The Stripped Altar: A Good Friday Experience

God has a way of getting our attention and talking to us. When He “speaks” or makes His “presence” known, He evokes the desire in us to go down on our knees and kiss the ground as did the people in the Old Testament whenever they heard God’s voice. This happened to me when I spent Maundy Thursday and Good Friday at the Carmelite Chapel along Lanang Road. I was so impressed seeing families doing the Stations of the Cross together, infants even included. And the setting was perfect for it, simple, quiet, and unpretentious.

It was a bit shocking for me, though, when I entered the chapel on Good Friday. The Tabernacle that houses the Holy Eucharist was bared open and empty; there was not even a lighted candle, no mantle on the altar, and the side door grills were closed, locked, and dark. It was completely stripped off of everything. It was bleak and dreary.

For some reason, my mind went back to Jesus and the Last Supper. I thought of how he prepared his disciples for the tasks ahead. He knew too well what and how he would impart and teach his message to them in its fullness through the actions he demonstrated. From the example of humility in service through the washing of their feet by the Son of God, through the institution of the Holy Eucharist where he made sure that all God’s people, in all generations, would see him and be one with him in every church (even if he is in every moment invisibly beside us). I heard the pronouncement very clearly when Jesus “took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat. this is my body.’ And he took the chalice, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sin’ (Mt. 26:26-28, RSV). Then again, I heard distinctly his commissioning Peter when the disciple professed that Jesus was the Son of God. He said, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail upon it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Mt. 16:17-20, RSV).” His disciples did not even understand what he was doing or talking about then.

Looking at the bare, unadorned and meaningless-looking altar on Good Friday made me realize how Jesus took care of everything in order that we Christians would not be left orphans, unloved, and live out our lives without any purpose and direction. As a Catholic Christian, God showed me what it is like to be stripped off of his Presence in the Holy Eucharist. What would a church be like without Jesus residing in the Holy Tabernacle? Without him there the church is just a building, the altar is of no use except as a mere decoration or display, but everything spells of total emptiness. And without the Real Presence, who would want to get into that kind of void and meaningless building?

The most enlightening revelation to me, above all, is the importance of the Holy Order of Priesthood. Jesus saw to it that he will have ordained men who will make his Real Presence come about. He commissioned them at the Last Supper to bring his Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist where we Catholics can partake of him, and where we can come to his church at any time, to behold him and stay in his Presence. But without the priest, there is no Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; and without the Holy Mass, then there is no consecration of the Sacred Host; Without the Sacred Host, there is no Holy Communion, and without the Holy Communion, there is no Sacramental Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Tabernacle; and without those, there is no church, only a building. And each one of us will be on our own, isolated from a holy community of sisters and brothers in Christ, and will journey through life without any clear direction nor destination.

The Resurrection of Jesus shows us that he will forever abide in his Church. He has revealed the most important elements necessary for his Presence: the Holy Order of Priesthood that brings about his Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist residing in the Tabernacle, and the Church and churches where He will dwell.

I do not ever want to be stripped off of these in my human and Catholic Christian life. I do not desire to become a spiritual orphan. Through the love that his Son Jesus showed us, I want to forever dwell in God’s Presence and one with my brothers and sisters in Christ. I do not want to be without the Holy Spirit guiding me. I forever want to see and dine with Jesus each time in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I want to rise each time with the Risen Lord! ALLELUIA! (Dolly Dalisay Banzon)