August 23, 2026 • Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Dear Parish Family,

When we go back into our renewed and restored church on September 12, Bishop Senior will dedicate our new altar.   In preparation for this historical moment, this week and next week, the Sullivan Script will reflect on the importance of an altar. 

The altar is not simply a piece of furniture at the front of the church. It stands at the heart of our worship because, in a profound way, the altar is a sign of Christ himself.

The story of the altar runs throughout Scripture. Abraham built altars when he encountered God. Moses built an altar when the covenant was sealed. At the Temple in Jerusalem, the altar stood at the center of Israel’s sacrificial worship. All these altars pointed toward the sacrifice that would ultimately fulfill them: the sacrifice of Jesus upon the Cross.

An ancient Christian expression describes Jesus as priest, victim, and altar. He is the priest because He offers the sacrifice. He is the victim because He offers Himself.  He is the altar because it is through Him that the perfect offering is made to the Father. This is why the Christian altar is both an altar of sacrifice and the table of the Lord.

At the Last Supper, Jesus took bread and wine and gave them to his disciples: “This is my Body…This is my Blood.” The following day, what he had given sacramentally in the Upper Room was accomplished upon the Cross. The Upper Room and Calvary can never be separated. At every Mass, the one sacrifice of Christ is made sacramentally present, and then the fruits of that sacrifice are given to us as food.

That is why Catholics treat an altar differently from every other object in the church. At the beginning and end of Mass, the priest and deacon kiss it. We bow before it. At solemn celebrations it is incensed. We cover it with a white cloth and surround it with light. Most importantly, upon it the Eucharistic sacrifice is celebrated.

An altar is not simply installed. It is dedicated. The altar is permanently set apart for God. And yet the dedication of an altar is not only about making a sacred place for the Eucharist. The rite continually reminds us that we too have been dedicated to God.  

The altar is not just a piece of liturgical furniture.  It is not merely functional.  It is formational.  It points us toward the Upper Room and Calvary. It is the table around which God gathers his family. It is the place where Christ gives himself to us.  

The altar belongs to God. And so do we.

Next week, we will walk through the beautiful signs of the Rite of Dedication of an Altar.

Grace and peace!

              Father Neil Sullivan