Editor’s note: This is Bishop Lucia’s homily from the Chrism Mass celebrated on Tuesday, April 4, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The Mass is held annually on Tuesday of Holy Week. Sacramental oils for use in parishes for the coming year are blessed and priests of the diocese renew their vows during the liturgy.
“Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rv.1:5).
Dear sisters and brothers, in an Easter letter many centuries ago, St. Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church, wrote:
“Brethren, how fine a thing it is to move from festival to festival, from prayer to prayer, from holy day to holy day. The time is now at hand when we enter on a new beginning: the proclamation of the blessed Passover, in which the Lord was sacrificed. We feed as on the food of life, we constantly refresh our souls with his precious blood, as from a fountain. Yet we are always thirsting, burning to be satisfied. But he himself is present for those who thirst and in his goodness invites them to the feast day. Our Savior repeats his words: ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.’”
At this, our annual Holy Week gathering of the Diocese of Syracuse, I would like to focus our attention on the ministry of presence — “But he himself is present for those who thirst and in his goodness invites them to the feast day.” How present are you and I, brothers and sisters, to those searching for Christ in our local churches — is our own goodness an invitation for another to approach the wellspring of the Church’s life and Sacraments?
I have been pondering this question after two experiences within hours of each other last week. The first was in a meeting where I heard a person say to me that for the last two-and-a-half years they have felt in a safe place in this Church of Syracuse. I am grateful that such security can be found in our parish families.
The second encounter was in the course of a pastoral visit where I had a moment of private prayer with a few people. In that moment, I heard one young person in our group say aloud, “I wish I was loved and wanted by the Catholic Church — I want so much to be part of my Church, but I am not wanted.”
The reason for that statement was the person was on their own journey with gender identity and felt that, although loved by Jesus, the Church only looked upon the person as damaged goods to be returned. In truth, because it was only a moment and because of its placement in a larger setting, I don’t know the rest of this person’s story. I do know that after those moments of private prayer the group gathered in a circle to recite the Lord’s Prayer. At that moment, all I could think of was what would Jesus do — what could I do to help cast away such darkness and give some healing balm. As the circle formed, I made sure that there was no barrier between myself and the young adult who had shared their concern. Even if for a moment, I wanted this child of God to know that they were not abandoned!
In the days since these encounters, in my thoughts and prayers, I have returned to these two moments and the challenge they are to me to grow in Christ. More than ever today, I ask myself: “How well am I living as a living icon of Christ — Servant, Priest, and Shepherd?”
Pope Benedict XVI, in an ordination homily as Archbishop of Munich, said: “Making … Jesus Christ present means representing and accomplishing the mission of his love in the Church. That is why the first and foremost duty imposed on you is to carry on the signs of the love of Jesus Christ.”
My dear collaborators in pastoral ministry, certainly, in our parishes, to carry on the signs of the love of Jesus Christ is to be found in the smile and welcome of our open door — even though the pandemic, societal ills and Chapter 11 might tempt us to just keep it shut. Accompanying this openness is the ready availability of the Sacraments of the Church — the outward signs of God’s grace in today’s world — especially in the celebration of daily Mass, the frequent availability of the Sacrament of Penance, and our outreach to those who cannot come to our door for one reason or another — the homebound, the ill and the marginalized.
As St. Athanasius wrote in the same Easter letter previously cited: “This feast guides us through the trials that meet us in this world. God now gives us the joy of salvation that shines out from this feast, as he brings us together to form one assembly …” These words direct us to one of the chief acts of this liturgy, the blessing of the Oil of Catechumens and of the Oil of the Sick, along with the consecration of Sacred Chrism. As I was contemplating this part of the Chrism Mass, all I could think of was the woman who knelt at Jesus’ feet to offer hospitality where it had been previously denied. How she who was scorned herself washed Jesus’ feet, dried them with her hair, and anointed them with such tenderness and care. In that instance … what healing balm! Not only for Jesus, but for one who knew she struggled with sin in her life.
Sisters and brothers, the Chrism Mass is a reminder to this local Church of our oneness in Christ through Baptism and the strengthening power of Christ in our lives symbolized in the anointings we receive in our lifetime. Even more, in the blessed and consecrated oils, we carry forth to our parishes and to all the corners of this diocese — you and I are reminded of the mission that is the heart of the Church we profess to be members of — “to live on in Christ’s love!” Recalling Jesus’ own words to his disciples after the washing of the feet: “I have left you a model, as I have done, so you must do” (Jn 13:15)!
As I contemplate the mission Jesus leaves to his disciples, I recall the words of one my favorite African-American spirituals, “There is a Balm in Gilead.” Before we have the renewal of Priestly Commitment and the Blessing and Consecration of the Holy Oils, I invite us to listen to the words of this hymn as our own commission to be Christ’s healing balm in our Church and world today:
“There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.
Sometimes I feel discouraged and think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.
If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus and say, ‘He died for all.’
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.
Don’t ever feel discouraged, for Jesus is your friend;
And if you lack for knowledge, He’ll never refuse to lend.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.”
