3 LITURGY LESSON: VENERATION OF THE ALTAR
(Given: January 24, 2010 3rd Sunday Ordinary Time)
The altar and the pulpit are meant to be the two architectural focal points of a Catholic Church.
A word about the altar: Historically, the
altar has had a central place in any religion which
had sacrifice as a principle practice. Also, in religions where a meal was very important, such as the Jewish faith, the table was
considered sacred. By the Fourth Century our altar was called "the Table
of the Lord."3 The Catholic
altar is a symbol of both actions: it is the place for the reenactment of the sacrifice of
With all of that history and meaning, our priest and deacon enter the sanctuary and bow and kiss the altar as a sign of reverence. On occasion the priest may also incense the altar as the holy place of sacrifice from which our offerings rise to God.
Some of us will remember that Catholic altars also contained relics of the martyrs, pieces of bone or cloth associated with a saint who had died for the faith. That practice started centuries ago, probably because during times of persecution Mass was celebrated in catacombs, and a tomb was used as the altar. It is no longer required that an altar contain a relic.
Why is a relic no longer required? Probably for two reasons-, at the time of the Vatican Council there was great concern that relics be authentic, and many were not. But more importantly, the Church did not want to take away from the central meaning of the altar itself, which is our place of sacrifice and our Table of the Lord.
1 Johnson, p. 10