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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]
_
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.

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'B'

Sunday October 18, 2009

Partners with God in Christ

Several years ago, there was a film entitled, The Man Who Played God. The main character was a wealthy and famous musician. At the height of his career, he began to lose his hearing. Embittered and angered at his plight, he withdrew from society, turned away from God and became a virtual recluse in his penthouse apartment. From his window overlooking a nearby park and with the help of a set of high-powered binoculars, he began to amuse himself by reading people’s lips.

One afternoon, he focused on a young man whose lips were moving in prayer. Once he had determined what the young man was praying for, he sent one of his servants to fulfill his request. On another occasion, he read the lips of a woman who was telling another of a desperate need. This need also was met through his intervention. Gradually the wealthy musician became quite adept at his newfound hobby and each time he performed one of these services, he looked heavenward and laughed scornfully. He was playing God!

Gradually, however, something mysterious began to happen. The man who delighted in playing God began to discover God, converted as it were by the kindnesses he had been moved to perform. In the act of serving the needs of others, he began to know God because God is a God of service but he didn’t recognize the grace of God working within him.

It is true we cannot always be in control of my own lives or the lives of other people. Some of the greatest things can happen when we “let go and let God”; when we step back and allow others to exercise their talents. But the best things happen when we do things together, deferentially.

Jesus was pretty clear about his expectations for his disciples. (Disciple means learner.) He expected them to be servants. Actually, the biblical word used is “slave”. To give up control which is even more than giving up money or personal possessions. It is giving up our will to God, subjecting ourselves to God’s rhythm. Quite frankly, this is a pretty scary thought isn’t it? People recovering from addictive illnesses know exactly what it means to acknowledge and defer to a higher power.

The sacrificial nature of the call to serve is referred to in Jesus’ reference to the cup he would drink and the bath of pain in which he would be immersed. This is the quality of service expected of his disciples. In the world of commerce and politics and even in church life, those who seem to exercise authority lord it over others. Jesus said, “It can not be that way with you.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his one of his reflections on mutual service suggested that every Christian community must confront the ambitious wrangling that set James and John at odds with the other disciples. Over and above the usual applications of servanthood he offered a few contemporary ideas such as the unique service of holding one’s tongue so as to prevent undue criticism and domination while allowing the other to grow freely in God’s image rather than in one’s own; the service of humility that places the honor, opinion and well-being of another before my own; the service of listening that does not listen with only half an ear or on the presumption of knowing what the other has to say but listens with the ears of God; the service of bearing one another’s burdens in a way that does not make the other feel like a burden; the service of communicating without dominating always in the consciousness that everything is gift.

James and John requested of Jesus the gift of honor and status. Jesus asked of them and now of us that we accept the gift of true servanthood that equips us with all we need to be successful.

We are called to be partners with Christ in service to humanity.

Lord make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
And where there is sadness, joy.
Grant, O Lord, that I may not so much seek to be consoled
as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love,
For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning
that we are pardoned
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.