Father Knows Best—Episode 24: Holy Oils; The First Priests and Bishops; Name Changes; Animal Sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Holy Oils; The First Priests and Bishops; Name Changes; Animal Sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Tune in so we may discover, learn, and engage our hearts, souls, and minds and become illuminated, informed, and inspired. Send in your questions to Fr. Mark via e-mail at fatherknowsbestshow@yahoo.com.  The program is sponsored by St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago, NE. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I have questions. I don't understand. I'm confused. What's going on? This is not what I learned in school. What does the church really teach? Welcome to Father Know's Bush, the studios of 88.1 FM, KFA C Pankasu City, and K-O-I-A Storm Lake. Brought to you by the St. Augustine Indian Mission, Winnebago. We all have questions and the curiosity about matters of faith as it is normal for humanity to ask questions and seek answers in the timeless quest for understanding regarding matters of faith in the church. We believe that there is no such thing as a foolish or dumb question. And I say the only dumb question is the one that is not asked. And the reality is that the questions you have are like questions others have, and so it is good to ask. Sometimes an answer leads to more questions. Sometimes the questions and answers will lead us to insights we never considered. We at Sioux Land Catholic Radio want to invite our listeners from Jackson, Nebraska to Elk Point, South Dakota, to Storm Lake, Iowa, and everywhere in between and beyond, send your questions to us at Father Knows Best Show at Yahoo.com. Or mail them to Father Knows Best, Sioux Line Catholic Radio, 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux City, Iowa, 51103. During this time, once a week, I or another guest will do our best to answer some of the questions I've received here at the studio so we may discover, learn, and engage our hearts and souls and minds, so we may be illuminated, informed, and inspired. So I thank you for tuning in. We invite you to open your mind, let the questions begin, and let your curiosity find its voice. I'm Father Mark Stowe, Priest of the Diocese of City with you today. And again, joining me is Tim Sudin, the Executive Director of Sioux Catholic Radio, presenting some of the questions I've received to from you, our listeners. How are you doing, Tim?

SPEAKER_01 1:48

I am doing great. It's another wonderful Wednesday night, and I cannot tell you how much I enjoy learning about the faith on these Wednesday evenings.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

And I'm learning a lot too. I have put a lot of my thinking cap on, think about some of these questions, and so we are ready, I believe, for another round of questions. But before we do that, just want to acknowledge Ann, who is here at the control board, make it sound good. So now let's drive into our first question. So, what should we talk about tonight?

SPEAKER_01 2:14

A faithful listener sent you these questions. Where do we get holy oils? And where do we find these in the Bible?

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Very good. I'm grateful for that question. Wonderful question. There are, of course, three holy oils that we use in the church for various sacraments in rituals. We have the oil of catechumens, we have the secretism, and we have the oil of anointed of the sick or otherwise known as the oil of the infirm. All three oils are olive oil that has been blessed or consecrated by the bishop, the bishop of the diocese, at a special mass called the Chris Mass. And that chrism mass takes place during Holy Week and sometime before the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday. So each of these oils, a different prayer is used that relates to how that oil will be used. So olive oil is blessed to become oil of catechumens, to be used in all persons, whether it's adults or excuse me, infants to adults, who will be baptized to give them strength as prepared to be baptized. And namely, this is all about extending an effort of what uh effect of what we call exorcisms and removing of sin. It's also to strengthen those to be baptized to renounce the devil in the sin before they approach baptism. So we also have then olive oil that is also blessed to become oil of the infirm of the sick. This is to begin to be used for the uh seriously ill persons in the sacrament anointing of the sick, again, which we talked about in episodes 22 and 23. Then we have olive oil that which is consecrated. Again, consecration is a little different than a blessing. This is uh uh oil that is consecrated by the bishop, and in doing so he adds a small bit of what called purify. It's a liquid uh called balsam, it's a gum of the balsam tree, which is a kind of a spice or purify purify that's added to that oil, and it gives that unique scent to that oil. And so this oil is consecrated by the bishop. And this oil, it would then be used on the crown of an infant head after baptism, or it can be used on the forehead for someone being confirmed, or on the hands of a man being ordained a priest, or on the top of the head of a man being ordained a bishop, or it can also be used on the top of the altar when it's consecrated by a bishop, and also be placed on several places of the wall of a new church that is being dedicated by a bishop. And so again, that oil is consecrated. When we talk about consecration, the the the kind of a little bit like uh the bread and wine. It's the the substance changes. It still looks the same, but it's the essence of it has changed. And that'd be a whole other episode. Now, where do we find the oils mentioned in the Bible? In the Bible, we do not hear the specific words catechumens, infirm or chrism for these oils. All these names have been applied throughout the early years of the church, and as we see the use of those oils in various times that we use these sacraments. However, we do see the use of oils at various times, occasions in the Bible. Well, in the Bible, again, we don't hear those words. We find, for example, in the Old Testament and Hebrew scriptures, we see various prophets, kings, and objects that are being anointed. When Moses was anointing the tent of the meeting, or the ark of the covenant, or the table, the utensils, the menorah, or the altar incense, we see Moses using oil. Again, that's in Exodus chapter 30, verse 26-28. We also see oil being used by the prophet Samuel, who anoints young David to become the second king. That's in 1 Samuel chapter 16. All these times anointings that we digested mentioned, Moses and Prophet Sam, for example, but this could be oil being foreshadowing of the sacred chrism. Again, we're anointing someone or something, you know, for a specific sacred purpose or for uh a specific role. The oil of the sick or the infirm, of course, we see that and mentioned in Isaiah 1, uh chapter 1, verse 6, Luke chapter 10, verse 34, Mark chapter 6, 13. Again, it's all mentions where Jesus sends his apostles out to anoint the sick with oil. But specifically in James, we see in chapter 5, verse 14 to 15, again, St. James says, uh call for the presbyters of the church that they may anoint the sick with oil. Then we see the oil of catechumens. Uh again, no really specific mention of oil being used like such as baptism with John the Baptist when he was out baptizing people. But we can still attribute this oil to oil that was used by Moses to purify people, as we find in Leviticus chapter 14, verse 1 to 20. So, in short, particularly, you know, there's no mention of the oil specifically that we use, but it mentions that we do use oil since the ancient times. And in short, over the uh ages of the church, we have been using these oils for the sacraments, these holy oils, which have the roots in the in biblical times, but again been adapted over time, you know, due to the life and the example and the instructions of Jesus Christ. And so I hope this answers your question.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

