HOMILY
Chrism Mass – March 26, 2024
Welcome to our cathedral! To all who join me this afternoon to celebrate this Mass of the Sacred Chrism – so many of my brother priests – our permanent deacons and their wives – Parish Life Coordinators and lay leaders – religious women and men –– our seminarians – young people from around our eleven counties – and brothers and sisters who make up this local Church that we know as the Diocese of Scranton – thank you for your presence and your faith!
In today’s Mass of the Sacred Chrism, with its blessing and consecration of oils along with its sign of the unity of God’s people with their bishop, the Church bids us to engage the journey of the sacramental life it offers to all believers. Beginning with our first encounter with the Lord at Baptism and continuing with Confirmation, Holy Orders and the Anointing of the Sick, right up to the moment when we prepare for our final journey to meet the Lord, through the use of sacred oils that we bless this day, God’s merciful is poured forth into our lives, equipping each of us for the mission of evangelization and the proclamation of the good news of Jesus.
Yet, in the renewal of today’s Mass following the Second Vatican Council, Saint Paul VI recognized another vital element of the sacramental life of the Church and why we gather as we do this afternoon. “The Chrism Mass,” the Holy Father noted, “is one of the principal expressions of the fullness of the bishop’s priesthood and signifies the closeness of the priests with him.” As such, we also affirm and give thanks this day for the unique role of priestly ministry in service of the People of God.
For so many years, we have gathered for this Chrism Mass with heavy hearts as we’ve tried to navigate life and ministry amid Grand Jury reports, a global pandemic, and a world that has increasingly set aside the values of the Gospel upon which we have staked our lives. Today, however, while we still come to this moment not without struggles and concerns, we also come with reason to hope. That hope, quite simply, is rooted in God’s enduring presence within our lives – a hope that has enabled us not merely to survive difficult times, but to both know and proclaim the power of God at work in our world.
Not long ago, Pope Francis spoke with deacons of the Diocese of Rome preparing for priestly ordination. The words he offered weren’t particularly novel, but they touched me deeply – perhaps because I needed to hear them. While sharing them with my brother priests, I hope they speak to all our hearts, not just as a framework for our reflections but more importantly as the surest means that we have to maintain hope in our lives and ministry in a turbulent world. … Listen to Pope Francis’ words. “We are co-workers for the sake of the Kingdom – in service of the People of God – sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.”
First, we are co-workers for the sake of the Kingdom. Today’s inaugural proclamation of Jesus’ mission in Saint Luke’s gospel comes on the heels of his baptism by John in the Jordan River and at the beginning of his Galilean ministry. It’s immediately followed by various healings and cures and notably the call of Simon Peter, Levi and the Twelve. Called and chosen by God, it would be their responsibility – as co-workers – to build Church once Jesus ascended to his Father.
In his address to the deacons, Pope Francis acknowledged this reality. “One can have the idea that, once one becomes a priest, it is essentially time to take matters into one’s own hands, personally implementing what one had desired for years, finally setting up situations with one’s own style and according to one’s own ideas. … Yet the Church first of all does not ask you to be leaders, but co-workers, that is, those who “work with”. This with is essential, because the Church is first and foremost a mystery of communion. And the priest is a witness to this communion, which implies fraternity, fidelity and docility.”
Brothers, I thank you for engaging in the hard work of priestly ministry in these challenging times – times that demand a great deal from each of us as we discern how best to continue to serve our people and parishes. Without a doubt, we are richly blessed with generous seminarians who join us today as well as the presence of so many international priests who minister among us apart from their families, home dioceses and religious communities. But we are also confronted with diminishing numbers from our own ranks as well as fewer members of the faithful participating in the life of our parishes due to age, changing demographics and, sadly, to values that don’t always resonate with the gospel we preach. With such complex challenges and more, we cannot walk this journey alone. More than ever, we need one another to fulfill the ministry given to our care.
Thank you for working with me and your people in this noble task given to us by the Lord Jesus himself. I can’t lead without your support. And your people, for all that they do as disciples of Jesus, need you to walk with them. They tell me all the time how much they appreciate you, as they did particularly during the past few weeks when I prayed with so many of you during our Lenten Deanery Holy Hours. Brothers, we need to work together – not bishop vs. priests vs. parishioners – but bishop, priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful – co-workers united for the sake of one mission: the building of God’s Kingdom in our local Church.
