Eucharistic Tent of Meeting

Domine quo vadis? Lord with are you going, asked Peter as he was running away from Rome to escape death.
Jesus met him on the way and replied:
Peter, I go to Rome to be crucified again.
Peter understood that the Christ who promised to be with us until the end was suffering in the mystical body which is his people.

Despite the storms and the scandals of our times, we have this blessed assurance that the Lord is still with us—until the end of time. If we are experiencing crucifixion, the Lord is enduring in the midst of us. He is meeting up with us.

Tent of Meeting
And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting… and all the people would rise up---each at his own door and observe. Whatever we meet up with as the ground seems to be taken from under us in so many fields -- sacred and secular we have this inner tent—this inner meeting place with the Lord. This is where we go when we sit and meditate each morning and evening.

Living in the Presence of God
For the Jewish people the big question was not the Existence of God, whether there is a God or not, but whether God was with them or not. Speaking to the successor of Moses, the Lord said: As I was with Moses, so I will be with you: I will never forsake you. That means : Behind you, supporting and encouraging you, going before you, as a Pillar of fire by night and as a Cloud of Glory by day.

The word to the Prophets and Leaders always was: I the Lord am with you. To Mary: Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you.

Little wonder that this promise and blessing has found it way into the Eucharist: Dominus Vobiscum. And we keep in mind the words of Paul: If the Lord is with us, who can be against us!

This is one of the characteristics of love: to stay around. A small boy came home and told his Mammy about his Grandad who was sitting alone crying. “But its all right now,” he continued: “I sat with him and helped him to cry.”

This is what gives us security and inner peace and lets us sit still in meditation. We know that the Lord himself sits with us, gathers up our tears and enfolds in his love. We do like that small boy, we sit with each other and live in the presence of each other.
Fr. Gabriel: Dominican Priory, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland.
EMAIL: hartygabriel@yahoo.co.uk