Interesting. Let me do a little bit of a follow-up. Yes. Okay, so the Chrism Mass takes place. Yes. And then these oils are distributed evenly throughout the parish?

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Exactly. So all the parishes then will receive a portion of these oils to be used in the sacraments at that particular parish. Based on the level of people they have in their parish, or is it an even distribution, or is it kind of it's yeah, it's probably an even distribution, but maybe a bigger parish might get just a bit more just because they might have more baptisms, for example, than the smaller parish. So very cool. Okay. And again, if we don't have enough oil, we can you know contact the bishop's office and he'll provide us with additional. So there's an inventory held someplace? There's an inventory held. Perfect. Perfect. Yeah, because not all of it gets sent out. And of course, the bishop uses a lot of charisms when he goes out and does confirmations.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

So that I get that too. Very, very interesting.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Wonderful question.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Yep. Another faithful listener sent us this question. I know Peter was the first pope. Were the apostles the first priests or bishops?

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Thank you for that question. The answer to your question is yes. Okay, let's go to the next question. No, let's explain. I always like to dive a little deeper in this. Yes, the apostles were the first priests and the first bishops. Of course, St. Peter was the first pope. So again, we see Peter, of course, given responsibility of being the first pope in Matthew chapter 16, verse 18 to 22. After that occasion, though, we see then at the Last Supper, Jesus gives the apostles the role of priests. And we see this in the Gospel of John, when in the count of the washing of the feet, Jesus says, As I have done, so you must do. Also at the Last Supper in Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus says, Do this in memory of me. And of course, we also see in Luke chapter 22, verse 19, at the Last Supper, Jesus gives the apostles authority that's related to the offering and to sacramental ministry. Now, we also then see after Pentecost, the apostles would go out and found church communities, you know, what we basically call today parishes. And thus they were basically serving as bishops of these areas in which they founded these communities. Because again, the apostles went out to various parts of the world, and as they would go out, they would ordain men as bishops and priests to serve those communities. Again, we see the example as Saints Paul and Barnabas when they were being sent out, before they were sent out to their first missionary trip, the apostles laid hands on them and ordained them and sent them on a mission. Again, we see that in Acts chapter 13, verse 3. We also see in St. Paul's letter, 2 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 6, he again makes a reference to having laid hands, ordained Timothy, to be responsibility of the community he was assigned. Thus we see, of course, at the Last Supper, Jesus ordained the apostles to be bishops. Of course, bishops always are priests. And then in the Acts of the Apostles and Letters of Paul, Peter, and other apostles, we see then references again of laying on hands, ordaining others to go and serve as bishops and priests. And thus we see the beginning of what we know as apostolic secession. This unbroken line of popes and bishops that date back to the apostles ordained by Christ at the Last Supper. Now, of course, today the ordination of priests and bishops is more formal than it was at the Last Supper. Again, you just have Jesus there, makes a few statements, and boom, they're priests and deacons, or excuse me, priests and bishops. Deacons are another aspect we see also mentioned in the uh Acts of the Apostles. But again, more formal today when we go to an ornation for a priest or a bishop. And so, yes, the apostles were the first priests, obviously the first bishops, and of course, Peter was the first pope ordained by Christ at the Last Supper.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

So, did the apostles have different territories that they were responsible for, or how did that work?