But as co-workers for the sake of the Kingdom, brothers, there is also another vital element of priestly life that we ought not overlook: fraternity – specifically priestly fraternity. Our gathering today is a powerful sign of the need that we have, as priests, for one another’s support as we walk a journey that can at times be lonely and challenging.
I don’t usually use props in my homilies, so indulge me for a moment. This is a traditional Ghanaian carving that I was given during my first visit to the Diocese of Sunyani two years ago. It depicts three individuals holding up a globe. It speaks of the power of unity – of lives shared and given one to another. Its meaning: Three people – together – can hold up the entire world! … I’d suggest that three brother priests – joined together by God – can help hold up each other and at least their own corner of the world.
A favorite author of mine, Father Ron Rolheiser, offered these thoughts on our need for fraternity as priests and as the entire People of God, “The most pernicious heresies that block us from properly knowing God are not those of formal dogma, but those of a culture of individualism that invite us to believe that we are self-sufficient, that we can have community and family on our own terms, and that we can have God without dealing with each other. But God is community and only in opening our lives in gracious hospitality will we ever understand that.”
So, yes, we are co-workers for the sake of the Kingdom – and we are called to proclaim the gospel message of Jesus in service of the People of God.
During the past two years, the Church in the United States has been engaged in a revival centered upon the Eucharist, the source and summit of our lives as Christians and the heart of priestly ministry. Hold on to these words of Saint John Paul II spoken to each of us who approach the Eucharist and particularly to us, as priests. “The authentic sense of the Eucharist is that it becomes the school of active love for my neighbor. If authentically received, Eucharist must make us grow in awareness and service of one another.”
Brothers, thank you for living the Eucharist and, even when you’re tired and worn, for giving life to the words of Jesus in today’s gospel – bringing glad tidings to the poor, as we feed and clothe and minister to them in their need – proclaiming liberty to captives as we impart God’s forgiveness – letting the oppressed go free as we release from bondage all who have been pushed out of our Church by self-righteousness, hatred and pride – and announcing a year of favor from the Lord as we proclaim Jesus’ mercy through our service of one another.
Finally, brothers, we are sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It’s consoling to know that the very same Spirit that came to rest upon Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth abides within us now, sustaining us for mission.
I understand that it’s not always so simple to tap the power of the Spirit and to recognize God’s presence in our lives. We’re pulled in all sorts of directions. But don’t let the burdens of life and ministry and the responsibilities that so often weigh us down cause us to step aside from the source of our strength. We have been called by God and are empowered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to serve in this unique and life-giving ministry. I pray that such an incomprehensible gift still causes our spirits to soar – even when we might feel otherwise.
The great theologian Karl Rahner, in a reflection on what it means to be a priest of his time, offered these simple thoughts that speak to us today. “A priest must be a man of God, a man of experience with the Holy Spirit and a man of eternity. He cannot be a priest and happy if he is not a spiritual person, if he does not always begin again.” Yet, by God’s grace, “he need not do more than try.”
Brothers, we have been invited to participate in an incredible journey with the Lord Jesus. At his invitation, we answered the call to serve the Church as priests. Whether young or old, we all know that the journey can be a challenge at times, fraught with pain and disappointment. But it is also a journey that is life giving and that can provide us with a deep sense of fulfillment and peace – if we’re humble and wise enough see ourselves as co-workers for the sake of the Kingdom – in service of the People of God – and sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit when we can no longer walk the journey on our own.
And so, to all my brothers and sisters who make up this local Church, thank you for living your baptism, for embracing the values of the gospel and for doing your part in building God’s Kingdom. … And to my brother priests, thank you for the witness of your lives and for your priestly service, given so generously, at great personal sacrifice and often with little recognition. Know of my love and deep respect for you, brothers, as colleagues in ministry and men of faith – a love and respect that grows in my heart with the passing of each year in which I am privileged to serve as your Bishop.
May God continue to sustain us all in the ministry to which we have been called by Jesus, the true and only source of our hope and peace.