Sunday within the Octave of Christmas
What do these three have in common? They all contain the same Person. The Babe in the crib of Bethlehem, the condemned Man on the cross of Calvary, and the Prisoner of tabernacles around the world are all the same Person, that is to say, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
These are the three focal points of the devotion of Christians throughout the centuries. We worship Him come in our flesh on Christmas night, we adore Him dying for our sins on the Cross, and we prostrate ourselves before His Real Presence in the Tabernacle.
The Imitation of Christ tells us that the entire life of Christ was cross and martyrdom. When we become aware of this, we understand better why it was that Jesus was born, not in a comfortable palace, but in a wretched stable for animals, not on a warm sunny beach, but in a cold, damp cave on a dark winter night.
We understand better too why it is important not to separate the three. It is the same Jesus in the crib, on the cross and in the tabernacle. This, I believe, is the principle reason for which Pope Pius XII, back in 1947, put the Church on guard against separating the altar and the tabernacle, a phenomenon which had already begun then but would become quasi-universal in the wake of Vatican II. When the tabernacle is on the altar or directly attached to it, it becomes evident to the minds of those who enter the Church that what takes place at the altar and what is reserved in the tabernacle, are identical. The Divine Victim made present during Mass is reserved right there on the altar, leaving no room for ambiguity. But as soon as they are separated, the link is no longer evident. It’s almost as if they were two separate entities. Furthermore, once they are separated, one must find a way of expressing in architecture what the faith teaches us. Sadly, in a number ofplaces, the tabernacle became an old box kept in a corner. Sometimes it took on the oddest of appearances, and the faithful are forced to puzzle for a long time before figuring out what the artist was actually trying to convey. So many needless distractions are avoided when the traditional tabernacle is retained on the altar. In my experience, the only time there are no issues with the tabernacle and altar being separate is when, for example in large cathedrals or basilicas, the Sacrament is reserved, not on the high altar, but in a beautiful side chapel in which the tabernacle is placed on another altar. In this way, the need for a recollected part of the Church and the requirement of the altar and tabernacle being one are harmonised.
But coming back to our initial thought, the Babe in the Crib, the Man on the Cross, and the Host in the Tabernacle, all point us in the same direction. They all convey the same message. What is that message? God Himself became Man, the Eternal Word took flesh in order to not only be with us (such is the meaning of the name Emmanuel) but also to suffer for us. He did so especially in the passion, but that passion was already announced and even begun in the mysteries of the infancy and is aptly shown forth on the altar and in the Tabernacle which contains the totus Christus passus – the whole Christ who has suffered for us, to use an expression dear to St Thomas Aquinas.
Today’s Gospel leads us in the exact same direction. We there hear the old man Simeon declaring to Mary that a sword of sorrow would pierce her heart so that the thoughts of many might be revealed. The sweet meditations of Christmas lead straight to the disturbing ones of the passion and the apparent failure of the Cross, but it is precisely this tragedy that will reveal the thoughts of hearts, that is to say, will show who is on whose side. Are we with the Lord Incarnate, in which case we will readily embrace the cross and be happy to suffer with Him, or are we with the world and its prince, Satan, and so run away from all discomfort and challenge? The sword that pierces Mary’s Immaculate Heart is the suffering of her Son, but it is also the separation between all her spiritual children, a separation which becomes known to the world when souls must declare themselves either for or against Christ. Jesus Christ is the centre of human history. Those who are not with Him are against Him (cf. Mt 12:30; Lk 11:23), for it is not possible to be indifferent to God who has come in our flesh.
By now you should know how to imitate the Saviour and bear the crosses of life: Stay close to the Tabernacle. There, in the Sacred Heart of Our Lord, we find all the treasures of grace hidden behind the double veil of the Eucharistic species and the sacred Humanity itself, those same treasures that were hidden behind the loveable traits of the Babe of Bethlehem. This is also why the great saints and mystics never tire of reminding us that all sanctity lies in the humanity of Christ. If anyone starts thinking or saying that they no longer need the humanity of Christ, they have gone off track, for it is only through the instrument of His sacred Humanity that the Divinity is accessed. And if, as St Leo the Great tells us, what was visible in Christ has passed into the sacraments, then the sacred liturgy becomes the privileged means of sharing in the graces He brought to us when He came as an Infant, and offered His life for our salvation. May Mother Mary, she who pondered all these events in her heart, teach us her secrets, and lead us deeper into those of Her Divine Son.
