by Ottavio De Bertolis

In our churches the Tabernacle is that kind of container, generally made of gold or other noble material, in which the pyxes full of the consecrated Hosts are placed, placed either on the main altar, according to ancient use, or in a side chapel, with a lamp always lit in front; it is the holiest place in the building, because there is the Lord himself in the Eucharist, his "real presence", as it is precisely said.

It is called "tabernacle" with reference to the Tabernacle described in the Old Testament, which was the sanctuary of God present among his people, both in his pilgrimage in the desert at the time of the Exodus, where it was transportable, just as the tents were of the nomads, and later, when it was built as a true sanctuary of stone and wood, in Jerusalem.

The Tabernacle is therefore the Abode, the Presence of God himself among his people. Thus Jesus is the very presence of God in history, in everything He did, and in everything He said; moreover, his flesh, which we contemplate on the cross and in faith we see transfigured in the Resurrection, is the place where God lives, so that whoever sees Him truly sees the Father. Christ is the visible manifestation of the invisible God: the strength and beauty of this invocation therefore lies in bringing Jesus, the man Jesus, closer to the Most High himself, so that, every time we contemplate Him in his gestures and listen to him in his words, we see and hear the Most High Father in Him. In fact, no one has ever seen God: the only begotten son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed.

Thus we understand how the cult of the Sacred Heart is nourished by the word of God, comes from it and leads back to it; in fact the Gospel is our school, because in its pages the saving works of Jesus are described and his words narrated, which the Spirit makes alive for us. Behind each of them the God himself shines through, revealed by Him, so that our worship goes from Christ, known, contemplated and loved, to his Father and our Father, his God and our God, since He pours out his Spirit on us , which makes us worshipers in Spirit and truth.

Furthermore, just as the ancient Tabernacle of Israel was the temple in which worship was celebrated, so we, who have that new temple which is the body of Christ and that new lamb which is the Lord sacrificed for us on the cross and continuously present to us in the sacrifice of the Mass, we offer ourselves through Him to God the Father, and our whole life becomes a priestly offering: this is the very meaning of our daily Offering. In this way, through faith and charity, we dwell in Him and He in us, and therefore we too become tabernacles of the living God, places in which He continues to live. In fact, moved by the Holy Spirit, we too choose and desire for ourselves what He has chosen and desired for Himself, covering ourselves with His own feelings of mercy, justice and peace.