Thanks for the kind words on that last post. Two more thoughts about the bishop and his flask of oil--
The first: I was trying to remember how the Israelites had consecrated their altars, but my brain kept drifting over to this story. (My kids love that story. "Perhaps he is meditating!") Finally I looked it up: when the tabernacle was ready, Moses anointed the altar with oil to consecrate it for sacrifice.
The second: my friend Anneleisa told me she attended another rededication Mass recently. She said there was a note in the program about the women who helped to rub the oil into the altar, in an echo of the service of the women at the tomb on Good Friday -- preparing a fitting resting place for the precious broken body of Christ. (AL, if you see this, please let me know if I've got that wrong.)
God the Ancient of Days, who taught the Israelites how to offer sacrifice; God the Word made flesh, perfect victim and priest forever; God the eternal Son, whose sacrifice stands for all time and is miraculously present at each Mass. For a moment I could see it like a bright syzygy of truths. I wish I had the words to say it better, to share that little glimpse of Christ sovereign over time and eternity.
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