Signed, Sealed, Delivered
This weekend I received a package with the final ingredient for completing the icon of St. Michael the Archangel. The last step of writing an icon is to seal the icon with oil. The sealing protects the icon so that it can be more easily touched. It also has the effect of deepening the colors already present and providing clarity to the life giving lines which add extra hints of light that will emanate from the image.
As I completed this last step I was reminded that icons are not the only images of the holy that are sealed with oil. We as Christians are sealed with chrism both at our baptism and at confirmation. The prayer of anointing in the sacrament of baptism is a reminder that we called to share in the life of Christ, who is priest, prophet and king. Christians share in Christ’s priestly character through blessing and sacrifice, in his prophetic life through proclaiming His word of truth, and in his kingship by living within his kingdom as people of service. At our confirmation, we are once again sealed with chrism in order to strengthen the grace given at baptism.
It seems to me that just as the sealing of an icon brings what is already present into sharper focus and deepens existing colors, so do the sacraments bring us to a deepening of our true selves. They show us that our most basic identities are to be found by looking toward God, in whose image we have been created.
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