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May Devotion 2023

Mary is compared to a living tabernacle because she carried God in her womb as Jesus grew. The Catholic tradition of keeping the Eucharist in a tabernacle draws on the Jewish tradition of housing God in the Ark of the Covenant. We too can become living tabernacles by receiving communion and carrying God within us, just as Mary did during her pregnancy.

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66 views2 pages

May Devotion 2023

Mary is compared to a living tabernacle because she carried God in her womb as Jesus grew. The Catholic tradition of keeping the Eucharist in a tabernacle draws on the Jewish tradition of housing God in the Ark of the Covenant. We too can become living tabernacles by receiving communion and carrying God within us, just as Mary did during her pregnancy.

Uploaded by

onyekachukwu udoagwa
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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MARY, A LIVING TABERNACLE

Expectant mothers often speak to their babies before they are born and also refer to them with
some beautiful names like: My source of joy, my redemption, my bundle of joy, my duduke,
I love you! I can’t wait to see you! etc... They ask God to care for them: "Father, protect this
child. Keep me safe and healthy." We may presume that Mary, as a woman of faith and love,
did this in many other ways as well; she probably looked like an ordinary pregnant young
woman, going about her daily chores and activities. Of course, although she looks ordinary,
but we all know she is extraordinary. She is the mother of God. In her womb, for the first
time in history, God becomes human. She carries him quietly and powerfully, thus becoming
a living tabernacle.
Mary reminds us that we too carry Christ within us as a tabernacle after receiving the Holy
Communion. She helps us to see anew the meaning and purpose of the tabernacle each time
we are at Mass, holding within it the Eucharist, the body of Christ.
The Catholic practice of having a tabernacle is rooted in Jewish tradition. God instructs
Moses to build a tabernacle; it is to be a box made of acacia wood, covered in gold, with a
golden angel on either end (Ex 25). This ark, or tabernacle, will hold the covenant, the stone
tablets given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Further, God instructs his people to create a large tent
that will encircle the ark; they are to gather in this area for prayer and worship. In a sense,
there are three tabernacles in one: God dwells in the central ark, Moses in the tent, and the
people gather in the surrounding space.
The people use this worship area every Sabbath. Afterward, the Jewish people folded it up
and brought it with them on their 40-year journey. Each week, they unfold it again and set up
a sort of mobile worship site. The ark is likewise constructed for a journey, as it hangs from
four golden rings affixed to two long wooden poles, carried on the shoulders of several
travelers.
According to some traditions, the ark also included pieces of manna, the bread from heaven
given by God to sustain his people during the Exodus. There in the Holy of Holies, God
promises to dwell with them on their long and dangerous trek through the desert to the
promised land. Later in Jerusalem, under the rule of Kings Saul, David, and Solomon, a
permanent tabernacle was erected in the great temple. In the church, we see our practice of
keeping the Eucharist as a fulfillment of the Temple, holding Jesus, the living bread within.
Mary is a bridge among these different types of tabernacles. She helps us bring the presence
of God into our daily lives. For nine months, she carried the living God within her as the
child Jesus grew in her womb. One of Mary's titles in her litanies is "Ark of the Covenant",
connecting her with the Exodus tabernacle. She travels with us on our journey, carrying Jesus
within her even as we await his final coming.
The Eucharistic tabernacle is likewise a meeting place between God and humanity. We, too,
are living tabernacles. At every Mass, the Eucharistic minister says to us, "the body of
Christ," and we reply, "Amen," "that is, yes, I  and then after receiving, we carry the living
God within us.
In the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (No. 235), he invites retreatants to
ponder on how "God dwells also in us, giving us existence, life, sensation, and intelligence;
and even further, making us his temple, since we are created as a likeness and image of the
Divine Majesty".
Conclusively, we are the tabernacle where the incarnate God dwells. Thus, in this month of
May and beyond, we honor our Mother Mary for her great yes to God’s grand invitation to
bear Christ within her. As we look to the manger with wonder and awe as the infinite God
becomes a tiny child for us. We adore Christ in the Eucharist, present in every tabernacle in
every Catholic church in the world. And we look to our own hearts, where God has chosen to
dwell, "making us his temple."
 

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