August 23, 2026: Dab, Drizzle, Soak

Dab, Drizzle, Soak

21A August 23, 2026

[Oil applications, anointings]

Last Saturday after the 5pm Mass and on Thursday at the Elim Home Mass, we celebrated the Sacrament of Anointing for healing and hope. It was a powerful time for me and I hope for those who participated. We use sacred oil that was blest by Bishop Patrick Neary. A bishop blesses all the oil that is used throughout the Diocese. 

Anyway, it got me thinking about oil. Now you know I’m not much of a cook, but I am hosting a cooking class and meal for the Fall Fest Silent auction. Don’t worry, a professional chef will be doing the teaching and cooking. I’m just providing the space . . . and the wine. 

So I did some research. Did you know that oil is an ingredient that is used in every culture and is as old as time. There are many kinds of oil, and there are multiple ways of applying oil [show items] one can submerge food into it, rub it, dab it, drizzle it, pour it, apply it, toss it, brush it on, marinade with it, dip it in oil, soak it in oil, coat it, baste it, spray it, sauté it, fry it, or simply put a little oil on it.

In the gospel, Peter responds with the million dollar answer to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” He says, “You are the Messiah.” Messiah means anointed. In Greek it is Christos. And when we say the phrase ‘Jesus Christ,’ you’ve got to remember that Christ is NOT his last name. It is his title. It would be better to say, Jesus THE Christ, or Jesus THE Messiah, Jesus THE anointed one. 

When Peter calls Jesus the Messiah he’s not thinking so much about oil, but that Jesus is the one to offer freedom and peace. You see, for the Jewish people, at the time of Jesus, Moses was considered their Messiah . . . he freed the Israelites from Egypt and directed them to a new land. The gospel of Matthew uses the concept of the Messiah to show Jesus’ importance in comparison to Moses. Jesus is the second Moses or the new Moses.  

For example, Moses gave five great speeches. Matthew organizes Jesus’s teaching into five great speeches. Moses performed ten miracles before Pharaoh, Matthew records Jesus doing ten miracles. Jesus liberates us to freedom and brings us to a new land: the Kingdom of Heaven.  

St. Peter Chrysologus, a bishop in the 400s known as the “Doctor of Homilies,” wrote that God poured his own life into Jesus, who became one of us. That’s why Jesus is called “Christ”—the “Anointed One”—because he is filled completely with God.

Oil was commonly used on the body in Jesus’ time, often after bathing and sometimes with a fragrance. St. Peter Chrysologus and other Church Fathers saw Jesus as anointed as an image of what happens to us through Jesus: we are renewed, strengthened, cleansed from sin, and filled with the beautiful fragrance of God’s love.

And just like we can experience oil in many different ways, we can experience Jesus in many different ways. [Show how oil is applied]   He comes to us in all kinds of ways. Sometimes he is dabbed [dab with brush] onto us, like reading about Jesus, just read a portion at a time. He can be drizzled into our lives, like to attend one of our one night offerings. Jesus can rub us the wrong way, as when he challenges to forgive that person or mend that relationship. Maybe it is to be covered with Jesus [spray bottle] like going on that retreat, or finally getting that annulment, your marriage blessed, get confirmed for you adults. 

Later in this Mass, we will bless all those going back to school: students, teachers, administration, support staff. And some of you will be facing a new situation, a new setting. 

St. Paul tells us in the second reading that we cannot know the mind of God. In other words, we don’t always know what God is doing—or where God is leading us. God wants to soak into you. God wants to surround you with goodness. But maybe that’s part of the adventure of faith: expect to be surprised. Even in the difficult moments, even when life doesn’t turn out the way we had hoped, God can still be at work.

Maybe that is what it means to be anointed: to let God get into us—not just on the surface, but deep down where we live and where we struggle. And when God gets into us, something begins to change. We become a little more patient, a little more forgiving, a little more courageous, a little more loving.

Spiritual writer Fr. Richard Rohr once wrote, “The great thing about God is that God is always doing something new.” So don’t be afraid of what is ahead. Perhaps ask yourself how God will surprise you this school year, or this time of your life. Or just for today. Ask, “How will you surprise me/” 

And then be open to receive what God has instore.