Candle over the tabernacle

Question from Ruth on 9/17/2007: I was always taught that the candle over the Blessed Sacrament was like an eternal flame and was never extinguished, but a new candle was lighted from the old one when the old one was almost gone. Lately, in my church, the candle has been allowed to go out and sometimes no new candle is lighted for a day or two. It upsets me because I feel like nobody really cares about the Real Presence of Jesus in the tabernacle. Would I be presumptuous if I asked my pastor to allow me to be in charge of seeing that the candle is always lighted or am I just being old-fashioned? Answer by Catholic Answers on 9/18/2007: Ruth-- It is a lovely idea to ask your pastor if you can be entrusted with the responsibility of seeing to it that the sanctuary lamp is always lit when the Blessed Sacrament is present. Keep in mind though that the sanctuary lamp is not an "eternal flame." It is not lit when the Blessed Sacrament is absent. Its purpose is to let people know when the Eucharist is stored in the tabernacle. Before you do this though, I recommend first setting aside thoughts that the reason the lamp in your church has sometimes gone out is because "nobody really cares about the Real Presence of Jesus in the tabernacle." As I mentioned, there are sometimes reasons the flame is not lit that have nothing to do with other people's faith. It is more charitable and spiritually edifying to seek reasonable explanations for why things are the way they are than to brood over whether or not others are good Catholics. Michelle Arnold Catholic Answers