Chrism Mass, Holy Thursday
St. Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
Is 61:1-3, 6, 8-9; Apoc 1:5-8; Lk 4:16-21
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
9 Apr 2009
Each year I look forward to the Annual Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday, when the priests of the dioceses gather with their bishop for the blessing of the Holy Oils. The oils that we bless today will be used in the parishes over the coming year in baptisms, confirmations, the blessing of the sick, and also here at the Cathedral for ordinations to the priesthood.
The Chrism Mass is also an occasion when the Catholic people are asked to pray for their priests, to acknowledge the contribution they make to so many people, both humanly and religiously, and to say "thank you" for their service and their ongoing commitment to Christ and his Church.
For us as priests, the Chrism Mass is an opportunity to meditate on our calling, to thank God for our vocation, and to re-commit ourselves both to our work and to office of the ministerial priesthood in which we share.
As we are about to enter the celebration of the Passion, the readings today focus our attention on Christ the Lord.
Jesus is the first born of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, who washed away our sins. He is the Son of God who will return victorious at the end of time. He is the leader of all who call themselves Christians, and as the supreme high priest of the new covenant he is also the leader for us as priests. We follow him, accept his teachings, and try to put them into practice.
Following Christ's teachings brings life to society, builds community, and transforms it for the better. These teachings also have an enormous power for transforming the lives of each and every individual, by inviting our commitment to love not hate, to truth not lies, to cooperation rather than the survival of the fittest, and to caring for rather then crushing the weak.
Our Lord makes this quite explicit in the readings from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah which he used at his home synagogue at Nazareth. He came to bring good news to the poor, liberty to captives, sight for the blind, and freedom for the downtrodden.
I am just back from Peru in the north-west of South America, where I was visiting the only Sydney priest on overseas missionary work, Father John Andersen. Fr. Andersen is Parish Priest of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Iquitos, a city of half a million people in the Amazonian jungle. It is 1850 kilometres north-east of Lima, and only accessible by boat or plane.
Fr. Andersen has been working in his parish for twenty years. It was very moving and encouraging to see how much he is loved by his people. He is doing a power of good and has remarkable energy, which can be rather exhausting to keep up with! We should be proud of his great work.
There are about twenty Australian missionaries working in Peru, generally Columban priests, and Mercy and Josephite sisters. They are doing marvellous work following the principles that Isaiah announced. They are taking the good news of Christ, and the helping and healing service that it brings, to the villages and the huge shanty towns of Peru. I hope the Archdiocese will always have at least one priest serving in the overseas missions.
The Spanish were great missionaries, although in other ways they were perhaps less successful. They had a great knack for harnessing popular culture and popular religiosity to carry the faith forward. We need to learn from this and to develop popular religious symbols; for example Christmas cribs, the Way of the Cross, crucifixes and religious symbols at home, even chocolate Paschal Lambs! The way in which the journey of the World Youth Day Cross and Icon around Australia captured the hearts and the imaginations of young people should remind us of the thirst for faith and the power of visible and accessible symbols.
I would also like to offer a few words particularly to my brother priests. Recently Pope Benedict has been teaching about "sacramental mysticism"; or how all the sacraments, and especially the Eucharist as the source and summit of Christian life, are our way to God. Pope Benedict reminds us that the Eucharist is more than a community celebration. It is an act of worship, centred on Christ and not on the priest who leads the celebration.
Some wonder about the large cross and candles which are placed on the altar at papal Masses between the Pope and the people. The purpose of this practice is to make the point that the Pope is not the centre of attention but the one true God, through the sacrifice of Christ his only Son which is offered again on the altar.
In the long history of the Church religious movements and religious orders have come and gone. Widows, hermits, monks, crusaders, friars, religious orders, and now new lay movements have all written their chapter in the life of the Church. But the ministerial priesthood has been there at every age to announce the gospel, to baptise, to forgive sins - for only a priest can grant absolution; to celebrate the Eucharist, to anoint the sick, to bury the dead, and to serve and be with the people of God in good times and in bad.
As we will recall in the days ahead, Our Lord on the cross exclaimed "I thirst". Saint Therese of Lisieux was captivated by these words, by Our Lord's desire to save souls. There is almost nothing in sacred scripture to suggest that everyone is saved. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta uses the words "I thirst" to remind her nuns of the supernatural dimension of their wonderful work of human service.
As priests, we too need to be reminded daily of the supernatural dimension of our work. Here, prayer is indispensable. And in our prayer we should also pray for the Lord to send more workers to the harvest. Every priest should pray for vocations, and each year every priest should ask at least one young man if he has ever thought of entering the priesthood. We should pray also for our seminarians, for the rector of the seminary and his staff, and particularly at this time for the four deacons who will be ordained priest at the end of this month.
We should also pray for vocations to the religious life, and for the growth of the new movements. In Iquitos, Fr. Andersen has two beautiful young Franciscan sisters working in the parish with him, and watching them go about their work with energy, gentleness, and joy, I was reminded of what a great blessing it is to have young brothers and sisters working along side priests and people in parishes.
Finally, as priests, let us pray for each other; that we will always be faithful to the vocation that Christ has given us, and that He, will sustain us in service, and in bringing his light into communities and peoples hearts.
In the name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
