The Chrism Mass, Homily

Once a year the People of God in our diocese assembles to celebrate this Chrism Mass.  First off, let me say “Thank You” for being here and not in New Orleans!!!  After Mass we can let our undivided attention to travel south to root for the Cats.

For many this is the first time seeing the cathedral renovations. Just last Sunday the new tabernacle and the baptismal pool and font were blessed and inaugurated.  If you were not able before Mass to look closely at these beautiful, permanent changes, I hope that you will take the time after Mass.  Please remember to say a prayer of thanksgiving for all those whose generosity made these renovations possible and for all the professionals whose vision and talents accomplished these significant and excellent works.  On June 10th, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, and the eighth anniversary of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration here at the Cathedral, the new chapel will be dedicated.

The Chrism Mass is a sure indication that Lent will soon be over.  Palm Sunday and Holy Week are only hours away and very soon we will enter into the days of the Sacred Paschal Triduum.

From the early third century, we find written evidence that the local bishop blessed special oils for use in the liturgy.  From that early date, the sequence was established for the bishop to pray over and bless certain oils which then would be used in the Church’s sacramental rituals, especially the Rites of Initiation.

Although the ministries of the ordained are prominent in this Mass, the Chrism Mass is a celebration for all the Christian faithful.  Every member of the priestly people is consecrated for sacramental participation and anointed for mission.  We gather as the baptized and confirmed who share in Christ’s mission and are sent to proclaim the gospel to a world that hungers for the healing, wholeness and salvation that can be found only in Christ.  Among us also are those who by God’s grace have responded to the good news of Christ and have been preparing to become one with us through the Sacraments of Christian Initiation.  These Elect are here to witness the consecration of the Chrism which will be used at the Easter Vigil for their Confirmation in the Catholic faith.  Also present are adults baptized in other Christian Churches who will soon be received into full communion with the Catholic Church, as well as some of the young adults who are preparing to complete their Christian Initiation through the Sacrament of Confirmation. To one and all from our parish communities, I extend a sincere welcome in Christ Jesus.

Last weekend the latest blockbuster movie premiered in theaters across our country. Based on a very popular trilogy written by Suzanne Collins, “The Hunger Games” portrays a society that can only  be called "a dystopia" – the opposite of utopia – a society in which dysfunction reigns supreme. The futuristic story is set at a time after the destruction of our United States.  Out of the remnants emerged a country called “Panem” – a country controlled by a fiercely totalitarian government.

Only the citizens of Panem’s capital live lavish, extravagant lives, supported by goods shipped in from the desperately poor districts that comprise the rest of the country. In this dystopia, each year two teenagers are selected from each district to participate in "The Hunger Games" – a televised fight to the death in which selected teenagers, called tributes, must die - save only one. The last tribute alive wins the games and returns to his or her district, with the guarantee of lifelong comfort. Reminiscent of the years of the collapsing Roman Empire in which the Roman government placated its citizens by providing "bread and circuses," the citizens of “Panem” which is Latin for bread, are too distracted to be disturbed by the fact that the children are sent to be slaughtered for their entertainment. Young adults in this dystopia are reduced to things to be used. The incredible violence, oppression and injustice are met by universal indifference.

Well almost universal because the main character – the tribute, who won The Hunger Games – ultimately incites a revolution to combat Panem’s complacency.

Religious commentators on the movie see in the storyline a parable of our own nation with so many citizens willing to grow all too comfortable with injustice, offenses against human dignity and the sacredness of life.

For my part, I prefer to understand the story as a tale indicative of all humanity and our woundedness due to Original Sin. In the real world it is all too common and all too easy to be lulled into indifference regarding evil and its insidious effects on humanity. Self-seeking, believing that the end justifies any means and the popular impression that, if God exists, he is a distant God as indifferent toward us as we are toward him – these are the narcotics that sedate a society into becoming a dystopia.

The Hunger Games causes its viewers to ask the critical question, "How do I respond to evil in the world." This, in fact, is the question addressed in today's Liturgy of the Word.  The Scriptures proclaim that the Incarnate Son of God came into our dystopia to effect a spiritual revolution to deliver us from evil here and in eternity.

In his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus proclaims the Sabbath reading. Who knows, maybe the scheduled lector didn’t show for the service that day???   Jesus intentionally searches for and reads aloud a passage from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. We heard the words twice today, once in the first reading and then in the Gospel: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."

Completing the reading, Jesus preached his first public homily. It is impossible for us to appreciate the shock that must have stung those Nazarenes as they heard this hometown man claim, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."  TODAY - not in some indefinite future.  HERE – not in some mysterious, remote place.  IN ME – I fulfill your treasured expectations!

Clearly, our God is not indifferent to human suffering and the evils that afflict us. The Hebrew Scriptures testify to the love of God which moves Him to repair our broken humanity.  This divine, transformative love reaches its perfection on earth in Jesus, sent by the Father and anointed by the Holy Spirit. The incarnate Son of God came not to give spiritual advice so that we might endure this life and prepare for the next, but rather the Anointed came with the power to transform all who come to faith in him so that by His power believers can work each day for the transformation of our wounded world.

