A number of years ago, I took a Bible Study class on the ancient Tabernacle of the Israelite. It was fascinating to realize how much care and preparation went into this traveling house of God. What has stuck with me the most, though, is how the Tabernacle mirrored Heaven. It was not just a random plan. The LORD was not just being persnickety in asking for precise adherence to His Plans. His Plans already exist and He was merely giving the human world a glimpse of the splendor of his kingdom.
Form, posture, and constrains of pattern matter. Our entire world is modeled on the patterns of God because His fingerprints remain in His Creation.
All the Earth adores His name, and in time all will bow before Him. Until that time, our liturgy is how we learn of Heaven. Like the Tabernacle, the liturgy is divinely inspired. It has been handed down over the ages to instruct and lead those who prayerfully attend in the ways of God.
Liturgy is beautiful not because of what man add to it, but because it is a gift from God, a royal celebration. Preserving and reverencing this pattern of worship is vital to the propagation of the faith and the evangelization of the people.
We now have two forms of the Mass, and I am not going to debate which is more valid. The Vatican has deemed each licit and that is what I am accepting as true at this time. However, there is still a pattern to the Novo Order, it is not a license to remake the pattern of God in man's image. We must take pains to keep Christ the center of our liturgy and stay true to the ordained method of worship. It, like the Tabernacle, was not created by happenstance. The liturgy has purpose and function. It is solemn and reverent because we are sitting at the feet of Our LORD and Savior. Through the Mass we are welcomed into the threshold of Heaven where we are free to worship with the angels and saints.
The unity and universal nature of our Church is why we are called Catholic. That is our true strength, not the individuals but the Church as a whole being the Hands and Feet of Jesus in the world. Next time you assist at Mass, let you mind travel upward to the highest of Heavens, the to Holy, Holy, Holy. Remember that this is our sabbath, this is our feast of the Lamb. We must ever raise our hearts to Him and bow our heads in awe and wonder.
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