So anyway - I found another boat altar, consecrated by a Bishop in a far away fishing village...
The altar as a boat evokes the analogical mind. Firstly, the culture of Jesus and disciples in the little fishing village of Galilee. It evokes the Fullerton fishing culture in which we all grew up, buying carite and cavali at giveaway prices as the boats came in, while throwing away shark and catfish, Maracas delicacies today! It links the culture of Jesus to our own. The boat also evokes the ancient Christian notion of pilgrimage (1 Pet 2:11); we cannot settle, we are always on the way, a motif that began with the Hebrew Exodus and will end in the New Jerusalem. Then the boat evokes the barque of Peter, that our faith rests on the solid witness of the apostles, a patrimony defended by Peter and his brothers, custodians of “the way” of Jesus. Additionally, the boat reminds us of Mary – Stella Maris – guiding and interceding for the Church through the tempestuous waters and dark, cold nights like the present. Finally, the boat is the symbol of the ark of my salvation - my little village where I was baptised and named, where the seed of faith was planted by my parents, nurtured in the community and put to work in harvests, where I celebrated First Communion and Confirmation, read frequently at Mass before leaving in 1983 for the seminary. - Source
Wade in the water.
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