Tonight I watched some of the Mass of the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. It took 5 years and $1 billion in donations to rebuild and complete the structure since the fire in 2019. In the homily by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Paris, he stated, “Generation after generation – believers experience it – the Lord does not abandon his own. Even if distress and violence do not cease throughout the history of men, it is God and his disciples who feed on his strength to show the way to the victory of life.” The bronze, plain, half moon shaped altar was the center of attention and was consecrated. I had never seen such a thing. As in the Catholic faith, everything is done for a symbolic reason. There were relics of 5 saints embedded into the middle of the altar, remembering the tradition of ancient times. When Christianity was young and illegal, people would go to the catacombs to celebrate Mass over the tombs of the martyrs. Once Christianity became legal, worshippers wanted to keep their predecessors close, so they started putting a small part of the saint’s bone or belonging in the altars. Once the relics were placed in the altar at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Archbishop poured chrism oil over the altar, starting with 5 small pools which represented the 5 wounds of Christ. He then spread the oil – which is fragrant and symbolized the Holy Spirit – all over the altar. As he did this, the 5 keyboard organ played wildly. Small burners of incense were then placed on the altar. The smoke rose just as our prayers rise to heaven. The altar was wiped of excess oil and set with the usual altar cloths. Then Mass continued as usual. The cathedral and the celebration was a sight to behold. I loved the snippets of close-ups of the art and details of the structure, inside and outside. And I loved the hearing the organ and the huge, choir. If you were there, it would have been quite a sensory experience, which was also intentional as we praise and glorify God with all our senses.

I Found God today seeing the Notre Dame Cathedral reopening celebration.