are connected with the Jesus story and of course, the God story, both of which are all about unconditional and sacrificial love.

We have been listening to John’s reflections on the Eucharist sequentially for several weeks but this weekend we come to the main course, as it were. It may be helpful to recall that John’s gospel was written long after Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and later than the other three gospels. Moreover, it is quite likely that someone may have even contributed to his text even after he completed it, in effect reflecting the understanding of the Eucharist among early believers.

John’s insistence on the ‘eating’ of Christ’s ‘flesh’ and the ‘drinking’ of his ‘blood’ was not just a metaphorical expression but obviously it was not meant to be literal either. The most reasonable explanation of orthodox Christians is that the Eucharist was the real presence of the historical Jesus and the Christ of faith not just a symbolic presence but it was never meant to suggest a cannibalistic interpretation. The psalm response, “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord…” says it all. In other words, when we gather to remember what Jesus did at he Last Supper, we also remember all of what Jesus did throughout his entire life. It is the wisdom of God personified in Christ that we seek and celebrate when we come to this table. “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord…” Taste and see the wisdom of the Lord. Somehow when believers come together to do what Jesus did at the Last Supper, he [Jesus] is truly present in a mystical way so that the overall effect is the same as if we were present at table with him. The priest stands in the person of Christ but the Eucharistic action is not direct toward him [the priest] but toward Christ and toward the entire body of Christ throughout the world.

John’s gospel does not contain a narration of the actual words that Jesus spoke at the Last Supper because he took for granted the common practice of early Christians to do what the Lord Jesus had done on the night before he died, namely that he “took the bread, blessed and broke it…” Moreover, John is connecting the words of institution with the words of Jesus spoken earlier to his disciples following the multiplication of the loaves and fishes: “I am the bread of life… unless you eat this bread and drink this blood, you shall not have life in you…” etc.

Then John makes a statement that has incredible implications. “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood HAS [emphasis mine] eternal life…” In John’s mind, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And this was the point of this passage in which Jesus claims to be the bread of life for the salvation of the world. In other words, those who feed on the Eucharist already have the gift of eternal life, that is to say that those who accept the wisdom of Jesus already live the fullness of God’s life.

John also makes a connection between the Eucharist and Calvary. This meal is a sacrificial meal not in the sense that God demanded the death of Christ to atone for sin but that God demanded his faithfulness, which of course led to his death. His blood was poured out as gift of love. No one can remain that faithful and not see death. The world seems virtually unable to handle that kind of inclusive love except to demand its rejection. Jesus went to the cross because he could not do otherwise and still remain faithful.

We need to allow the Eucharist to transform us so that over time we do indeed become the Body of Christ and with St Paul we can state that “I live no longer I but Christ lives in me.” This is a call to sacrificial love that is a transforming love for the world, Jesus working in and through us as it were to transform the world.

Jesus connected the meal with service to humanity. “What I command is that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” [John 15:12-13]

“So when he had washed their feet [and] put his garments back on and reclined at table again, he said to them, ‘Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me “teacher” and “master,” and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and the teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” [John 13:12-15]

Children will come to know how Jesus is present in the Eucharist as we their mentors strive to reflect the wisdom of God and the goodness of Jesus in all that we say and do. They will “taste and see the goodness of the Lord;” taste and see the wisdom of the Lord.