Accidentals are important. Even furniture in the church building has a part to play in our faith. God is present in many ways. A reminder of those presences can be understood by reflection on the furniture in our churches. The altar is the focal point of attention in any Catholic church. It is seen as both a table and as a place of sacrifice. We are fed from the altar with the body and blood of Christ, our spiritual food. The altar is our focal point for the re-presentation of Christ’s saving death and resurrection. The altar is kissed reverently by the priest before and after the liturgy. The altar may be incensed as a mark of honor as the place from which our prayer with Christ rises with pleasing fragrance to the Father. The altar is not only the place of the real presence but also of the real activity of Christ, taking us to the Father. The altar suggests a special dimension of the divine presence. As it says in one of the Canons, we are privileged to stand in God’s presence around the altar. This refers not just to the priests, but to all of us. We gather together, the mystical body of Christ. This gathering includes the angels— holy, holy, holy— and the saints, those named in the Canon, and the relics of saints in the altar stone. They remind us that all of us are the family of God with Christ as our head. As the bread and wine are changed into Christ’s living body and blood, so the worshippers, who gather, as individuals or as the Church, are to be transformed into the “People of God.” Each of us becomes individually a child of God. Every time we gather at the altar there should be some change or transformation, appropriating the dispositions of Christ. The tabernacle is now usually separated from the altar to its own place. It is here that the Eucharistic Christ is reserved for visits, benediction and communion for the sick. This is the original and primary purpose for the tabernacle— that is to reserve the Blessed Sacrament.
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