During Aaron's ordination, a ram is offered - part of it burned as a whole burnt offering, part eaten as the priests' ordination meal. The new priest consumes the very sacrifice of his inauguration.
There's something profound about being ordained - being set apart for sacred work - by consuming the offering. You're not separate from what's offered. You're taking the sacrifice into your own body. You become what you serve.
I thought about this constantly during my own ordination. I'm not just administering sacraments from a distance. I'm participating in them, transformed by them. Consuming the mystery I'm called to serve.
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