Mass of the Chrism

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Tuesday, 11th April, 2006, at 11.00am

Introduction

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Thank you for coming to Saint Patrick’s for this moment of rejoicing when, surrounded by diocesan and religious priests, we renew our promises to be consecrated witness to the salvation of Christ; the oils for the Sacrament are consecrated and at one altar we offer the perfect sacrifice which has brought our redemption.

My brother priests and I remember with joy our own ordination and come humbly to the Lord thankful for what he has achieved in us.

As we call to mind our sins, let us recommit ourselves to even deeper love and service of Christ and his people.

Homily

“Jesus Christ has made us a kingdom of priests to serve his God and Father:  glory and kingship be his for ever and ever.  Amen.”
(Revelation 1:6)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

From the Book of Revelation we have a call that embraces all of us:  to be priestly, holy and chosen by God, who has called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Today in this Chrism Mass we celebrate with joy the choice from among our number of the men he has called to be bishops, priests and deacons, chosen by the laying on of hands to renew the sacrifice that he would make once for all on Calvary, to lead God’s people in love, nourished by word and sacrament.

We the people of God come to praise Christ our Saviour for choosing us as a priestly people, making our prayers and sacrifices valuable for the salvation of souls.  Because Jesus offered himself freely in sacrifice, he now shares his priesthood and will do so until the end of time through the men he has chosen.  The bishops and priests of this Archdiocese, diocesan and religious, are gathered today in wonder and thanksgiving for Christ’s gift.  We recommit ourselves to being given for our people as our Saviour did and to bring them the life Jesus means them to have.

In the Gospel Jesus takes us back to the synagogue of Nazareth where he read the words of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me.” (Luke 44:18)  When he applies these words to himself by saying, “Today the Scripture has been fulfilled in your midst”, (Verse 21) he embraces also all of those who are anointed and given the Spirit of God through priesthood.  Every time we gather for the Eucharist with our priest the mystery of Jesus’ dying and rising is made powerful and actual in our presence.

Today we have in our ears the words of Saint Paul to Timothy, inviting us to revive ceaselessly the gift of God received through the imposition of hands, (2 Tim. 1:6) which is sustained by a comforting certainty for priests that the one who has begun the good work in us will bring it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1.6)

We are one also with the Holy Father and priests throughout the world as we enter into the celebration of Our Lord’s paschal mystery.  Christ has called us in a special way to share in his priesthood.  Every vocation to priesthood is an extraordinary gift of God’s love and at the same time, to us who are weak, a profound mystery which links together God’s divine plan and its effects in the depths of our soul.

We have sung, “Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord”.  Our hearts are filled with gratitude as we come now to renew our priestly promises.  That promise commits us to be one with Christ, the model of our priesthood and to be faithful stewards of God’s mysteries - not allowing human interest to guide us, but only love for God, the Church and our neighbour.  We priests ask ourselves:- have we been faithful to these promises?  We are invited never to let the spiritual enthusiasm of priestly ordination be extinguished.

My dear brothers and sisters, faithful members of the Church, pray constantly for your priests.  In their weakness they stand between earth and heaven, caught in the loving but sometimes fearful encounter with the divine, conscious of frailty.  Pray for your priests that they may be faithful and attentive stewards of the gifts of divine goodness, bringing mercy in the sacrament of penance, the bread of life in the Eucharist, and being living memorials of the death and rising of Christ to new life.

Without doubt, priests are called to be harbingers of hope to a world sorely in need of it.

Some priests are with us for the first time, others perhaps for the last.  God’s gift is that the priesthood continue forever in the Church, a noble and awesome vocation to give one’s heart and soul to God and to engage with the people of today.

My friends please pray that young men may come to be with us in the priesthood:  please encourage and support young people and pray constantly for vocations to the priesthood.  We need courageous young men to swell the ranks of our seminarians, called to be other Christs, members of our families sharing in the wisdom and love that he alone provides.

As I thank the priests of the Archdiocese for their exemplary service to our people in challenging times, their personal goodness to me, may I join you in acclaiming the priests of the Archdiocese of Melbourne who walk constantly with us.  May this appreciation  support our priests by constant prayer, give them hope and make them faithful and articulate in the sacred mysteries, which they dispense and touch as agents of the Spirit of God.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.