THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

July 18, 1999

Dear Parishioners,

My summer experience of Church has included liturgies here at Christ the King with tabernacle off center and slightly recessed, mass at Boston College with tabernacle at a distant and almost undetectable niche, mass at Chatham, Cape Cod, with tabernacle at a highly visible side altar and mass in our own parish hall (thanks to the paint job) with no tabernacle or Blessed Sacrament at all. It leads me to some surprising reflections on the place of the tabernacle and the Catholic Church's current regulation that it be in a dignified site but never in the main Church unless no other arrangement is possible. Now isn't that fairly surprising for those of us raised in a generation encouraged to "visit the Blessed Sacrament" before, after and quite possibly during(!) the celebration of the mass. It really forces us back to ask, "what is the mass" and "what is this celebration of Eucharist we are doing?"

Here's the answer in brief outline; and it applies to the Last Supper of Jesus, to centuries of the "old Latin Mass", and to the very next mass you'll be celebrating: (I) We gather together in faith ( it usually takes song, processions, greetings exchanged and prayer together); (II) We hear again the story of faith and Word of the Lord proclaimed (Scripture readings and hopefully the homily too!); (III) We take bread and wine, blessed and shared as sacrifice of praise with the real presence of Christ and one another (Eucharistic prayer and communion); (IV) We are sent forth to live out what we've just celebrated; the bread and wine are really changed, not first to be reserved or worshipped, but so that the people who consume this food may become more fully what they already are: the body of Christ. My own favorite summary of the Eucharist is: "Gather the folks, tell the story, break the bread, change the world!"

Now here's the problem with tabernacles: if we celebrate Eucharist too closely or in the obvious vicinity of a tabernacle, we can concentrate on the presence of Christ independent of whether we show up or not, rather than seeing and celebrating ourselves (as St. Augustine taught) as the ultimate "real presence" sent to change the world. I'll be the first to affirm and reverence the presence of Christ in the tabernacle; I delight in private prayer time before the Blessed Sacrament and the devotions of Benediction and Holy Hour. But the Catholic Church suggests (and I see the point) that it is very difficult to celebrate ourselves transformed by Eucharistic celebration into the Body of Christ and to cope with tabernacles at the very same time. Historically, the Catholic Cathedrals of Europe have dealt with this by placing the tabernacle in dignified chapels far removed from main altar and Eucharistic celebration; you'll never see the Pope celebrate mass anywhere near a tabernacle. One Chicago parish moved the tabernacle to a place out of sight of the altar and then moved the old communion railing to the back of the church, behind the last pew. This is an effective way to show the congregation that they are the sanctuary, the holy place, the holy – and responsible – people. The best we can do at Christ the King at the present (encouraged by Church regulations that say it's O.K. if no other arrangement is possible) is to keep readjusting our thinking so that we come to mass not to observe or even adore Christ in the Eucharist, but to praise God with him and to become with Christ and one another that eucharistic community, that body of Christ called to transform our neighborhoods and our world.

Your Pastor,

Brian T. Joyce