Tabernacling with the Lord: the Sacred Heart home enthronement

Jesus said to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that He wants an image of His Sacred Heart enthroned in each home. Not just hung. Enthroned. What does this mean, and what is the difference? Let’s trace the history of God’s use of tabernacles with His people. 

Sacrificial worship of God is almost as old as mankind. In Genesis 4:1-7, Cain and Able were to offer the first fruits of their work to God. This assumes there was already a rite of worship of some sort by which this was done. We give our best, the first fruits, to God before choosing for ourselves and others. Cain didn’t do this. His was a choice of disobedience but more importantly a selfish unloving and thus offensive act toward God. That choice of selfishness then disposed him to the grave sin of murdering his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8). 

Fast forward to the time of Moses, the tabernacle or tent of meeting was the place where God and man would meet (Exodus 33:7-10). God then commanded a formal tabernacle to be built (Exodus 35:10-11). They carried it with them from place to place, and within it was the Ark of the Covenant within the Holy of Holies.  It was in the Holy of Holies that the high priest conducted sacrifice on the annual Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).  In Leviticus 40:39-43, God then designates a required feast at the end of the fall harvest season. This is Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as booths or tents. The Jews erected and lived in a tent to remind themselves (and proclaim to their children) of the days when God dwelled with His people in the tent. It ended on the 8^th day, called The Great Feast in John 7:37, in which sacrifices were offered. During this time, living in the tents, the people believed it was more than recalling memories. God was present with them just as He was in the ‘old days’. 

Thus God, already present in the tabernacle  of the Temple, by extension was present in their homes too. 

Now fast forward again to the time that God chose to become man and ‘tabernacle among us” (John 1:14). The need for the tabernacle of the Jews was abolished; the Real Presence of God was no longer confined to their Temple. And in His timing, when He chose to leave the earth and return to His Father in heaven, He sent His Spirit to tabernacle among us. We are temples (tabernacles) of the Holy Spirit St. Paul teaches (1 Corinthians 6:19). We no longer are only in His Presence on feast days. We bear Him within our souls in the virtues and gifts received at Baptism. We bear Him in the sanctifying grace received from His Eucharist. 

Yet there is one more way in which God may tabernacle amongst us: the enthronement in the home of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Jesus is King of the Cosmos over all of His creation. By enthroning Him you are consecrating your family and home to His kingship. The Home actually becomes spiritually an extension of the tabernacle of the Church. This is why the home enthronement also carries much power of protection of the home and family. 

Thus, a home enthronement is more than just hanging a nice picture of Jesus’ Sacred Heart on the wall. It involves: 

• Three days of prayer prayed as a family to prepare your heart and home to be permanently consecrated to His.
• Going to confession and receiving the Eucharist within one week of the enthronement.
• Prominently display in the home a print of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The print should be blessed. As a blessed object, it cannot be left laying around covered in junk mail until you get around to hanging it! It must be properly protected from damage and hung as soon as possible.

A beautiful addition to this is to have a formal enthronement service. It can be led by a priest or head of household, and extended family and friends are encourage to attend. If a priest leads the service, he will bless the print; if the head of household leads, they should have the print blessed by a  priest in advance. Each family member is consecrating themselves in this enthronement. Therefore, all members above the age of reason should be in a state of grace.

Now with Jesus enthroned as King over your home and family, He has graces reserved for you in this special way. It is beneficial for the family to pray the consecration prayer together daily or make up your own family prayer. When strife, adversity, uncertainty, confusion, or any other tactics of the enemy afflict your family, call upon Jesus’ Sacred heart to rescue you, guide you, console you, love you. Always keep conscious of the spiritual reality that your house is now an extension of His tabernacle in the church. If you allow His Heart to shape yours, He will shape it with love. His Heart is always overflowing with love, and He’s just waiting to pour it into your own heart. 

O Jesus,

through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings

of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart,

in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world,

in reparation for my sins,

for the intentions of all my relatives and friends,

and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father.

Amen.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam 😊

(Image public domain from Wikipedia)