WITNESS

LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON I WITNESSED A NEAR -PERFECT TABLEAU IN LINEAR PERSPECTIVE. WHAT FIRST ARRESTED MY EYES, LIT BY DIFFUSED SUNLIGHT THROUGH STAINED GLASS AND CENTER STAGE ON A GOLDEN OAK FLOOR, WAS A HUGE, GORGEOUS SPRAY OF CARDINAL-RED CARNATIONS INTERSPERSED WITH GREENERY. BEHIND IT AND SLIGHTLY UPSTAGE A FEW FEET WAS THE SCARLET BROCADE ALTAR CLOTH. NEXT, CENTERED BEHIND THE ALTAR STOOD THE PRIEST WEARING HIS MATCHING RED BROCADE CHASUBLE. BEHIND HIM, FOURTH IN LINE, WITH A CORRESPONDING FIERY COVER, RESTING ON ITS PLATFORM, WAS THE TABERNACLE, CONTAINING THE PYX. SLIGHTLY ABOVE IT, HANGING FLUSH UPON THE WALL, THE FINAL FIGURE IN THE CARMINE TABLEAU WAS THE CROSS HIDDEN BEHIND A WINE-COLORED CLOTH, THE OUTLINE OF WHICH FROM A DISTANCE SLIGHTLY RESEMBLED A HEART. BUT SOMETHING WAS MISSING FROM THIS SANGUINE PASSION SUNDAY PRESENTATION. IT WAS THE SOMETHING I IMAGINED, FLOATING HIGHER AND OBTRUSIVE ABOVE THE CROSS - THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS AFLAME. IT SEEMED AS APPLICABLE TO ME AS TO THE VIEWERS OF AN ICONIC, MEDIEVAL PAINTING. FLOWERS, ALTAR, PRIEST, TABERNACLE, CROSS AND A LOVING HEART - WHAT BETTER PERSPECTIVE IS THERE ON THE TELEOLOGY OF EASTER'S REDEMPTION