My dear friends, we celebrated a powerful Chrism Mass at the cathedral this evening. May your Holy Week be blessed!
You can read the homily or watch the livestream video below – beginning at 33:17.
Tonight we gather to give praise and honor to Christ, our Great High Priest. In so doing we join the holy ones from every age in ‘singing the goodness of the Lord’ (Psalm 89).
While acknowledging Christ’s lofty title and stature, we also recognize his attributes of humility and selfless service, which are to be the hallmarks of all who ‘share in his consecration.’
Our Gospel this evening appropriately recalls that Christ himself was anointed by the Father with the Holy Spirit. Immediately preceding this Gospel passage, we are told that it was the power of the Holy Spirit that led Jesus to Nazareth. (Luke 4:14) Jesus then selects a passage from the Prophet Isaiah which foretells of his coming and describes the nature of his ministry. Once again in the prophecy ‘which is fulfilled in Christ’s proclamation’, we learn that it is precisely the anointing of the Holy Spirit that defines the salvific and messianic work of Jesus as the Christ, to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and to proclaim a year of favor which is acceptable in God’s sight. (Luke 4:18-19)
This anointing which Jesus received identifies him as a prophet in his own right – and much more as the Christ! Jesus is the anointed one, sent by the Father as his only beloved Son to humbly enter the human family to heal us of our frailty and sins. As the Gospels tell us, it is the poor and economically oppressed, those who are downtrodden, forgotten or neglected in any way who are the ones who receive him and believe in him.
After Jesus proclaims this passage from Isaiah in the synagogue of his hometown, we hear in vs. 22 the people “spoke highly of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.” Then, just six verses later, after Jesus responds to the people who questioned his origins since he is ‘the son of Joseph’, they become so infuriated with Jesus they are ready to toss him off a cliff!
In these few verses we see not only the fickleness of the human heart and our human condition, but a foretelling of the true nature of his ministry. His rejection by the people of his hometown foreshadows his future rejection by Israel. (see footnotes of New American Bible) We will recall all of this in the days of Holy Week which now lie before us.
But, tonight let us focus on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus, the Church, and all who share Jesus’ consecration.
The Power of the Holy Spirit
Jesus who always focused on the Father also allowed the power of the Holy Spirit to move and guide him. Luke mentions the role of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of Jesus on numerous occasions, not only in his Gospel, but most especially in the Acts of the Apostles. For us, as Jesus was always in intimate communion with the Father (which by the way is always facilitated by the Holy Spirit!), we as those who share in his consecration must develop a similar intimacy with Jesus.
As Jesus was sensitive and attentive to the power and promptings of the Holy Spirit, we, too, want to develop this discipline of the heart that is aware of the presence of the Spirit, who always animates the life of the baptized and the entire Church. In yesterday’s readings, Jesus in the Gospel of John told us that if we remain in his Word, we will know the truth, and the truth will set us free. (John 8: 32) This is the freedom that recognizes the presence of the Spirit; and is the freedom required to follow wherever it leads!
In a few moments, we will bless the Oil of Catechumens and the Oil of the Sick. Finally, we will consecrate the Sacred Chrism. As a part of that rite, the bishop breaths upon the Chrism, which is a highly symbolic moment of sending the power of the Holy Spirit upon the Oil, that the Power of the Holy Spirit through the consecration received from the Chrism may rest upon those who receive this anointing, bringing with it a gladness like no other. My dear friends who share this consecration, let us cultivate the life of the Spirit that we may grow in wisdom and gladness and be a people pleasing to God capable of better building the Kingdom of God.
The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council spoke about how this anointing plays out in the life of the Baptized:
Each individual layman (and woman) must be a witness before the world to the resurrection and life of the Lord Jesus, and a sign of the living God. All together, and each one to the best of his (or her) ability, must nourish the world with spiritual fruits (Gal. 5:22). They must diffuse in the world the spirit which animates those poor, meek and peacemakers whom the Lord in the Gospel proclaimed blessed (cf. Mt. 5:3-9). In a word: ‘what the soul is in the body, let Christians be in the world.’ (St. John Chrysostom) (Lumen Gentium, 38)
The Focus of Jesus
The role of Jesus as the High Priest is of significance to all the Baptized, but of particular importance to those who share in the ordained priesthood of Jesus Christ.
Christ is sent and anointed by the Father. A priest is called and sent by Christ. Jesus’ life and ministry is in obedience to the Father and freely guided by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Focus, the gaze of Jesus is always outward – to God and towards God’s people. Jesus’ ministry is one of humble, loving, selfless giving in service to others, especially those in most need of his mercy.
Here are just a few passages from the Second Vatican Council regarding the role of pastors:
- The Council describes pastors (especially bishops and priests) as shepherds following the example of Christ, the Good Shepherd (Lumen Gentium, 27).
- Pastors share in the ministerial priesthood of Christ (Presbyterorum Ordinis, 2)
- The Council emphasizes that pastoral ministry is fundamentally a ministry of love and service. Pastors are called to be close to their people, exercising their leadership not as rulers but as servants of Christ (Presbyterorum Ordinis, 6).
- Pastors are responsible for proclaiming the Word of God and instructing the faithful in matters of faith and morals (Lumen Gentium, 25).
- Through the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, pastors nourish the spiritual life of the Church (Presbyterorum Ordinis, 5).
- Pastors guide the Church as spiritual leaders, fostering unity and communion within the Church (Christus Dominus, 16).
- pastors are urged to engage with the modern world, bringing the message of Christ to contemporary challenges and cultures (Gaudium et Spes, 43). Their mission extends beyond their parishes to global concerns of justice, peace, and human dignity.
The sacred oils, when administered by the bishop or the priest demonstrate sacramentally how the clergy and the laity work together to grow in Christ, to proclaim Christ, and to live more fully our life in Christ.
As an Archdiocese celebrating our 175th anniversary, we are also undergoing a significant re-organization so that we may more effectively carry out the mission of Christ. Thus, I want to conclude by citing two more passages from the Second Vatican Council as a guide for our journey in the coming months and years.
The pastors, indeed, know well how much the laity contribute to the welfare of the whole Church. For they know that they themselves were not established by Christ to undertake alone the whole salvific mission of the Church to the world, but that it is their exalted office so to be shepherds of the faithful and also recognize the latter’s contribution and charisms that everyone in his own way will, with one mind, cooperate in the common task. For all must “practice the truth in love, and so grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16). (Lumen Gentium, 30)
And finally:
The pastors, indeed, should recognize and promote the dignity and responsibility of the laity in the Church. They should willingly use their prudent advice and confidently assign duties to them in the service of the Church, leaving them freedom and scope for acting. Indeed, they should give them the courage to undertake works on their own initiative. They should with paternal love consider attentively in Christ initial moves, suggestions and desires proposed by the laity. (see 1 Th. 5:19 and 1 John 4:1) Moreover the pastors must respect and recognize the liberty which belongs to all in the terrestrial city. (Lumen Gentium, 37)
My deaer friends, Let us grow in the freedom of the Holy Spirit so as to serve the Lord and his Church in truth and love.
Please God, may it be so.
Mary, Mother of the Church,
Pray for us!