Each of our sacraments reveals a new and intense cooperation between crated reality – water, bread, wine, oil – and divine power.  Each of us is a missionary sent to allow God to work that same transformation through us in the world.

These three ecclesial oils express essential dimensions of our life in Christ.  The Oil of Catechumens indicates the first touch by Christ and the Holy Spirit by which the Lord draws us close to Himself, even prior to our Baptism.  The Chrism chiefly used for Confirmations and Holy Orders fulfills Isaiah’s words in our first reading: “You yourselves shall be named priests of the Lord, ministers of our God shall you be called.” The anointing with Chrism confers a share in the Priesthood of Christ.  In Confirmation the Royal Priesthood or the Priesthood of all the Faithful is strengthened in us, moving Christ’s disciples to minister to the needs – material and spiritual - of all humanity.  This ministry, common to us all, is described in the Opening Prayer of the Chrism Mass.  Gathering all our personal intentions together, I prayed: “O God who anointed your Only Begotten Son … graciously grant that, being made sharers in His consecration, we may bear witness to your redemption in the world.” 

In Priestly and Episcopal Ordinations, the anointing with Chrism confers a true participation in Christ’s own ministry as Priest, Teacher and Shepherd so that when the ordained act, it is truly Christ Who acts.

The Oil of the Sick reminds us that healing and forgiveness are hallmarks of Christ’s public ministry in the Gospels and are fundamental tasks He entrusted to the Church.  The proclamation of God’s unlimited goodness introduces a divine revolution into humanity’s dystopia.  While the first and foremost healing is our reconciliation with God in Christ, the Oil of the Sick is a tangible, sacramental expression of the Church’s ministry to comfort and heal victims of sickness,  injustice and every form of suffering.

Permit me to continue with a few words addressed to our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters.

La Misa Crismal toma lugar en este tiempo del año, cuando nuestra preparación cuaresmal pronto se unirá a la conmemoración del Triduo Pascual. Esto nos recuerda que todo sacramento recibió su poder del misterio pascual del sufrimiento, muerte, resurrección y exaltación de nuestro Señor. Los Santos Oleos y el Crisma Sagrado son signos físicamente visibles de una realidad súper natural –la iglesia como sacramento fundamental de Cristo Jesús. Vivimos en una unidad sacramental –una unión forjada por la gracia- Vida Divina que Dios ha escogido compartir con nosotros. Esta comunión con la gracia forma la iglesia mediante la unción de todos los creyentes en el Bautismo y la Confirmación y en manera muy especial mediante la unción de los sacerdotes durante su ordenación.

Cada una de las tres lecturas que acabamos de escuchar habla muy apropiadamente sobre la unción. El profeta Isaías, en un pasaje muy familiar a nuestros oídos, introduce la misteriosa figura del siervo de Dios que ha recibido el Espíritu del Señor cuando ha sido ungido. Inspirado y ungido, el siervo es enviado a ser un agente de justicia y amor para aquellos en necesidad, mediante la proclamación y vivencia de la Buena Nueva.

En el Evangelio según San Lucas nuestro Señor comienza su ministerio público con estas mismas palabras de Isaías, siervo de Dios. Jesús, el verdadero siervo de Dios y el ungido por el Espíritu vino no solo a proclamar nuestra libertad sino a ser nuestra libertad por el ofrecimiento de su vida y resurrección.

La Misa Crismal tiene un poderoso significado único para los sacerdotes, quienes por la virtud de su ordenación, actúan en la persona de Cristo, la cabeza del cuerpo de la iglesia. Ellos hacen esto en cada Eucaristía y en la celebración de los sacramentos. Esta misa única en el año, reúne a nuestros sacerdotes a concelebrar juntos esta liturgia como colaboradores con su obispo para construir, santificar, y pastorear la gente de dios en la diócesis. Les agradezco su presencia en esta liturgia tan especial y los invito -por favor, a orar por nuestros sacerdotes para que honren siempre la consagración que han recibido y sean siempre fieles a su ministerio.

The Chrism Mass is concelebrated by the priests and the bishop so that it manifests the communion of the presbyterate with one another and with the bishop.  Because of its ties in recent history with Holy Thursday, this Mass also commemorates the anniversary of Christ conferring the priesthood on His apostles at the Last Supper – a priesthood passed down through time by the laying on of hands.  Remembering the institution of the ordained priesthood, I want to remember some very special ordination anniversaries being celebrated this year by our priests.  Father Bill Bush celebrates his golden anniversary of ordination this year.  We are blessed to have 9 diocesan priests and 3 religious community priests who observe over 50 years of ordination.  Let me mention especially Father Ted Keller who is ordained 66 years and Monsignor Ralph Beiting celebrating his 63rd anniversary of ordination. Two priests mark their 40th anniversary of ordination in 2012: Father Paul Prabel and Father John Rausch of Glenmary.  And two priests will be thirty years old in the priesthood: Fathers Tom Farrell and Jesuit Father Gino Donatelli.  Congratulations to these priests and to all of our priests for their lives of faithful sacred ministry.

And now our Liturgy invites the priests of the diocese together with their Bishop to renew their commitment to the Sacred Order they have received.  With great gratitude for the vocation which we have been given and with genuine humility for all our shortcomings in fulfilling this great calling, we renew our “YES” to the Lord’s call.