SPEAKER_00 11:36

I would say not really responsible for, but they basically went out.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

We saw like went out in groups.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

I mean in various, yeah, various areas. We know that uh, of course, St. Paul spent a lot of time, like in the area of Greece and Turkey now. Right. Ended up in Rome, Saint Peter ended up in Rome, St. Thomas ended up all the way in India. And so again, uh, if you can look up some of the more that's another show, too, the episodes of where these apostles went to. Yep. But yeah, basically they went out, shared the good news. Very interesting. So if you're just tuning in, you're listening to Father Knows Best here on Suitland Catholic Radio as I answer your questions about faith and the Catholic Church. I'm Father Mark Stowe. And I'm joined by Tim Sudin, who is presenting questions that have received from you, our listeners. And so let's try a third question.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

Okay. From another faithful listener, we have this question. Why are there name changes made for some people?

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Thank you for that question. We find various times throughout Holy Scripture, there is reported, you know, various people had their names changed. And I'm going to give you a few examples and we'll talk some uh examples in the current time. In Genesis chapter 17, verse 5, we see God says to Abram, No longer will you be called Abram, your name will be Abraham. And so we do know that Abram and Abraham are just basically Mary, uh kind of merely two forms of the same name, which basically means father is exalted. Um the addition of Ha, again, this is goes back to Aramaic or Hebrew, whatever original language it was, again, it's basically basically says that he then becomes the father of multitude of nations. And so that's where the kind of the significance of the name change kind of signifies who Zia, he who he is. Father exalted, he now becomes father, father of multitude of nations. And chapter also in chapter 17, we see God says, As for Sarai, your wife, you should call her, do not call her Sarai, her name shall be Sarah. And Sarai and Sarah are again varied forms of the same name, which basically means princess. And so it might say Sarah because, okay, you can be the princess of a multitude of nations, might say. In Matthew chapter 16, 18, we see Jesus says to Simon Peter, You are now Peter. And Acts of the Apostles, we see Saul becomes known as Paul. And there are other uh again some name changes that take place throughout the uh the scriptures. And so each of these name changes we see in scriptures again signifies uh a new mission given by God to that person. Abraham becoming the father of nations, Sarah becoming the prince of nation, princess of nations, Peter becoming the first pope, Paul becoming a missionary of Christ. However, these are not the only places we see name changes. So some of these are we're very familiar with and sometimes we may overlook. At baptism, we basically are going from nameless to be given a name, hopefully with a Christian connotation. At confirmation, we often add a saint's name. At marriage, wives often take the last name of their husband. When a man or woman joins a religious community or consecrate life, they are often given a new name. When a man is elected pope, he often takes a new name. In all these times, the name changes and indicates a change in the person's life. At baptism, we become members of Christ's family. At confirmation, we make a commitment to Christ to fulfill baptism promises. At marriage, we can see the wife makes a commitment to be united with her husband, and the husband committed to his wife. In the making of vows to join a religious community or consecrate life, the man or woman is making a commitment to the religious community. When a man is elected pope, he takes a new name as a sign he is the successor of Saint Peter. So these name changes are in some sense a sign of dying to the former self and beginning a new commitment, a new life with Christ. So I hope that answered the question. So they really pretty much involve a new purpose. A new purpose. Perfect. A very new way of life, might say, a new beginning.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Very good. Let's try it forth. From another faithful listener, we're going to delve into the Old Testament. Alright. I know there were sacrifices made at the temple in Jerusalem. Sacrificing cattle, sheep, goats, and birds. Were they burned all day long? Why so many? What about the order? Was the smoke used to honor God? Were the skins saved to write on, or foreclothes that they were burned also?

