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by Jim Holman.
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OCTOBER 2000 LETTERS
DOES GOD CONFUSE US? I just read the September issue of News Notes and had a few thoughts.
I think it is necessary to rephrase the question "Where should we put the tabernacle?" [See "Where Have They Taken Him?" by Robert Kumpel.] The tabernacle is only important because of Him who resides within it. The question should be "Where should be put Jesus?" Substituting the word "Jesus" or "God" for "tabernacle" sheds much light on the opposition's agenda.
I had a confrontation with Father Ken del Priore about 18 months ago here in Escondido. He was the renovation liaison from the diocese to St. Mary's. A friend and I crashed a private meeting regarding the renovation which was nothing more than a shameless indoctrination camp.
Fr. del Priore brought up the nonsense about the "active" vs. the "static" presence of Jesus and said that having the tabernacle in the church was "confusing and a source of distraction during the Mass." I could barely contain myself. From the back I interrupted him and asked, "Father, isn't the tabernacle only important because of its occupant? Do you believe that that occupant is truly the second person of the blessed Trinity? To rephrase your statement, aren't you in effect saying that God himself confuses and distracts worshippers during Mass? Isn't that nonsensical, Father? By the way, what is the static presence of God? I find that phrase ignorant to the point of heresy." Needless to say, he chose not to respond directly to my questions. Once the powers-that-be found out that the parishioners were well-informed and organized in opposition to removing our Lord to a separate room, the promised "public workshops" that were to explain why He should be removed never took place. It's a long and all too common story.
As the News Notes article says, the only official document granting permission (under certain circumstances) to remove the tabernacle from the sanctuary was the 1967 Eucharisticum Mysterium. Any other documents that mention it refer to this. It has been correctly termed a "schizophrenic" document because it recommends contradictory things on the same page. But the confusion within this document is irrelevant. It has long since been superseded by documents such as Inaestimabile Donum and the new Code of Canon Law. They do not recommend removal. Eucharisticum Mysterium was a blip on the screen.
Anyway. I think keeping the focus and language centered on Jesus is an effective defense against these neo-iconoclasts. He is the King of Kings. Our churches are his earthly throne rooms. Would we dare put an earthly king in a separate closet or side niche in their own throne room?
Keep up the good fight.
Mark Wheeler
Escondido
OUR TABERNACLE NOT HIDDEN
Today I received a copy of San Diego News Notes and as a parishoner of St Mark's in San Marcos I am compelled to defend the architechture of our parish church.
The article strongly implied that churches without the tabernacle "front and center" behind the altar are fostering a demotion of the Blessed Sacrament. It then listed St. Mark's among a list of guilty churches who have relegated the tabernacle to a side altar. This is in fact not the case as any visitor to St. Mark's can attest to. No "side altar" exists at St. Mark's.
Our church is divided into a main sanctuary and a smaller side chapel used for daily Mass. The side chapel also doubles as a "cry room" during Sunday Mass. What makes this set-up so unique and special is that the side chapel and sanctuary are divided by a large glass wall, so they are not really separated at all. And our tabernacle is constructed as part of this wall. It contains two doors, one for the main sanctuary and one for the side chapel. Our tabernacle is, to quote Bishop Broms's 1999 directive, "visually and proportionally located in relation to the altar of sacrifice without competing with it." It is situated so for the altar in the main sanctuary and the altar in the side chapel. In fact numerous visiting priests have commented positively how our tabernacle has such a position of reverent prominence, quite opposite to the current trend described in your article. The tabernacle is not hidden or demoted, but rather in plain view from all seats in the church. The faithful desiring private prayer can do so before the same tabernacle in either the main sanctuary or side chapel.
David W. Leingang
San Marcos