Hidden Treasure

Silent altar, marble cold

Unites in one the New and Old,

Salvation history’s epic bold

Upon this muted table told.

O’erlooked, this rising Testament,

Which cradles greatest sacrifice,

The purest Lamb, the dearest price,

Unseen the victim’s body rent.

If only altar could cry out

The wonder which upon it lies,

And to all hearts in earnest shout

It’s precious cargo as it dies.

Though silent altar makes no show,

May all its hidden treasure know.

Silence often says more than a thousand words. We live in a world speckled with Churches. Tabernacles are all around us. He is here at our side, God Almighty, who existed before time itself, who is all-powerful, all-loving and all-knowing. Don’t you think we would feel that awesome presence a bit more?

“He was in the world that had its being through him, and the world did not recognize him. (Jn 1:10)” I once heard a story that a non-believer was ridiculing his friend for his belief in the Eucharist. He said that if he believed in the reality of the Eucharist as his Catholic friend did, he would approach the Church on his knees from a mile out in awe and reverence. Perhaps this man had a better understanding of the Eucharist than many of us who believe.

Why does Christ hide so much of himself in the Eucharist? He is the Word, yet he is silent. He can move mountains and the hardest hearts, yet he is immobile. He is the Great Healer, stretching out his arms to help all who approach him, yet he is helpless there. The greatest explosion of magnificence is veiled in the simplest form. No wonder St Augustine fumbled to describe him: “Unchanging, yet changing all things. Never new, never old, making all things new. […] Always active, always still; gathering in, yet never needing; […] You seek, though you lack nothing; you love, yet are not consumed with passion. (Confessions, Ch 1, Paragraph 4)”

Why would God come so close and be silent? The altar is that silent, ever-present witness to the greatest miracle offered upon it every day. I wish it could shout out that hidden treasure to my calloused heart. And yet, what can it really say about such a mystery? “Speak only if it improves upon the silence. (Mahatma Gandhi)” In his eloquent silence, the Word says more than any word could. There is so much to learn about Christ by what he doesn’t say in the Eucharist: his humility, fidelity, tenderness, patience, constancy, and self-sacrifice. Like a diver searching for the pearl of great price, let us plunge into the still depths of this mysterious ocean of Love to find those treasures hidden deep within, hidden treasures of Christ’s personality.