Speaking of things that you don’t see coming, one of the worst is when something that you use every day without any problem suddenly functions not at all. No symptoms of a coming breakdown, no catastrophic impact causing damage, just – bam. A door daily walked through become a steel wall.
Precisely that is what happened Tuesday when the safe in our sacristy ceased to function. More accurately, I suppose it was the lock that ceased to function, or rather, ceased to do anything BUT lock. The dial spins, the combination can be entered, but the tumblers do not tumble into place and the gentle click of the latch opening is never achieved.
This all happened Tuesday as we were preparing for the afternoon Mass. Unexpectedly we were cut off from many of the things that we use for Mass: chalice and ciborium, server’s paten and, startlingly, the key to the tabernacle. Fortunately we could retrieve substitutes of the first three items from the chapel sacristy, and Mass proceeded without incident. But it was imperative to be careful about the host count because without access to the tabernacle, there is no way to retrieve additional hosts if needed for waiting communicants, nor to repose superfluous hosts after distributing. Massgoers were a bit unsettled by my obvious “head count” at offertory.
In my experience here, there has never been a problem with the safe. That reaches back fully twenty years, and possibly twenty-eight. Only one half of the sticker remained from the locksmith who had last worked on the safe. Fortunately, we were able to identify him from only the first word of his company name. The locksmith who returned our call quickly clarified that his dad would have been the last one to visit us, as he had taken over the work ‘only’ twenty-three years ago.
Even as I write, he is in our sacristy tapping and rapping at the unyielding steel door. Our walk-in safe is the envy of most priests who see it, with room inside for everything from chalices and ciboria to relics, big ol’ monstrances, the spare tabernacle, and cases of altar wine. Keeping them locked away is vital for different reasons for different items, as some of them are ancient and irreplaceable, simply precious because of their materials, or in all cases except the wine, sacred. These objects have been consecrated to the worship of God and have held Him Whom we adore.
Practically speaking, it is a reminder of how thing-centric is our worship, as our God condescends to dwell among us. From the first moment he needed swaddling clothes and a manger, then eventually dinner and a diaper, the Word become Flesh does not disdain our material encumbrance. Since the Three Magi arrived and proffered their gifts, the things that point to His identity and are put to His purposes have been costly in their own right. We give him our best, ideally, so we must take care of things to take care of Him. For some of these things, we need a safe.
Unfortunately, they are a little TOO safe just now, equally unreachable for purposes divine or dastardly. Still the reminder is welcome of how vital is the operation of a valiant and venerable (78-year-old!) piece of equipment, and how routinely we become accustomed to flawless function, until one day it doesn’t.
Monsignor Smith
