My dear brothers in the priesthood, beloved deacons, religious and faithful people of God, we gather this evening, in this holiest of weeks, and it, like all the liturgies of this week, is an abundance of blessings.
In addition to being fed by the Word of God and the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we will be blessing and consecrating the oils that will go forth from here and used throughout our diocese this year for the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, Holy Orders and Anointing of the Sick.
And as if that was not enough, the priests gathered here today will have the opportunity to join priests throughout the world in renewing the priestly promises we made before God and the Church on the day we were ordained.
The Lord has Anointed Me
To my brother priests, in today’s readings the prophet Isaiah declares and Jesus echoes that “the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and release to the prisoners.” They are words that resound within the mystery of the priesthood. At the heart of the mystery of our ordination is that we, as disciples, have been called and chosen, and through our ordination, configured to Jesus Christ and now share in His priesthood. The proclamation of Isaiah that was fulfilled in Jesus is now also, by God’s mercy, fulfilled in us. We have been anointed so that we can bring new birth through Baptism, lift up the Body of Christ at the altar, raise the broken in absolution and comfort the sick and dying with the oil of healing.
Who we are, what we have received, whom we serve
As you renew those priestly promises, dear brothers, may it be a moment for you to remember who we are, what we have received and whom we serve.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop emeritus of Boston, tells the story of remembering exactly when, in 1986, the award-winning movie The Mission debuted. For those unfamiliar with the movie, it tells the story of the life and death struggles of the Jesuit missionaries bringing the Gospel to the people of Paraguay. At the time, Cardinal O’Malley was the bishop of the Virgin Islands and someone had brought him a copy of America magazine on which, on the back cover, was a picture of a young, nicely-dressed Jesuit scholastic teaching a group of very interested and well-dressed students. At the bottom of the picture, there was a simple question: “Do you want to be a Jesuit? Call this number.” It also happened, however, that on the very next day he was reading El Nuevo Dia, a newspaper from San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the paper that day, there was a full-page picture of a scene from the movie, The Mission, in which a shirtless Jesuit, tied upside down to a cross, was being thrown over Iguazu Falls, the world’s largest waterfalls. Underneath, in Spanish, the following question was asked: “Do you want to be a Jesuit? Call this number.”
Giving of Oneself
While I have no information on the effectiveness of either of those ads, each of those ads features an important part of our priestly ministry.
The ad portraying the priest tied to a cross, is a particularly poignant image of how being a priest and being configured to Christ means following the one who gives himself completely. Hopefully none of us will find ourselves in the same situation of that long ago Jesuit missionary. And if we do, may there be a bungee cord tied around our feet. Nonetheless, I am very conscious of how you. my brothers, give of yourselves in daily and many times unnoticed ways. I think of how your priestly ministry entails going out in the middle of the night to administer the Sacrament of the Sick to a parishioner, how it means serving people’s needs despite, at times, seeming indifference, how it means praying the words of Jesus, “Thy will be done” when faced with difficult tasks and assignments, how it means being faithful to the Divine Office and personal prayer and not losing oneself in mindless distractions, how it means honestly reflecting on one’s relationship with God and others and striving to listen to God’s voice continually calling to us to a deeper relationship with the one who is the ground of our being, how it means following the humble service of Jesus who washed the feet of the disciples. My dear brothers, as you have said yes to the gift of the Priesthood, may you be strengthened by the High Priest Jesus Christ whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light.
The Pearl of Great Price
And what about that other ad of the Jesuit scholastic teaching a group of interested students?
It is a reminder to us of the treasure that we hold, the pearl of great price that has been given to us. Jesus’ final words to his apostles before returning to heaven was to forth and teach all nations. It is the great commission to which all Christian are called; however, as priests, we are especially privileged to follow this command. You do this in your preaching and teaching. You do this by your example of fidelity. You do this by your listening and giving direction. One of my favorite passages in the Acts of the Apostles is found in the third chapter and tells the story of Peter and John encountering in the temple area a man who was crippled from birth. When he approaches the two apostles begging for alms, Peter tells him to look at them and then says, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk” (Acts 3:6). Let us always remember that like Peter and John, we have something far greater than the silver and gold that the world values. May we always remember that Jesus Christ is the one who heals the crippled, gives sight to the blind and release to prisoners. May we always remember that Jesus is the treasure that truly satisfies and that for which the world ultimately longs. May you, my brothers, continue sharing this treasure with those whom you serve.
Prayer and Mission
And dear people of God — pray for your priests. Support them. Walk with them. Their vocation is to serve you with love. And your faithfulness gives them strength more than you know. May this Chrism Mass renew in you and in all of us the joy of our call — whether that be as a priest or lay person. It is a call, in the words of Pope Francis’ recent encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus “to spread goodness in our world … [and to be] like the apostles and the first disciples of Jesus, who went forth to proclaim the love of God, [and] tell others that Christ is alive” (DN, 215,216).
Let us go forth and proclaim God’s Love.
