Dear Parishioners,
In ancient Israel sacrifices were being offered all the time in the temple in Jerusalem. Animals were literally burned, as were bundles of grain, fruit, and other items. Most typically, just a part of the animal was sacrificed. The best cuts of meat would be given to the Levite priest, or someone else, and then the rest of the animal burned. But then there was what was called the holocaust offering, where the entire animal was burned. No part was saved.
So, for the first category of offerings in the Old Testament were the partial offering and the holocaust. Then there was a second category of offerings: sin offerings and peace offerings. A sin offering was an animal (or grain or whatever) sacrificed to remove sin. The peace offering was a sacrifice to preserve us in grace.
Whether it was a sin offering or a peace offering, ancient Jews saw the holocaust offering as the best–a true act of surrender to God. I don’t know about you, but I cry when my steak is overcooked. I couldn’t imagine letting an entire bull be burned up. The things we do for God.
Christ desires this holocaust offering from us. No, not burning a whole animal. The offering is our heart, mind, soul, and body. The partial sacrifice is nice, but the holocaust is ideal.
Why do we do it? To appease God, to remove sin, to gain peace and other graces? No, actually, not for those reasons. We offer the holocaust of our hearts because Jesus himself did it. We are trying to imitate and follow Christ.
What was unique about Jesus, among other things, was that he fulfilled the sin offering, the peace offering, and the holocaust all in himself. He was both the priest doing the offering and the victim offered. In ancient Israel the two were separated–the Levite priest and the animal. Christ was both. The place where he offered himself was on the cross on Calvary and the fire that burned the offering was not actual fire like in the temple that burned animals, but the fire of charity from his Sacred Heart.
I am mentioning all this because all of our readings this weekend are focused on offerings and sacrifices and so forth. The Letter to the Hebrews says Christ is the high priest and that “the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests.” As high priests, we are called to give ourselves away in love to God. We do this by desiring to do first the Lord’s will and not our own (Thy will be done), by spending time with God in prayer, and by constantly listening to what God is saying to us. We do this from the cross.
The smells in the temple of Jerusalem I imagine would have been mixed. The smell of steak and baked bread for a portion of time, then the smell of burnt steak and toast for another portion. Delicious and disgusting; heaven and hell.
When we surrender our hearts to God, we can trust the aroma will be heavenly. Ourselves and everyone around us will benefit, and God will be glorified.
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A reminder that this Saturday, November 2nd is the Feast of All Souls. We will have our regular 8:30am Mass that day. The 4:30pm Saturday evening Mass will also be the regular Sunday Vigil Mass. We will read all the names of the deceased from the previous year after Communion at that Mass, and families are invited to bring a picture of their loved ones to that Mass. There will not be a separate All Souls Remembrance Mass–it will take place at the 4:30pm Mass.
The Stuff-the-Truck and Coat Drive events also take place this weekend, November 2/3. A special thank you to those who are organizing the event, those who have donated the truck, and all of you for contributions.
All are invited to the gym following the 9am and 10:30am Masses this Sunday for Donut Sunday and New Parishioner Sign-Up.
The collection of the Baby Bottles will take place at all the Masses this weekend. Thank you for your generosity and thank you to the members of the Respect Life Committee who helped with the effort.
At our weekly SPC school Mass this Tuesday we will honor parents who are First Responders. But let me take the opportunity to offer my gratitude to all doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, and other emergency professionals. You do God’s work and we are blessed because of you. May you be safe, and may St. Michael the Archangel, St. Luke, St. Florian, and all of the other patrons guide you.
Throughout the month of November we invite you to write down and pray for your loved ones in our Books of Remembrance that will be located inside the church at the Mary altar and in the back vestibule of the church.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. James Wallace
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