The first reading today, from the book of Kings describes a very holy and beautiful event. King Solomon built a house fitting for the Lord, a temple for Him to reside in forever. They brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the city of David, to it’s final resting place in Jerusalem. All of the people of Israel gathered before King Solomon in the seventh month, which would be in July in our modern times. The elders and the priests took up the ark of the Lord and carried it, along with all the sacred vessels from the tent that the ark used to reside in, to the Lord’s brand new temple.
What is really awesome about these verses in scripture, is when it tells us that the priests and Levites carried the ark to the temple. The scriptures do not specifically say so, but the reading seems to indicate that the ark of the Lord was carried in a procession with great honor. The entire reading for mass today resembles a Eucharistic procession outdoors that ends at the church, like the one that many parishes have on the Feast of Corpus Christi. At the end of their journey the priests carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord into the temple, and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary, called the holy of holies. At the end of the Eucharistic processions in modern Catholic churches, we honor the Lord Jesus and then he is placed in a tabernacle on the sanctuary too.
Another thing that is remarkable about this story, is that the ark of the covenant of the Lord was placed in a holy place in the sanctuary, then God came and filled the sanctuary in a dark cloud. It was a fitting dwelling place where He would live forever. This is still true in modern times, because Jesus Christ’s real body resides in every tabernacle throughout the world, and will continue to do so until the end of time. God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit make up the Trinity.
Have you ever been in an empty church where the Eucharist is kept in the tabernacle? You can feel his presence, and if you were to go back on Good Friday, when the Lord Jesus is removed from the tabernacle, you can literally feel that the church is empty and he is no longer there.
Another thing that is interesting in the first reading, is that the ark was called the ark of the covenant of the Lord, but in modern times Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist, is ark of the new covenant. Jesus fulfilled the old covenant. The old testament is fulfilled in the new.
What this all boils down to, is when the gospel says that people came from all over the country just to be near Jesus. They just wanted to touch his tassel and whoever touched it was healed.
Jesus still heals us every time we go to mass and receive him in communion. He also heals us when we go to adore him in the Blessed Sacrament, kept in the tabernacles in all our churches and in the monstrance in our adoration chapels. If you were to go in an adoration chapel on Good Friday, when Christ has been removed from the monstrance, you can feel that his presence is gone. It feels empty. The areas near our tabernacles and the monstrances that hold Jesus is holy ground. The Holy Spirit is present in these buildings as well. The sick and suffering seek out the Lord there, just to sit in his presence and be healed. Adoration can heal the body, mind and soul and such peace can be found there, just sitting in the presence of the Lord. We all crave this contact with the Lord. He knew this and provided for our need for him at the Last Supper when he formed a new covenant with us, through his body and blood, the night before his death.
If you are able to go and sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament in a tabernacle or at an adoration chapel, it could be a very healing thing for you. Mother Teresa was asked once, what she did at adoration for a whole hour each day? She said that she just looked at the Lord and the Lord looked back at her. She simply craved to be near him, and to adore him.
Daily Readings for Mass:
1 Kgs 8: 1-7, 9-13 / Ps 132: 6-7, 8-10 / Mk 6: 53-56
