Letters

Christ's gift

Wendy Francis

Contents - Feb 2004 - Buy a copy now Editorial: What is the purpose of Catholic schools? - Michael Gilchrist Liturgy: 'Excellent start' on accurate English Missal translation - AD2000 REPORT News: The Church Around the World Modern church design: 'Spank the architect!' - Paul Mees Melbourne and Sydney initiatives to educate adults in the Catholic faith - Peter Holmes Human life: precious from conception - Fr Angelo Serra SJ Interview: Scott Hahn interviewed on Dei Verbum : What Vatican II taught about Scripture - Zenit News Service Letters: Social Justice Statement - John R. Barich Letters: Celibacy book review - Fr Adrian Head Letters: Higher calling - Judy O'Reilly Letters: Christ's gift - Wendy Francis Letters: One-World Church? - Philip Robinson Letters: Fertility rates - Brian Harris Letters: New Age? - Fr Don Coutts Letters: Clarification - August Magdaleno Books: Spiritual Combat Revisited, by Jonathon Robinson - Richard Egan (reviewer) Books: Anti-Catholicism in America: The Last Acceptable Prejudice, by Mark S. Massa SJ - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: Mystical Flora, by St Francis de Sales - Mark Posa (reviewer) Books: The Rosary : Chain of Hope, by Benedict J. Groeschel CFR - Michael E. Daniel (reviewer) Books: The Beginner's Book Of Chant, by a Benedictine monk - Paul Russell (reviewer) The foundation of moral law: the pagan witness of Cicero, 106-43 BC Books: AD Books - Fresh book titles for the New Year Reflection: The ministerial priesthood: 'truly a gift from God' - Fr Dennis W. Byrnes

Father Sebastian Camilleri's Reflection, "Why the tabernacle should be centrally located in our churches", touches the very heart of our Catholic belief.

We have been bequeathed a gift of breathtaking proportions, a "gift beyond description ... a treasure of surpassing value", as Pope Paul VI described the Eucharist in the opening paragraph of Mysterium Fidei, his Encyclical Letter of 1965.

Significant beyond our understanding, incredible in its generosity, not only is Christ's gift of Himself accessible to every practising Catholic in the sacrament of Holy Communion, but His divine Presence continues to reside among us in the reserved Eucharist in every Catholic church and oratory. God is with us "... after the offering of the sacrifice, the making of the sacrament, as long as the Eucharist is kept in churches and oratories" (Mysterium Fidei, No 67).

Without a doubt, it is the physical presence of our Saviour, in a tabernacle properly sited as liturgical law prescribes, that sets the Catholic church apart and bestows upon believer and visitor alike a sense of deep serenity and inner stillness - the balm that troubled souls in a turbulent world seek.

Silence, reverence, and sanctity are inextricably entwined. In the presence of Christ, as Fr Camilleri's friend noted, "you just feel it straight away". He was able to make a comparison between a church with a tabernacle in the sanctuary, and one without.

His children may not be so fortunate. How disadvantaged are Catholic children who grow up in parishes where the church has no sanctuary with centrally located tabernacle; they are effectively denied a full and complete understanding of Christ's supreme gift, for "... the Eucharist is kept in churches and oratories as the spiritual centre of the religious community and the parish community, indeed as the spiritual centre of the universal Church and the whole of humanity. The reason is that its content, veiled by the appearances, is Christ" (Mysterium Fidei, 68).

Thank you for an excellent publication!

WENDY FRANCIS
Beecroft, NSW

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 17 No 1 (February 2004), p. 14