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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.

The Holy 'Goose'

Friday June 11, 2010

The source of the following is unknown but I received it recently courtesy of John Codd. Let’s consider it a belated contribution to the celebration of Pentecost. There are a couple of theological inaccuracies at the beginning of the article that do not detract from the goose as a metaphor, e.g., it is doubtful that Jesus intended to establish the church as we know it. Christianity was more a movement within Judaism. Jesus probably intended to reform Judaism…the church came as a response to the teaching of the apostles and so in truth which is why the Church is called an ‘apostolic’ church. The earliest Christians continued to engage in Jewish practices until conflicts arose between the Judaizers and the non-Jewish Christians… No need to get bogged down in this… All things considered, the goose is superior to the dove in most respects. Read on and ejoy...!

The word Pentecost means “fifty days”—therefore it was and is celebrated fifty days after Passover. In the book of Exodus (23:14-17) Pentecost was listed as a harvest festival. Later the feast was given the historical identity of celebrating the giving of the law—the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. Jesus chose a harvest festival to send the Holy Spirit and start his church. This makes sense—in Matthew (9:37-38) when Jesus said, “the harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” At the historic feast of the harvest, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to empower the apostles to be laborers of the harvest.

In the scene described by Luke in Acts, the Holy Spirit came down as tongues of fire and rested on the 120 disciples (Acts 1:15). They spoke all kinds of different languages so that every Jew attending the Pentecost feast heard their message in his native language. There is another significant multi-lingual story in the Old Testament—the tower of Babel. (Genesis 11:1-9). This is the story of when arrogant men thought they could build a tower to reach God. God created confusion by changing their language from one to many. When it was time to declare the mighty works of God, everyone heard in their native tongue. Language separated the people at Babel and united them at Pentecost.

This was the second time in just ten days that the disciples were given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The first gift was the power given from the Lord himself to forgive sins. What a fantastic gift—the sacrament of reconciliation. Reconciliation is one of the priestly duties. To use modern language, Jesus described part of the job description for every priest and provided the authority to do it. Even though the disciples were given this power, and the power has been passed down for 2,000 years, it was not sufficient to witness the gospel to evangelize, to start the church. The disciples needed further sanctification from the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said (Acts 1:5), “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will baptized with the Holy Spirit.” All Catholics, every one of us, share this second gift through baptism and confirmation. For hundreds of years, a dove has represented the Holy Spirit. Depictions of the Trinity in art picture the Holy Spirit as a dove. But, a dove is just too sweet, too sentimental to represent the powerful Spirit of God.

The Irish had it right when it came to Pentecost. In the old Celtic tradition, the Holy Spirit is represented by a wild goose. Geese are not controllable, they make a lot of noise, and they have a habit of biting those who try to contain them. Geese actually fly faster in a flock than on their own, meaning they have more energy when they are in community. They also make excellent guard dogs.

The spirit is like a goose. It comes demanding to be heard. Its’ song is not sweet to many. It requires difficult action. The spirit drives people together to form communities, demanding that we support and travel with one another. The spirit often forces those on whom it rests to become noisy, passionate, and courageous guardians of the gospel.

Pentecost is the wild goose of a Patrick risking his life to evangelize the Emerald Island, a Dorothy Day being carried off to prison demanding justice for the poor, an Oscar Romero who was assassinated preaching the gospel to those in power, or a Nelson Mandela who spent most of his adult life in prison because he demanded equality and freedom, or a Cesar Chavez demanding dignity for farm workers.

The noisy goose of Pentecost has descended on disciples of every generation making them noisy, irritable people fighting for justice, welfare reform, running drug clinics, helping people find jobs and leading of support groups. The disciples bitten by the goose of Pentecost look hard and take supportive action for the homeless, aliens struggling in our midst and ex-convicts. The very people many of us ignore. They are easy to ignore because we are shielded by our comfort and our own security. These geese point out the inequities and upset us-they nip at us in our comfort.

We need to be nipped. We live in a carefully crafted and controlled world. We see images all the time of sophisticated people drinking, young people shopping, gorgeous homes, and luxury cars. These powerful images help create our tiny isolated comfortable world. No advertiser would dare show us who makes their products in the third world or suggest we are a small minority of affluence in a world of hunger. By not seeing or paying attention we are content.

Then, along comes Pentecost and loudly crashes through our closed doors and high walls of safety and lands mightily on the Church. The spirit burns into our consciousness, that if we the Church are to be anything like Jesus Christ we must bring harmony and dignity to all peoples. We must speak for justice.

The Spirit tells us that the church—you and I—like the master himself must identify with the poor and needy and know deep in our hearts that caring for others is the birthmark of the church. If we don’t meet this measurement we are false. The trouble is that we have forgotten all that. Somehow we have tamed the spirit, banked the fire, and tamed the dove. We go along seduced by the gentle cooing; until every once in a while we hear a wild goose honking.

The Pentecostal goose is noisy, vulgar, and loud but reminds us of the Good Samaritan or the Rich Man and Lazarus. The goose calls out prophets who remind us to care for the orphans, the widow, the poor, and the needy. The heart of the gospel is precisely those words of Jesus we call the works of mercy. Remember what James said: “Faith without works is dead.”

The Celts were on to something: the feast of geese. Noisy dirty geese that shout for the Lord and bite those who would exploit the weak. They would also gather in community for worship and love. The next time we hear geese flying overhead, think of Pentecost and what we must do to live as disciples. Remember the symbols of Pentecost: red for passion, fire for action, and a common language of mercy and compassion.

That’s what Pentecost is all about.

And those honking prophets remind us that those symbols are the marks of the Church yesterday, today, and forever.