Heart of Jesus, Tabernacle of the Most High
Heart of Jesus, Tabernacle of the Most High
When we say "the Heart of Jesus" in the Litany, we mean not only the human heart of Christ, but also his whole person: his inner life, his thoughts and his feelings. This phrase refers to the whole Person of the Incarnate Son of God, emphasizing the mystery of his love for man. This expression also draws attention to the fact that in Jesus we experience the love that comes from the Father himself. In the Heart of Jesus, we experience the fullness of love that is in God.
This Litany invocation compares Jesus' Heart to the Tabernacle. The tabernacle was called the Meeting Tent, which the Israelites moved from place to place when they wandered from Egypt to the Promised Land. In the Holy Place of this tabernacle, in the Ark of the Covenant, the greatest treasure was kept - the Ten Commandments, engraved on stone tablets, which were a signpost for people on their way to God. The Tent of Meeting was the tabernacle of God the Most High and a sign of his constant presence and closeness.
The heart of Jesus was compared to such a shrine. Because It is the tabernacle of everyday meeting of man with God. The Sacred Heart of Jesus became the "tabernacle of God with people" who embraces by his eternal love of all people. There, God is "God with us" (cf. Rev 21.3). At present, God speaks to us through Jesus Christ. His Divine Heart speaks to us: " Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11:28). This divine heart conceals, as in the new Ark of the Covenant, the greatest commandment of the New Testament, namely love.
To draw closer to us, the Lord Jesus, caused by the love that is full in his heart, created another tabernacle. It is the tabernacle with the Blessed Sacrament. Each tabernacle resembles a tent and refers to the Meeting Tent from the time of the Jewish migration through the desert. The Lord Jesus stays there without interruption and awaits our visits, presence and prayer.
The hearts of the saints are a similar tabernacle for God. Christ also wants to dwell in our hearts, which should be a real tabernacle for him.
LIVE THE WORD!
Look at your trust in God's Providence. Tell God that you trust Him and agree to let Him lead you through life.
A brief reflection on the so-called "Opening of Churches"
Fortunately for many Catholics, the Church is and will remain a basic reality, a space for their spiritual life. However, I am afraid that for a large group, especially young people, a post-pandemic situation might be a good excuse to break off some or all contact with the Church.After the Covid-19 epidemic, many people may opt out of the Holy Mass. For Catholics the time has now come to decide. The situation of recent weeks has made me aware that now the faithful of the Catholic Church around the world will have a specific examination of their faith and its practice. That is, they will have to decide in conscience what to do with their participation in the liturgy.
After almost three months of physical absence (because we were spiritually present all this time) from the church, the rebuilding of the pre-epidemic state will be difficult, but not impossible. It has to be re invented and innovations have to be put in place. The sign of the times was undoubtedly the "evangelization in the Internet" and broadcasts of the Mass. It is good and it must continue because it reaches the home bound and the people who work on weekends and cannot attend in person. Now that we are able to participate in person in the Liturgy in our churches, we must go back with stronger faith, because we know what it means to be without, we must be grateful to attend Mass, that had been denied to us for three months and we missed it. The absence of our churches created a void in our lives. We need our churches and we must pray that this never happens again and that all those who can, to come back to the church, to the faith and to God. And let us never forget that the Eucharist is the center of our lives.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george