SPEAKER_00 16:08

Thank you for that question. We actually moved in a little bit into the New Testament, too, because you know, we see Jesus going to that temple and there were sacrifices being offered. Yep. So again, we know that with the sacrifices at the temple, again, those are taking place there at the temple in Jerusalem. From the time that it was constructed, the time of King Solomon, through the time of Jesus, all the way up until 70 AD when that temple was destroyed by the Romans. And again, we find this descriptions of these sacrifices, you know, described in various places of the Old Testament, a little bit in the New Testament. So we do know, again, from the time of Abraham in the book of Genesis, you know, God asked for animal sacrifice. And again, sacrificing of animals, birds, plant materials, whatever, even humans, goes way back. I don't know what the history of that is, but it's all long been a custom of people to offer these types of sacrifices to their gods. But Abraham met God, and God specifically asked for animal sacrifice. And we see that happening. What's happening there is that God says, No more human sacrifice. And so we see in the book of Genesis with Abraham, we see animals of all sorts were sacrificed, including cattle, sheep, goats, birds. Now, the book of Exodus, as well as in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, we know that the practice of animal sacrifice continued, you know, during the time of Moses, with large numbers of animals being sacrificed. You know, for example, in Exodus chapter 28, verse 3 to 6, we find it they're prescribed, This is the ablation which you will offer to the Lord two unblemished yearling lambs each day as a regular burnt offering, offering one lamb in the morning and the other during the evening twilight, even with a grain offering of one tenth of an effa of bran flour mixed with a fourth of a hen of oil of crushed olives. This is a regular burnt offering that was made at Mount Sinai for a pleasing aroma and oblation to the Lord. So there's a couple of terms that I just want to briefly uh explain. One mentions a hen of oil, H I N. One hen is roughly about 3.67 liters, uh, which basically kind of relates to a quarter of a hen that mentioned is 0.92 liters, which is actually about 0.97 quarts, which is just under a quart. So basically under a quart of oil need to be also offered at this time. So again, these Leviticus, Deuteronomy has prescriptions, how you what and how and when you're to offer. And again, a key phrase in that is for a pleasing aroma for the oblation of the Lord. In other words, to worship God. So let's go to the Jerusalem temple now from time of Solomon until 70 AD. There are two related but distinct smoke realities. The smoke from burnt offerings, which is again Holocaust and burnt offerings, and also smoke from incense offered on the altar of incense. These all served for different purposes, for ritual purposes, but all about both about offering worship to God. In other words, there are different sacrifices for different ritual outcomes, and with the Bible making distinctions: burnt offerings versus peace offerings versus sin offerings and other offerings. So let's first take a look at burnt offerings, again, which is basically what the question is all about, the animal sacrifices. The Bible describes, in the Old Testament specifically, describes the temple's regular pattern as both daily and fixed, especially in the form of daily burnt offerings. Again, as I just mentioned from Book of Exodus, daily burnt offering to include two lambs every day, one in the morning, one in the twilight or evening. And beyond the daily offering, the total number of animals would have been would increase on Sabbaths, on festivals, again, according to what is prescribed by God's law there in the Old Testament. Again, specifically, you know, extra bulls or lambs or goats are extra quantities being offered. Likewise on feast days, there have been a considerable increase of numbers and quantities of animals sacrificed. Thus, even though a specific animal night might not be burned continuously from sunset to sunrise to sunset, the system was designed so that sacrificial schedule produced an appearance of an ongoing activity throughout the day, with offerings continually, you know, according to the appointed times. So, for these ritual actions with multiple animals being sacrificed, there was a repeated procedure for the bloody sacrifice. You'd bring in the victim, bring in the bull, the sheep, the goat, or whatever it might be. There'd be a laying on of hands, would have been the slaughter of the animal, would have been a sprinkling of blood, and then the burning of the animal. So again, this is not just simply a one-step process. Burn a single animal, and it's done. This was an organized sacrificial system, required multiple victims across days, weeks, even the calendar. Um, so a multiple number of animals we know were required by the ritual law of God given to them at Mount Sinai. Again, there's a there's a passage in the Exodus where it just I you lose count how many animals were sacrificed that day. So let's look at that order for God, that that smell. I can imagine, this is my imagination, because you know. Most of the temple, at least parts of the temple, must have smelled like a slaughterhouse or like a packy plant due to the odor of the of the of the blood and the smells of the animals that were sacrificed. At the same time, though, I can also imagine the temple smelling a little more maybe more like a grill or a restaurant because you'd have these cooking of meats. And so again, you have boy, some mixed uh smells there. But the Bible describes this order as pleasing, which is a reference to these offerings as having a specific purpose connected to God receiving them. And so, as the burnt offerings was to be a pleasing order offered by fire to the Lord, thus the smoke, the order, functioned as a sign of worship. Fire was consuming the offering, and the offering was reaching God as an acceptable worship. Now, in another part of the temple, there was an altar of incense. And incense can provide that different types of smoke from burning of incense. Again, incense is made out of resins from different plants. And again, this provided again a little bit different significance, symbolism of still involving worship. But again, we say, see in Psalm 141, it says, Let my prayer, like incense, rise to you. And so this incense smoke, kind of pleasing offering, rises with a fragrance as kind of an outward expression of interior worship. And we still, of course, use the incense today, you know, as with in our various rituals, our sacraments. And again, popping that incense might be maybe helped to alleviate some of the odors from the burnt sacrifices, which allows us to go back to the burnt sacrifices. So we do know that from Holy Scriptures that the priests in the temple were able to keep some of the meat from the offerings for their own meals. But what about the skins? Were they saved or were they burned? And so there's nothing that I could find in the research I did. There's nothing in Holy Scriptures that speaks about what happens to the skins, what happens to the leathers. You know, do you use that leather for sandals, for clothing? What do you do with it? And so there's nothing stated really in scriptures of what happens, but the idea you get is the entire animal is burned, except for the blood. Regarding the blood, which you know, there would have been a lot of blood spilled when they slaughtered that animal. The blood of that sacrifice animal was not to be burned like the fat. That's clearly stated in the scriptures. Rather, that some of that blood is to be sprinkled upon the altar or dashed against the sides of the altar. And again, that was a symbolism of atoning for sin. And again, we also have to recall that this blood could not be consumed because of forbidden by the law of God in the Old Testament, because blood symbolized life for the Jewish people. And so there is archaeological evidence that shows that there were channels or drains that were strategically placed in the temple to drain the blood away from the altar of sacrifice into maybe cavities or you know, below the temple, or maybe sometime someplace outside the temple. So they had to get rid of the blood somehow. But um so, in short, in the temple in Jerusalem, there were two types of sacrifices being made: incense and animal sacrifices. Both were doing to create an order or smell pleasing to God. And regarding this animal sacrifice, again, there'd be at least two sacrifices each day, one in the morning, one in the evening. There would have been more animal sacrifices being made during special feast days. Again, some of the meat would have been saved for the priest's dinner table. The blood would have been sprinkled or dashed upon the altar and the excess drained away. And possibly the skins were being burned and not saved. Again, scripture scholars, other scholars I've checked, is like we don't know for sure. But again, with the many sac many animals being sacrificed due to the prescriptions of the law, we'd also know that there would have been shepherds raising, providing animals that were needed. And this is probably what was likely happening too, even in Bethlehem, when we hear the story of Jesus' birth. The shepherds that watched their flocks by night when Jesus was born. And so they were probably shepherds who were providing those lambs, those sheep, for the sacrifice in the temple. So that's what I could find out about uh your question.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

