Letters

Common sense

Michael Barry

Contents - Dec 2003 - Buy a copy now Editorial: The challenge of Christmas - Peter Westmore John Paul II's 25th anniversary: the impact of his teachings - Cardinal George Pell News: The Church Around the World INTERVIEW: New Melbourne and Sydney Religious Education texts - Msgr Peter Elliott VOCATIONS: Melbourne's 'Hearts on Fire' vocations congress a success - Fr Paul Stuart EVENTS: Adore 2004: a Eucharistic Congress for youth BOOKS: DANIEL MANNIX : Wit and Wisdom - new edition - Michael Gilchrist Social Justice Statement 2003: a response from Bishop Saunders Letters: Social Justice Statement - Michael Barr Letters: Centrality of tabernacle - Marie Cassey Letters: Common sense - Michael Barry Letters: Inspiring article - Thomas Jones Poetry: Ex Maria Virgine - Delia Craig Letters: Voice of the Faithful - St Michael's Group Letters: Heresies - John K. Hannon Letters: Unwarranted school closure - Maurice McGrath Letters: Men at church - Rosanne Turne Letters: Perth homeschooling conference - Lorraine Haydon Books: Confirmed in the Faith, by Dora Nash - Joanna Bogle (reviewer) Books: Adventures in Orthodoxy, by Dwight Longenecker - Richard Egan (reviewer) Books: Celibacy in the Early Church, by Stefan Heid - Fr Peter Murphy (reviewer) Books: You Are Peter, by Olivier Clément - Peter Westmore (reviewer) Books: Socrates meets Machiavelli, Socrates meets Marx, by Peter Kreeft - Bill Muehlenberg (reviewer) Books: AD Books - Top Ten Sellers in 2003 Books: AD Books - A happy and a holy Christmas! Reflection: 'Jesus Christ: the door of our salvation' : the meaning of Christmas - Pope John Paul II

Congratulations on Fr Sebastian Carmilleri's article supporting the central location of the tabernacle in our churches. The common sense reasons he provides for this - and Canon Law which the trendoids ignore - I believe reflect the thinking of the vast majority of genuine Catholics.

I saw a documentary recently from the EWTN network in America that showed a fivefold increase in attendance in parishes in San Antonio that practised exposition of the Real Presence and had the tabernacle in a prominent position. The Pope regarded this city as the "most Catholic" in America.

So what does this say about the catholicity of those parishes that are hiding the Real Presence in some side alcove? Scrap the experimentation and follow the rules!

MICHAEL BARRY
Sydney, NSW

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 16 No 11 (December 2003 - January 2004), p. 13