Genesis 35:7, 14, 15 And he built there an altar, and called the place El- Beth-el, because there God appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother….And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering thereon, and poured oil thereon.. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el.
God had appeared to Jacob much earlier in his Ladder Dream, and Jacob named that place Bethel (house of God) at that time. Now he goes back to that place, builds an altar, sets up a pillar, and makes a thank offering. He repeats the name he had called it. In the ladder dream God renewed for Jacob the covenant He had made with Abraham and Isaac, and promised to be with him and bring him back to the land. God did that, and now Jacob responds.
Jacob remembers: faith brings up something God did for us the past and makes it active and operative in the present. So do we build an altar in our mind to remember, thank, praise, and worship the Lord. We go to the Cross in repentance and faith: we hear the Gospel again; we remember our Baptism and reapply God’s grace by faith; we go to Communion and receive it ”in remembrance of Jesus.” We may remember special moments in our life when God touched us, and even the places where it happened; but the ”memory” we always have wherever we are is the death and resurrection of Jesus for forgiveness and life.
And remember this: life is better when we do not remember, but we forget, our past and present sins. Instead, we remember the grace and goodness of God. Selective memory is helpful for spiritual health and wellbeing. This is not so easy in a world where the devil and our flesh are ever present to remind us how bad we are. So we build an altar in our mind to thank our good God for the Gospel. Good news lifts the spirit; bad news drags it down. Then wherever we are is a ”house of God.”