That's a very involved answer.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

But what you're saying is the major honor to our Lord was the smoke. Was the smoke and the smoke and the and today incense. Incense is the major way we adore the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

And today, of course, our sacraments is how we've been basically we've gone from a bloody sacrifice to an unblooded sacrifice, Holy Mass, for example. Right, right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:57

Very, very cool. Very good.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Very interesting. Yes, very interesting questions tonight. And I'm just gonna give you heads up. I think next week I'm gonna plan to address the use of Greek during the Mass, Catholics returning to the church, and the use of the Science Cross, and maybe get another question or two in. So again, we really appreciate you tuning into Sudan and Catholic Radio as we offer both national and local programs, including Faith in Action, Draw Near, Life Plan, Catholic Ministry Professionals, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and the Sunday Morning Mass. Please also check out the Facebook pages for Sudan Catholic Radio and Father Knows Best for more information about this show, including more information about questions and answers I have addressed, and more information about things I've not addressed on this show. As we wrap up today's question and answer session, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in and sharing your thought-provoking questions, your curiosity and engagement make the show possible, and we're always inspired by an incredible range of topics to bring to the table. We hope you found the answers both informative and enlightening, and that you'll carry some new insights with you as you go about your week. And if your question was not answered today, you may hear your answer to your question next week. If you missed this episode, would like to really listen to this or other episodes, please visit our website, Sudan Catholic Radio, and visit the programs drop menu. Click the local programs and find this episode other episodes of Father Knows Best and other local programs. Again, if you have any questions, please send your questions to me at FatherKnowsbest Show at Yahoo.com or mail them to Father Knows Best, Sudan Catholic Radio, 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux City, Iowa, 51103. And thank you to our sponsor, San Augustin Indian Mission, Winnebago. Please join us again next Wednesday at 9 p.m. for another round of questions and answers. Until then, stay curious, stay faithful, keep your light shining, keep those questions coming. For now, I'm Father Mark Story, your host signing off. Wishing a great week ahead. May Mighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.