The Church: A tent for all people

“Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Is. 61:1).

In his General Audience on October 23, 2019, Pope Francis spoke about the Church and her mission in this manner: “The nature of the Church appears from the Book of the Acts; she is not a fortress but a tent able to enlarge her space (cf. Is 54:2) and give access to all. Either the Church ‘goes forth’ or she is not a Church; either she is on a journey always widening her space so that everyone can enter, or she is not a Church. A ‘Church whose doors are open’ (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 46), always with open doors. When I see a small church here, in this city, or when I would see one in the other diocese that I come from, with closed doors, this is a bad sign. Churches should always have their doors open because this is the sign of what a church is: always open. The Church is always ‘called to be the house of the Father … so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door’” (Ibid., 47).

Today, brothers and sisters, you and I gather for this yearly celebration of the Chrism Mass where oil is blessed and consecrated for sacramental purposes, and the presbyterate renews its commitment to priestly service of the People of God. In preparation for this unique week in the life of the Church, I have been reading Joseph Ratzinger’s/Pope Benedict XVI’s second volume of Jesus of Nazareth focusing on “Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection.”

In speaking of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, which we commemorated on Sunday, Benedict makes reference to the prophecy of Zechariah, “It is true that Zechariah proclaims a kingdom that extends ‘from sea to sea.’ Yet precisely in this way he distances himself from any national frame of reference and points towards a new universality, in which the world finds God’s peace and is united, beyond borders of any kind, in the worship of the one God (p. 16).”

He goes on to connect Zechariah with the universalist vision of the Prophet Isaiah (56:7) of a future in which all peoples come together in the house of God to worship the Lord as the one God. In the layout of the Temple, the vast Court of the Gentiles in which another pre-Passion event takes place [the episode of the cleansing of the Temple] “is the open space to which the whole world is invited in order to pray to the one God … According to [Jesus’] own testimony, this fundamental purpose is what lies behind the cleansing of the Temple: to remove whatever obstacles there may be to the common recognition and worship of God — and thereby to open up a space for common worship (pp. 17-18).”

What I find so significant about this detail is that it sets the stage for the passage read in our liturgy this morning and which is none other than Jesus’ very own inaugural address for his ministry and mission on this earth. It also gives us pause to consider what is truly acceptable to the Lord (cf. Lk 4:19) regarding our neighbors, especially those experiencing oppression and find themselves on the margins and fringe of today’s society?

The late Benedictine Sister, Jeremy Hall, invites the reader in her work, Silence, Solitude, Simplicity, to an ever deeper “living-with and living-in” the wholeness that Jesus brings “to this world and the world yet to come” – the “already” and the “not yet.” She states: “[Jesus] was actively involved in caring for the genuine earthly needs of people, even strangers and outcasts, and he was outspoken about problems and issues in his time, yet he always called people beyond the present to the fullness of the Kingdom in forming their values and judging their actions.”

As Pope Francis these days confronts the reality of his health and age, he is reminding us more urgently than ever that as Church, we are to be a people of Communion, Mission, and Participation — a people who truly take time to listen earnestly to and care for one another. Brothers and sisters, this is the nexus of this gathering as we bless and consecrate the Holy Oils for use in this local Church. These oils represent welcome and strength, healing and comfort, and our incalculable dignity in the eyes of God. They not only speak of who we are, but even more of our mission as followers of the Way and disciples of the Lord Jesus. As God’s anointed, through the holy anointings received, we are called to pick up Jesus’ mission in the world and continue to announce the nearness of God’s Kingdom to those we encounter by enlarging the tent and continually recognizing the holy ground on which all lives are built.

This tent is a space of communion, a foundation for mission, and a place of participation. The oils used in it are: (1) a remedy for healing in body, mind, and spirit, as well as, deliverance from affliction; (2) a provision of wisdom and strength for a deeper understanding of the gospel and a help to accept the challenge of Christian living; and (3) a sign of life and goodness inviting the splendor of holiness to shine on the world from every place and thing signed with this oil.

Another word used this day is “consecration,” and that is exactly the word used for the blessing of the Sacred Chrism.  It is not just asking for God’s favor and protection; rather, it is the transfer of a person or a thing to the sacred realm for a special purpose or service. The word consecration literally means “association with the sacred” – “to be set apart.” Today, you and I, sisters and brothers, are being challenged to see how our Scripture readings will be fulfilled in us — how they will come alive in us?!

These days, we can have many motivations for why our church doors are closed, even this cathedral, along with our national borders. However, as recently noted in one Catholic publication, the Church as a whole, but especially her leadership, cannot be afraid to lead in this moment and fulfill the Gospel call and mandate, “as I have done, so you must do” — “Do this in memory of me.”  As we continue this Eucharistic celebration, let us pray especially for our Diocesan Church, that we, her members, may “embody the universality of your people and become a sign and instrument in the world of the presence of Christ.” And the people said, “Amen.”