FOS SUMMARY - The Lord of the Rings-Living the Sacraments
Baptism and Chrismation: Anointing of a King or Queen
by Dorothy Poli & Helen Tellas & Daniel Padovano
October 7, 2008
WATER and CREATION RESANCTIFIED
God created water and earth and separated them in order to create order. In Old Testament Jewish theology, water was a place of chaos, disorder and dysfunction, a place of death and darkness. Satan lurked in the water (he was a sea beast in the Jewish Bible and the Renaissance rewrites the Bible making Satan a snake), and slithered out of the water onto land in order to drag man back into the water, into disorder and death. On land, Satan (the “thief”) stole Adam’s birthright. Adam and Eve separated themselves from God thus experiencing dysfunction and chaos. How could they reconnect again with God? They could not do it themselves. God reconnected with them again in the Resurrection and with all of humanity. Baptism is our entry into the sanctifying life that wards off Satan and keeps us connected to God.
In His Baptism, Jesus entered the water and does battle with Satan. Jesus fights and destroys the slithering serpent for us. He sanctified the water and creation. Jesus released power again into creation and re-energized the water. At the moment, the source of the rivers’ flow changed and found a new source as Jesus reorders and restores creation. Through water, God reintroduced Himself into a world that rejected Him (Adam & Eve) in order to restore the world. Actually, Jesus is not baptized; rather, He baptizes and sanctifies the water. When we enter the water in our baptisms, we experience regeneration and are able to ‘cross over the bridge’ into a union with God. We participate in a new reality with new opportunities and possibilities for our lives through our connection with God. Chrismation invokes the power of Holy Spirit to convert the possibility into actuality.
When we take God out of creation and nature, we reject His energies and become less than what we are supposed to be. With the Holy Spirit in us, we can grow into what each was uniquely created for – to realize our full potential through the set of gifts or talents bestowed upon us by God. Through an individual’s choice, we use those gifts not for own aggrandizement but in service to others in order to grow in the image and likeness of God. As God values our uniqueness, the Church encourages us to develop those individual gifts.
Our baptism then is our death (represented by the dunking) and rebirth. Our original humanity is restored and salvation granted. While salvation is made available, each one of us must take the steps necessary to claim it. We are not meant to be robotic but in cooperation with God if we want to be united with Him.
Baptism is also our protection against evil. We open ourselves up to evil after our baptism through our own actions. God offers us the Sacraments of Holy Communion, Confession and Unction to heal us again from our actions that make us fall over and over again. It is then up to us to partake of the Sacraments for healing and protection.
The image of Christ is a fish. “ICJUS“ (=Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior) was the password symbolizing the image of Christianity during times of persecution. We are also like fish that abide in water. During baptism, we are caught up in the nets of heaven.
Holy water being sprinkled on anything or anyone changes the energy because God re-enters the water and reconnection is established with God.
Baptism and Exodus
Baptism allows us to cross over from the earthly to the spiritual in the Church. Satan’s first attack is in Baptism. The Holy Spirit grants us the Grace of God in baptism and the tools to cross the bridge from the earthly to the spiritual. Baptism is also represented symbolically by the waters in the story of Noah’s arc, the
Satan is the one who attacks us the most when we have just received Grace. Satan does not prey as much on those who are not seeking Jesus because he thinks he is already winning them over. So he sends out the little demons for them. Satan reserves himself for the big battles. When being tempted in the desert, Jesus shows the way to overcome the constant attacks of Satan is by constantly reciting Scripture and recalling the Word of God which is Truth.
The Lord of the Rings - The lesson of Gandalf
In the movie, the image of hell is depicted as a place of darkness full of the dead where the demons reside. The Fellowship is able to fight them off as the demons are still small. When things are going well for the Fellowship and the battle gets more challenging for the smaller demons, Satan, depicted as the dragon, comes to battle for the big kill.
Gandalf (prophet/leader) declares to Satan “I am the servant of the Fire” and puts his staff down – the image of Moses in Exodus - to destroy the big demon.
Though Gandalf destroys the demon why does he nevertheless get tangled up and fall? This is to show that while saintly he is still sinful and subject to pride. Having defeated the demon, he starts to turn arrogantly, his ego inflated being pleased with himself and his accomplishment, thinking he has done it on his own, and the demon entangles him and he falls. This turn of events is intentional on the part of Tolkien to show that power comes from God and we sometimes forget this. Even at the height of our spiritual powers which God grants us for his service, we can fall. Further, it is to point out that Gandalf, while highly spiritual, is still not the savior; Jesus is for only Jesus saves.
Another lesson in the movie is that discernment is key. Frodo tries to help Gandalf. However, Frodo could have also perished. Having discernment of when and how to help is very important. Sometimes we place ourselves in peril when we think we can ‘play God.’ It is Satan’s deception to make us think that we are in control rather than God. Ultimately, we should all know that the battle belongs to Jesus. Through our connection with Jesus, He gives us the power to be victorious.
On the staff: The power of Gandalf was in his staff. This staff held by bishops is a reminder that the authority and knowledge he has been granted comes from God. The bishop leans on the staff, an image of dependency. He must rely on God’s power because even the highest spiritual person can fall. Ultimately, power and authority reside in God. Jesus said to Pilate that the authority he has to crucify or release Him he would not have had it not been given to him from above. However, when one expresses power separate from God, it is essentially usurping it and leads to abuse and tyranny because it is used for one’s own personal needs.
Gandalf as the Moses figure does not continue on the journey. Moses also suffered from arrogance and died before the Jews reached the Promised Land. The Fellowship is distraught at the loss of their leader as they looked to Gandalf (prophet/teacher) for wisdom and discernment to continue the huge journey. Though Gandalf is a leader, he is not God. Now, the Fellowship must listen to the voice of God within them to lead them in the right direction. In parallel to our journey in life, the voice of God within us is amplified by listening to Scripture and teachings of the Church and growing through participation in the Sacraments.
Where there is a lack of shame or conscience and unbridled behavior, it is indicative of the absence of the Holy Spirit in that person. The Holy Spirit will not remain in a place, i.e. the temple of a person, who is less holy. Therefore, the voice of God becomes muffled and provides no direction.
CHRISMATION
Immediately after baptism, there is Holy Chrismation. The Chrism, the oil that is used can be applied only once, unlike the oil of Holy Unction which can be used more than once. The churches obtain Chrism on Holy Thursday from the Patriarchate. Only the Patriarchate creates this. As the only source, it represents all the churches unified together. The composition includes 57 ingredients and dates back to the time of Exodus. The application of oil became the ordination of kings. Oil was the anointment of Samuel and David in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the anointing was represented by the laying on of hands by the Apostles in the early Church which signified receiving the Holy Spirit. As followers grew, the laying on of hands became impractical. Therefore, oil was used for Chrismation.
The anointing by oil, going to back to the Old Testament, signifies that we all become kings and queens, and as such priests. We are all part of the royal priesthood sharing in the Grace of God. As priests, we offer back to God the gifts He has given us. God gives each person a unique set of 7 talents or “charismata”. We must try to discern even one, cultivate it and offer it back to God. These talents help us in our journey home to God. Holy Communion enhances these gifts and enables us to continue on this journey.